Leah started training at Club 100 with instructor Eufay at 15 years old. The now 23 year-old is entering her third season of professional hockey, leaving for Davos, Switzerland at the end of the month.
Leah’s freshman year of high school she left home to pursue her dream of playing NCAA Division 1 College Ice Hockey. She played on elite girls’ teams in San Jose, Seattle and finally landed in Stowe, Vermont with the prestigious North American Hockey Academy. Leah recognized her dream of college hockey at sixteen when she committed to play Division 1 on a full scholarship at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Between each season, she always found herself back in Lake Tahoe training with Club 100 to keep progressing as a player.
The young athlete succeeded at Robert Morris University capturing two College Hockey America Regular Season Titles, one playoff championship and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight her Junior year. During her time at school, Leah consistently finished as an NCAA Academic All-American and graduated Summa Cum Laude with her undergrad in Marketing and her Master of Business Administration.
After her Junior season, Marino was drafted sixteenth overall into the National Women’s Hockey League – the top professional league in North America. She became the youngest player in NWHL history to be drafted. Leah played her rookie season for the Toronto Six while finishing her degree through Robert Morris University online. After her initial season, Leah inked a deal with the Metropolitan Riveters (NWHL) outside of New York City, once again being the youngest player in the league for the second year in a row.
Most recently, Marino has decided to make the jump overseas, signing with Hockey Club Davos in Davos, Switzerland. Playing in Europe has always been a dream of hers, not only for the opportunity to play with some of the best athletes in the world, but also to travel and experience new cultures.
Although the hockey phenom has been able to live all over the world, she will always call Tahoe home, coming back each summer to train and spend time in the mountains. She feels like she owes a lot of her success to her community and Club 100 specifically, for helping her to see her potential and push new boundaries every day. Without the gym and her favorite trainer Eufay, Marino says “She would not be at the level she is today.”
