Women’s History Wednesday Profile: Julie Chu

Chu credits her success to her mom Miriam (pictured above) and her father Wah

Photo Credit: Brian Ach / AP Images for Bounty

Julie Chu is a native of Fairfield, Connecticut that has won 4 Olympic medals. However, when she thinks back on her career - that is not over just yet - she is most thankful for one opportunity over the rest. She is most thankful that, at eight years old, her parents supported her desire to play. Last month, Julie Chu was named the Head Coach of the Concordia University Women’s Ice Hockey program. Coach Chu spoke to us over the phone last month about her career, balancing her professional hockey career with her role at Concordia, and her thoughts on diversity in hockey.

The Early Years

A young Chu posing before figure skating lessons. Photo Credit: NY Metro Parents

Chu has an older brother who began playing hockey while she and her sister Christina, tagged along for figure skating lessons. However, Julie found what her brother Richard was doing to be more fun. “It would have been easy at that time for (my parents) to say, ‘Are you sure? No other girls really play, so why don’t you play soccer?’”

Julie notes her parents would never intentionally limit her, but she also acknowledges that, at the time, she was asking them to support her on a journey with no certain outcome, “It would have been easy for them to say no and guide me somewhere else.” Instead, Wah and Miriam Chu found Julie some “old stinky hockey equipment”, and began her on a path that would lead to a college scholarship, a professional career, and eventually, coaching.

Once Chu got the hockey bug, she began to make her mark on hockey programs in Connecticut. Chu played with boy’s teams until she was 13. At that time, she began playing with the Connecticut Polar Bears club. Chu is among a number of alumnae who went on to play college hockey and for Team USA. Chu continued to play with the Polar Bears while attending Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut. Chu notched 101 goals and 112 assists in 71 games. In 1999, Choate won the New England Prep School Athletic Council Championship. The sophomore Chu was named MVP of the tournament.

In addition to her sporting success, Chu was also named class president. However, she resigned shortly after her election to join Team USA in preparation for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Then a high school senior, Chu attended classes at Northwood School while training with the national team in Lake Placid. Chu graduated from Choate in 2001, but deferred her enrollment to Harvard until 2002.

Team USA

Chu hard at work on defense during the 2014 Olympic gold medal match. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Paul Chiasson

Chu has represented Team USA in the Four Nations Cup, the IIHF Women’s World Championships and the Olympics. Before entering Harvard, Chu had three silver medals, one in each tournament, as a member of Team USA. On her career, Chu has 4 Olympic Medals (3 silver one bronze), 11 Four Nations medals (4 gold, 7 silver), and 8 World Championship medals (4 gold, 4 silver). According to her USA Hockey stat sheet, Chu has made 239 appearances for Team USA, recording 66 goals and 113 assists for 179 points.

At the 2014 Olympics, Julie Chu was chosen to represent the United States Olympic team as the flag bearer for the Closing Ceremonies. She is tied with skier Julia Mancuso as the second-most decorated U.S. female in Olympic Winter Games history. Chu has captained Team USA at least once in the three major tournaments. She is also the first Asian-American to play for USA Hockey.

The Harvard Years

In her first season, Chu was second highest scorer in the country with 42 goals and 51 assists. She was named Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Ivy Rookie of the Year. Julie was named to her first of three All- ECAC First team honors in 2003. She also claimed her first of three regular season titles, and the first of two Ivy League Championships in her rookie season. Chu was also named a Second Team All-America in her first season at Harvard.

Chu won the Patty Kazmiaer Award in 2007 (Harvard Atheltics)

The next year, Harvard won the 2004 ECAC Championship. Chu was named to the ECAC 2004 All-Tournament team. In 2005, Harvard again won the regular season title, ECAC Championship title, and the Ivy League Championship en route to their third consecutive NCAA Championship final. Chu again was named a Second team All-American. Chu did not compete in the 2005-06 season to prepare for the Turin, Italy games in 2006. Chu recorded two assist in the win over Finland in the bronze medal game. When Chu returned for the 2006-07 season, Chu was named a First Team All-American and the 2007 Patty Kazmaier Award winner.

Professional Career

While working as a coach and playing with Team USA, Julie Chu remained game-fit by playing professional women’s hockey. Chu played two season for the Minnesota Whitecaps as part of the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL). Chu now competes in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League with Les Canadiennes de Montreal (formerly the Montreal Stars). She has won championships with both teams.

Photo: Louis-Charles Dumais

While balancing a professional hockey career and a professional coaching career has been difficult, Chu notes that it’s just something that female hockey players must do, “Unfortunately, that is the life story of all the players playing in the CWHL,” said Chu, “the majority of players have to have a full-time job.” Few players can play professional hockey in the CWHL while being sponsored by their national team and/or sponsors. Working to make a living so one can continue to play hockey is part of the package. She considers herself one of the lucky ones, her job allows her to be around the game.

Coach Chu

Julie won her first NCAA title on the bench as a coach with, of all programs, Minnesota-Duluth. As a player, Chu lost to the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) in the 2003 NCAA title game. Coaching allowed Julie to earn a living and get ice time while training for the upcoming games with Team USA and her professional teams. In 2008, the UMD coaching staff led the Bulldogs to the NCAA National Championship title. In 2010, Chu moved on to coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York. After three seasons with Union, Chu resigned to train for the 2014 Olympics. In fall 2014, Julie joined the coaching staff of Concordia University in Montreal. During the 2015 season, Head Coach Les Lawton went on leave and Chu was named the acting Head Coach for the 2015-16 season.

The interaction with players and other on-ice logistics were familiar enough to Chu. She felt her steepest learning curve lied in understanding the logistical process at Concordia. Although Chu had worked with the program, she was not familiar with all the responsibilities for a head coach, “I was really only on the ice (as a part-time assistant), and I would come to a handful of games. So, it was a lot of the behind-the-scenes administrative work … that I wasn’t familiar with at all.”

With only two days from her official takeover of the program and players arriving, Chu relied on her Assistant Coach Mike McGrath and the players to help navigate through the unknown, “We looked at each other quite often and said, ‘we’re in survival mode’, for the first month at least.” Transparency and good communication are the foundation of Chu’s coaching style, “I’m very hands-on, and I have a lot of feedback. I like to talk a lot (laughs), maybe that’s a good or a bad thing, but typically, I’m a really positive coach.” Chu did mention that she tends to be a bit more firm when it comes to players that might be playing selfishly or without 100% effort.

Coach Chu gives her 100% effort, even while balancing her own career. While Chu has made it clear that she plans to continue playing in the CWHL, she also knows that her first priority must be her players at Concordia, “(playing) does bring a few more conflicts with games over the weekends, but I’m fortunate that Les Canadiennes know that my priority is Concordia and being prepared for my team there.”

The Future of Women’s Hockey

Chu showing offer her Olympic medal to a young fan. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Media coverage and women’s hockey on television are things Julie Chu would like to see more of, “Young kids, or even adults get to see, ‘Okay, female hockey players. This is awesome! I want to try it!’ That’s why, if you look at different sports, Olympics often give sports a bump in growth.”

Chu also believes that more exposure can introduce hockey to more girls of color, “Maybe, depending on where different individuals grow up, they are not exposed to (different) sports, and they’re not exposed to someone who has played hockey before.” In addition to more media coverage, Chu also believes hockey players must find time to engage with their community, “As national team members, as college players, find places where young teams might be able to be brought to watch you play. It’s … our responsibility to not only go out there and play a great game that we love, but (to also) give back to our communities, to get involved in camps … and run a couple of practices.”

Chu is certainly doing her part by coach at the college level, as well as hosting youth clinics back in Connecticut. Overall, she want girls and children of color to be able to pursue what they love, even if nobody who looks like them is doing it, “I want to break down barriers,” says Chu, “whatever it might be; in arts or in school, or a certain job, let’s pursue what we are passionate about … that way we can enjoy sport, for sport. We can enjoy the professions we want to pursue for what they are and our talents in those areas can stand out, versus, the way I might look.”

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08