Club hockey captain finds perfect balance at BGSU

Emma Wanyek paired a competitive sport with her degree program to form a well-rounded college experience

Before she enrolled in college, Emma Wanyek knew she wanted a bit of everything from her next step.

A Cleveland native who had played hockey on boys’ teams since elementary school, Wanyek hoped to keep playing her sport at a school where hockey mattered.

But she also knew she wanted a career in sports, where she could use a degree in visual communication technology to develop skills while in college. Additionally, she wanted a school that was big enough to have a prosperous campus life, but small enough that it felt like home.

When she toured Bowling Green State University, she saw everything come together: she had an ideal opportunity to pair her degree with a Division I athletics department, a university that was the perfect size and a club hockey team to keep her on the ice.

“I knew when I was looking for colleges that I wanted to work in sports, and I wanted to keep playing hockey,” she said. “I had opportunities to play D-III hockey, but I didn’t want to go to a really small school with 1,000 students. BGSU was actually one of the first schools I looked at, and you could just feel the community. I loved the people.”

Four years later, Wanyek can say she created at BGSU the exact college experience she sought to find. Now a senior expected to graduate in May, she developed her videography skills through her degree program, earned key professional development through four years of internships with BGSU Athletics and became captain of the women’s hockey team.

BGSU, which sponsors 17 men’s and women’s club teams and another dozen co-ed teams, is a destination choice for high school athletes who want to continue playing a winter sport. Because the University has a Division I hockey team and sits just miles from a curling center, club athletes in hockey, curling and skating can seamlessly fit their game with a degree of their choice.

And for Wanyek, who arrived at BGSU hoping to continue patrolling the blue line for a team, hockey helped her make immediate connections as a freshman.

“That was huge for me because we get our season rolling pretty much the second school starts,” she said. “My freshman year, I was already meeting the whole team, getting lunch together and just getting to know everyone. That was a friend group straight from the start.”

With BGSU Athletics, Wanyek also had the chance to take her first steps into the sports industry.

From the beginning, Wanyek saw firsthand how her growing skill set could be applied to a D-I athletics department, first as a video intern and now as a graphic design intern. From attending games home and away to preparing content that keeps fans engaged, Wanyek said she was able to learn in a supportive environment.

“When I first started looking at BGSU, I immediately started talking with some of the people in the creative department for athletics and told them what I want to do when I graduate,” Wanyek said. “They were so on board and gave me so many opportunities. From the start, they made this a great spot to grow and learn.”

Just months from graduation, Wanyek said her four years went by in a blink.

As she looks back, however, she said playing a club sport was a key part of what made the journey to graduation day worthwhile.

“Playing hockey was really what kept me engaged with school and had me waking up excited every morning to go conquer the day,” she said. “I graduate in May, and I can really say that I don’t feel like I missed out on anything. I had a very fulfilling four years.”