TEED, Sarah

BORN 30 APRIL 1986, in Melbourne, Australia, Sarah Teed moved to the United States at age 3 with her sister Emmy, then to Canada where she began hockey at age 9. In a small town outside Montreal, Teed began playing boys at an ice hockey rink in the schoolyard and went on to play in the boys competition. At 14, she went to boarding school in the US and discovered women’s ice hockey referee’s wouldn’t allow the same kind of smash-up tactics she was used to in the men’s game.

Teed won the bronze medal with the Australian National Team in 2001 for the IIHF Division III World Championships Qualification in Maribor, Slovenia, coached by Kathy Berg, and went on to represent Australia on six occasions from the age of 15. The dual national, who played for the Blacktown Flyers in Sydney, won IIHF Division 3 Gold and promotion to Division 2 with the National Team in Maribor, Slovenia, in March 2003. The squad maintained their 21st place ranking in the World, with just 7 goals against. In 2004, Teed competed in the Division II IIHF World Women's Championships in Sterzing, Italy. She returned In 2012-13, winning a second bronze medal in New Zealand, then played in the IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia and the Worlds in Italy the following year. In 2014-15, Teed played her last international for Australia in Jaca, Spain, for a total of 28 games.

The Australian turned down a spot on the Montreal women’s professional team because she could make more income in a regular job. She returned to Australia and joined the army. The 173cm D, who also played Wing and sometimes Centre, also joined the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) with the Melbourne Dragons based at the Olympic Ice Skating Rink in Oakleigh in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs. Teed played the 2009-10 season coached by Simon Holmes, finishing third behind Adelaide and Sydney. The Dragons rebranded to the Melbourne Ice Women the next season.

In the 2010-11 grand final against the Sydney Sirens, coached by Lee Brown, Teed scored the game-winner in a shootout after nine missed shots by each side, winning her first McKowen Trophy. She completed a Nursing Certificate at Monash University that year, and continued with the Club, winning three more McKowen Trophies. She transferred to the Adelaide Adrenaline for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, serving at the Edinburgh RAAF Base in South Australia.

Teed had a devastating point shot and was a strong presence at both ends of the ice. She worked all over the country at times with the army, but made it to games despite having to jump through hoops. "Well, I have to submit an application with the army,” she told the Club, “and they can approve or decline my request. I've been pretty lucky so far; my chain of command has been pretty supportive."

Sarah Teed is now a Sergeant with the Australian Defence Force (Army), having served at Kapooka and Dili, Timor-Leste. She is a member of ADF Strike, the top ADF team in the Australian Defence Force Ice Hockey Association (ADFIHA). In 2019, she co-founded the Chronicle Athlete Development Centre in Wagga Wagga.