As a young girl growing up in Banff, Alberta, Canada, Akane Hosoyamada ’15 spent a lot of time on the ice with her brother playing hockey. Her passion for the sport turned into aspirations for Olympic gold and she competed at the Winter Games for Team Japan in PyeongChang in 2018. She will once again strive for that goal with her teammates this month at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
While working on her degree in health and exercise science at Falk College, Hosoyamada played defense for the Syracuse Orange and was team captain her redshirt senior year. After graduating, she did not have the chance to play for the Canadian team and nearly gave up the sport, but her friends, family and Syracuse Orange coaches urged her to continue. So, she sought out opportunities in her parents’ native Japan where she could join a competitive team—a choice she says was the right one because it helped her get back to her roots. She hopes her team’s participation in the Games will help to promote women’s ice hockey in Japan, where it is not a major sport.
Hosoyamada and Team Japan play their first game against Sweden on Thursday, February 3 at 3:30 a.m. EST.
Syracuse University News recently had the opportunity to chat with Hosoyamada and ask about her accomplishments on the ice and her experience at Syracuse University.
A Syracuse University story by Jonah Restuccio and Lisa Maresca originally published on February 1, 2022.