Keely Brown – women's hockey

Keely Brown

The talented, fearless, headstrong goalie, Keely Brown, has a life stacked full with excitement on and off the ice.  She’s been playing with the Edmonton WAM! in the National Ringette League and the Edmonton Chimos in the Western Women’s Hockey League since 2003, she has also played for the Canadian National Roller hockey team since 2002.

Growing up in Kitchener, Ontario at the age of six Keely decided she wanted to follow in her older brother’s footsteps and play hockey but instead enrolled in Ringette and has been playing ever since. At thirteen there was an extra spot for a goalie on her high school boys’ hockey team. She set her mind to play on this hockey team and succeeded, becoming the first girl in central western Ontario to be allowed on the boy’s hockey team. She continued playing women’s hockey at the University of Toronto. While at the university she began playing inline hockey with friends of hers and now plays in tournaments all over the world. She has met people from Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Namibia, Czech, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, China and many more locations.

The highlights of her career include some amazing moments in Canadian sporting events. She was named Player of the Game and Goalie of the Tournament at the Ringette Worlds in 2002 when the Canadian team bet Finland in the finals in front of the home crowd. Another moment that stands out for her is her first Ringette nationals in BC when they were outshot 42-9 but won 3-2 in the end. However a tournament that she says stands out for her more than any other is at the Roller Hockey Worlds in Paris, France in 2005. Her and her team spent the entire week touring around France as well as playing games and beat USA for the gold 1-0. In addition to this significant win, Keely didn’t let in a single goal the entire tournament!

Off the ice, Keely is a full time lawyer and currently holds a job as the General Counsel and Director of Administration for the Edmonton Oilers, The Edmonton Oil Kings (in the Western Hockey League) and the Edmonton Capitals (in the Golden Baseball League). She has an Honours BSc from the University of Toronto in Psychology and Criminology and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.

With so many accomplishments in her life so far, Keely explains that she is grateful for her parents to keep her down to earth. They have always been supportive of her and encourage her to strive for all the goals she has set. Another thing that keeps her down to earth while she is juggling a full time job, playing on three teams and helping design and develops Ringette goalie equipment is having a few free evenings in which she likes to sit on the couch with a good book, watch the oilers and catch up with friends. She also enjoys playing the violin and saxophone.

To children starting out in sports today she offers these words of advice: “It doesn’t happen overnight but if you learn as much as you can, keep focused on your goal and enjoy the opportunities, no matter what level of sport you achieve the friends and experiences will make it all worthwhile”

Her endless motivation comes from her source of inspiration and her competitive nature. She strives to always be the best in every area of her sport every moment of every day. She likes to play as well as she can and come out on top. She describes herself as one of those people who demands the best out of herself and she is not satisfied if she makes a mistake and lets in a goal, even if she played well the rest of the game.

“Once you achieve that feeling of absolute perfection and exhalation after a huge win, you constantly want to try and get there again.”

Keely Brown: Major Accomplishments

Canadian National Ringette Team Goalie, 2000-present

         Team Canada Assistant Captain since 2004

         2007 World Championships – Gold Medal Game MVP

         2007 World Championships – “Top Player of the Tournament” for Team Canada

         2007-08 Goaltender of the Year for the National Ringette League

         2007-08 Second Team All-Star at the Canadian Ringette Championships

         2007-08 Western Division Champions of the National Ringette League (also each year since inception so since 2003-04)

         2006-07 Goaltender of the Year for the National Ringette League

         2006-07 National Champions (also 2005, 2004, 2002, 1999, 1997, 1992)

         2006-07 National Ringette League Champions

         2002 World Champion – Gold Medal Game MVP, Top Goalie of the Tournament

         Goaltender of the Year for the Western Division of the NRL each year since inception (2003-04 and 2008-09)

World Silver Medal in 2007, 2004, 2000

Canadian National In-line Hockey Team Goalie

         World Champions 2005, 2004, 2002 – 0.00 GAA, 1.000 Save Percentage at Worlds in 2005

         Silver medalists 2008, 2006, 2003

Edmonton Chimos Goalie, Western Women’s Hockey League

-          Goalie of the Year 2008-09

-          MVP of the Championships 2005