Most college athletes don't necessarily appreciate the privileges that come with playing college athletics until they are upperclassmen. Lost on most first-year players is a sense of urgency, and four years can seem like an eternity for most. Unless that first-year player is forward Aleksandra Vafina, whose first year of college hockey will also be her only year to wear the Bulldog jersey.
The 22 year-old from Chelabinsk, Russia is currently a graduate student in Education at UMD, and because of NCAA rules, is only elgibile for one year of outside competition. When UMD assistant coach Laura Schuler recruited Vafina, Russian national team teammated Iya Gavrilova encouraged her to seize the opportunity.
“This year means a lot to me,” said Vafina. “It is my first and only season with UMD and I love to be here and be a part of the big Bulldog family. This is a good and challenging experience for me. I came here because of the coaching staff and the international nature of the hockey program. I love hockey in the USA. It is so fast, smart and powerful.”
Vafina is no stranger to hockey on the international level, and she has been a staple on Team Russia's senior squad since 2008. She became an Olympian –UMD's 23rd Olympian, to be exact -- in 2010 with the Russian Olympic Team in Vancouver and hopes to be a part of the team a year from now that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“I'm very excited about the Olympic year and really hope to be a part of the Russian national team next year because it will be at a home arena and we will play our best games,” said Vafina. “Play at the international level is more close to USA or Canadian hockey and I like it. I am trying to bring all the best and good things I have learned here to Team Russia.”
Interestingly enough, Vafina does not hold the distintion of being the only Olympian in her family. Her mom played on the 2002 Kazakhstan hockey team that qualified for the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
“It was her first experience on this level and she always encourages me to work hard in order to play in the top division,” said Vafina. “She understands me more than anyone because she knows how hard it is to be a student-athlete. She supports me in every way.”
With more than one million people residing in Chelyabinsk, Russia, the industrial city about 18 hours by car from Moscow doesn't really resemble Duluth. Vafina points out that there is no large lakes like Lake Superior, the hills or even the clean air she notes in Duluth. But she also says that she loves her hometown and misses it and that just last week it was in the news after being hit by a meteor.
Born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, her family moved to Russia when she was younger, but Vafina visits her grandparents and her father's family every year in Kazakhstan. She loves Russian food and speaks of her family, friends and a boyfriend that she has left behind to play for UMD this season. But traveling is nothing new for the player who has been in the Team Russia system since 2006.
“All my life I have traveled for hockey so I love any time I can spend my family and loved ones,” said Vafina. “In the summer we visit a friend's cabin on a lake and it is a time I look forward to very much. In Duluth, I like when we spend time with our teammates going somewhere for dinner. I also like how Duluth has so many rivers and trees and nature surrounding it. I like to spend time with my Bulldog family, Megan and her parents as well.”
As a Bulldog, the speedy Vafina has played in 24 of 30 possible games this season and has recorded four goals and six assists for 10 points. Ironically, UMD is 12-9-3 with Vafina in the line-up, and 7-1-0 when she has registered a point. Without her, the Bulldogs have gone 2-4-0, including two losses to Minnesota in Minneapolis early in November.
No question, UMD is a better team with the dynamic Vafina on the ice, and just as obvious are the improvements Vafina has made since she arrived up on campus a year ago.
“I love being a part of Bulldog Hockey,” said Vafina. “I wish that I could be here a lot longer. This is the best hockey that I have experienced. These girls are very lucky to have this opportunity, and I'm so glad to be here, even one year. I have learned a lot from the team. What stands out the most to me is Coach Miller's commitment to the team and each individual athlete. She teaches us how to be complete player by being a complete person. This experience means a lot for me. It has been hard, challenging, fun and amazing. I will never forget it.”
She may only skate in the UMD sweater for one season, but luckily for Vafina, once you join the Bulldog family, you're a member for life. That family, together with her family back in Russia, will be one very proud group next February if she lands on her second-consecutive Russian Olympic Team.
Of course, that recently-expanded family has plenty of reasons to be proud already.
