REGINA, Saskatchewan — Rachel O’Toole was named an Academic All-Canadian in her first season with the University of Regina Cougars. Such a feat doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows the 20-year-old female hockey player.

O’Toole’s love for hockey came from watching her father and two of her older siblings play hockey. Just like her, most members of her family live and breathe the game of hockey. By the time she was just two years old, her parents had introduced her to skating. Encouraged by how good she was at skating, she was introduced to hockey at the age of four. Since then, Rachel O’Toole has played hockey like a pro.

When O’Toole got to high school, there was no contemplation of which sport she was going to play because she was already in love with the game of hockey. She soon joined the high school hockey team as a defense. When she started playing with the Norman Wild Midget AAA, she helped the team achieve many feats and accomplished a lot for herself.

At 16, the defensive player was looking for more challenges, so she moved to the Westman Wildcat Midget AAA.

The new challenges associated with playing for the Westman Wildcat Midget AAA and the brilliancy of coach Guy Williams saw O’Toole becoming a brilliant and skillful hockey player. These contributed to making her the outstanding hockey player she is today. She is a different person altogether when on the field playing hockey.

During her play with the Wildcat in the 2018/2019 season, she tallied two goals and 15 assists for 17 points in the 28 games she played in the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League.

In February 2019, O’Toole was asked at the Red Deer Canada games what her goals for the games were, and she said, “My goal for the games is to compete at the highest level, establish new friendships and play my best hockey.”

This statement was not a surprise for many who have seen her play. The enthusiasm she puts in during training and games points to her wanting to play the best of hockey and compete at the highest level.

In 2015, for example, she was instrumental in helping her team get to the third position at the 2015 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC). She was named the Norman Wild Midget AAA Rookie of the Year that same year. The following year, she was the Top Defense for the Norman Wild Midget AAA. 

O’Toole is showing no signs of giving up regarding what she wants to achieve in hockey.

In 2017, she helped the Norman Wild Midget AAA win the National Aboriginal Championship, a title they had longed for since they last won it in 2010. She retained her award as the club’s Top Defense for the Year 2017. 

By now, one would think that she would be slowing down, but that is not the case with O’Toole.

With her on the Norman Wild Midget AAA team, they retained their title in the 2018 season, making the Norman Wild Midget AAA back-to-back winners of the National Aboriginal Championship. 

O’Toole was a Top Defense Finalist for the Canadian Sport School Hockey League Female Varsity for the 2017/2018 season. 

Even though her team lost first place to Saskatchewan in 2019 and came second-place, O’Toole was still the usual brilliant defensive hockey player throughout the game.

Subsequently, defense player O’Toole spent a little time with Pilot Mound’s Hockey Academy and participated in the CSSVHL. There, she scored 2 goals and 6 assists in 25 games. 

At the age of 17, she applied to join the University of Regina Cougars for the 2019/2020 season of the Canada West Conference.

In her first season with the University of Regina Cougars, she played 25 out of 28 games for the team where she had two assists, 19 shots on the net, and played 1 postseason game. 

On March 17, 2001, Rachel O’Toole was born in The Pas, Manitoba, Canada, where she fell in love with hockey. In her second year with the Cougars, the defense player weighs 63.5kg and is 177 cm tall. She will be back to play in the 2021/2022 season.

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