Diop makes roster of French U18 women's national team

Noa Diop got the word via an email on Tuesday during biology class.

The 16-year-old defenseman from Chicago made the roster of the French women’s national team for the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division I, Group A in Egna, Italy, Jan. 6-12.

“I got a list of the girls that were going,” Noa said. “I couldn’t say much because my teacher had already yelled at me for talking. So I just looked down at it and then I texted my mom. I kind of had to hide the excitement because I was in class.”

Making the French women’s roster is a dream come true for Noa, who left home at 14 in August 2022 to play last season at Pôle France Féminin, the women’s national training center outside of Paris, in hopes of qualifying for the team and someday representing France at the Winter Olympics.

“I was pretty excited about it,” Noa said. “It’s all coming together now. Everything I’ve worked for is finally showing results, being put toward something."

Noa is leaving Chicago for France on Dec. 28 to prepare for the tournament with her French teammates. They head to Italy days later to face the host nation, Austria, Denmark, Hungary and Japan.

“It really helps because I get more exposure on the world stage and familiarity with my future, could be possible teammates,” she said.

Noa, who received a $3,000 scholarship from the Black Girl Hockey Club in Fall 2022, plays for the Windy City Storm Under-16 girls team in Chicago.

To become eligible to play for the French national team, she had to relocate there to comply with International Ice Hockey Federation rules for women’s players who change or acquire another citizenship and want to compete for the first time in IIHF games representing a new country.

The rules state that players must have participated on a consistent basis for at least one hockey season and been a member of their new national association for at least eight consecutive months (240 days) during that period.

Noa’s love and desire to play for France comes from her family background. She is a dual U.S.-French citizen via her father, Ibrahima Diop, who has Senegalese, French and U.S. citizenship, and her mother, Natalie Kissinger, an American from Wisconsin.

She attends a French international school in Chicago, where she quietly celebrated her selection to the national team.

“I go to school until 5:20 p.m. today, so I just kept going to classes,” Noa said. “I didn’t really have time to talk to anyone about it. I showed some of my friends [the email], but that’s sort of it.”