(Stittsville’s Julianna Parks plays for the Brock University Badgers. In her first year and a first for the team, they are competing in the U SPORTS Women’s National Hockey Championships. Photos: Brock Univesity)
At 19, Julianne Parks of Stittsville, with her left-hand shot, is a force to be reckoned with on skates. She plays forward for the Brock University Badgers – a dream come true – in St. Catherines, Ontario. Winning the provincial championship against the Nipissing Lakers 2-1 on March 19, at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women’s Hockey Championship, was a moment in history for the team and a first for Brock to win the McCaw Cup since the inception of the hockey program in 2000.
Julianna has been playing hockey since she was four years-old along with her siblings, Georgia and Lee. She started out playing league hockey for the Kanata Rangers as a midget. She played for fun on her Holy Trinity High School team where she was the women’s hockey high school Most Valuable Player in 2018 and again in 2020.
It was when the Ottawa Lady 67’s noticed her that she became a forward with the team for two years. In 2018-19 she played for the U18AA team where she scored 6 goals in 18 games, moving to the playoffs to score 2 goals and an assist in 8 games. In 2019-20 she moved up to the Ottawa Lady 67’s as an intermediate, scoring 5 goals and 4 assists. In 2019, Julianna was in Stockholm, Sweden where the Lady Sens Junior Women’s Hockey Team were the World Selects Champions.
We caught up with Julianna in PEI. She told Stittsville Central, “it has been my lifelong dream to play on a university team.” Her dream came true when Brock University came knocking, sending Julianna a letter of offer in 2020 to play for the Badgers. We asked why she loves to play the forward position, “well again, all my life I’ve loved scoring”.
“Our team has been playing really well lately. We currently sit fourth out of eight teams in the University league entering these finals. Making it to the Nationals is the first time in our team’s history,” said an enthusiastic Julianna.
The Badgers play and practice out of the Walker Sports and Abilities Centre built on the Brock University campus within the Canada Games Park, home to a new state-of-the-art sport facility. The Walker facility was constructed to host the 2022 Summer Canada Games taking place in August.
We reached out to Julianna’s parents, Rob and Jen, to get their reaction to their daughter’s hockey success, “we are so proud of JJ for making it this far and having a successful year at school. We all do a lot for our kids, but it’s totally up to them to make it. She has done an amazing job of balancing school and sports, Jenn and I are so happy!”. Jen will be joining Julianna and the team in PEI to cheer on and take part in the excitement of this national championship tournament.
Julianna not only plays hockey, but also has a heavy workload at Brock, where in her first year she is enrolled in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice.
Julianna was certainly born to play hockey – the ‘coolest sport in the world’ as she looks forward to bringing home another championship.
The Badgers travelled to Charlottetown, P.E.I., where they have practiced all week, to compete in their first U SPORTS Women’s Hockey National Championships from Thursday, March 24 to Sunday, March 27. Their first game is Friday, March 25.
Well done Julianna!