Ontario hockey player couldn't find many stories about girls playing hockey - so she wrote her own

Jenna Prestidge loves all things hockey. The Owen Sound, Ont. author grew up playing it, watching it, even coached it. And now she has written a series of books about the game, but with a twist.

Rosie the Hockey Player is a children's book series featuring a young girl as the main character. CBC Afternoon Drive host Matt Allen spoke with Jenna Prestidge about the series.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Matt Allen: Where did the idea for this book series come from?

The idea came to me during Hockey Day in Canada in January of 2023. It was in my hometown of Owen Sound, Ontario and part of the festivities was a Woman's Showcase Day. I went to the arena and I was just thrilled with the talent and the skill level of the women. 

I came home after that and I wanted to share the experience with my kids. I looked in our children's bookshelf to see what kind of hockey books I could find, and I found about 20 books. We had only one where there's a female protagonist. I was a little puzzled. I thought, you know it, we're now in 2023 at this time and where were all the girls?

So I started a book series for my daughter. Her name is Ellie Rose. And I called it Rosie the Hockey Player.

MA: How is a hockey player story different when you tell it from a young girl's perspective?

I am a hockey player, so I used my own experiences playing the game. There's different jargon that we use on the benches, for example, or with the coaches, or different ways to coach. There's a lot of positive reinforcement in girls hockey. I would say you usually try and guide with something positive and something to work on next time.

MA: How much of a difference does it make for a young girl to see a story about another young girl playing hockey?

That's incredibly important. I've been playing for 30 years and I didn't grow up with any kind of media like this. I didn't have any books where there were girls represented on the pages at all. It's finally like everything is catching up to support these women and girls. It's just so nice to be able to be a part of that positivity, and to spread the message of representation and inclusion to the next generation of athletes.

MA: The Olympic Games is in full swing right now. It's the first in history to have full gender parity. How do you feel about that?

It's absolutely amazing! I've worked my entire life to be taken seriously as an athlete. I played very competitive hockey and very competitive field Lacross. My hockey career actually took me to Germany and I felt like I was always just not good enough. Because I was a female, I was never fully taken seriously. Now we have parity in the Olympics. We have the PWHL, the WNBA, we have women's soccer. I can't help but cheer for every single sport!

MA: What's next for you?