Rylan in 2017
| |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1987-08-05) August 5, 1987 (age 36) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Ice Hockey |
| Position | Left Wing |
| College team | Northeastern |
Dani Rylan Kearney (born August 5, 1987) is an American entrepreneur and former ice hockey player. She is the founder and former commissioner of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL),[1][2] the first professional women's hockey league in the United States, and the first professional women's hockey league ever to pay its players in North America.[3] Prior to launching the league in March 2015, Rylan attempted to bring a CWHL expansion team to New York in 2014.[4] She previously played with the Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey program in NCAA play and was a captain in her final season.
Rylan began playing ice hockey with boys on the Tampa Bay Junior Lightning as an elementary school student.[5] She attended boarding school at the St. Mark's School in New England and was captain of the girls' hockey team.[5]
Prior to joining Northeastern University, Rylan played one season with the Division II club program at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, a men's team that competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. She earned a broadcasting journalism degree at Metro State in 2010.[6]
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| 2010–11[7] | Northeastern | 37 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2011–12 | Northeastern | 33 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Rylan was inspired to create a women's league while watching the United States and Canadian national teams play in the finals of the 2014 Winter Olympics and began researching the new business opportunity.[5] She began calling people she knew in ice hockey circles and the plans for the league began within a year.[5] She contacted players, conducted research on markets, held training camps, created four teams, and scheduled the venues.[5]
On October 12, 2020, Rylan stepped down as commissioner and was replaced by Tyler Tumminia as interim commissioner during a league reorganization. The league changed its governing model to an incorporated association overseen by a board of governors with one representative per team. Rylan remained with the league to oversee the Beauts, Whale, Riveters, and Whitecaps while it searched for independent ownership of the league-operated teams before resigning from that role in March 2021.[8][9]
Rylan grew up in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. Her father worked in marketing for the Tampa Bay Lightning.[6] After college, she moved to New York City and opened a coffee shop named Rise and Grind in East Harlem.[5]
