Mae Batherson has been skating since before she could even strap skates on by herself.

"My Mom and Dad always had me on the ice and I started really young and started skating when I was maybe two or three years old," said Batherson. "I started playing hockey when I was four."

Batherson, 17, played boys hockey until she reached bantam age.

"I learned to be aggressive and use my body and played two years of checking, which I think really helped my game," said the Grade 11 student, who plays defence for King's-Edgehill School's girls team.

All that hard work has paid off.

Mae Batherson with her brother, Drake, when Ottawa selected him in the NHL draft last year in New York. (Mae Batherson/Facebook )

Batherson was recently recruited to play National Collegiate Athletic Association​ (NCAA) Division 1 hockey at Syracuse University in 2019.

"It will be a bit of a jump but I think I'll be ready for it," she said. "I play in a prep league now and that kind of prepares you to play university hockey."

Hockey runs in the family

Batherson's family history with hockey has also likely prepared her for her future on the ice.

Her brother, Drake Batherson, is having the time of his life this week playing for Team Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

Drake has had a great season so far with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and was selected by Ottawa in the 2017 NHL draft.

Mae Batherson plans to play hockey at Syracuse University in 2019. (Nick Hubley)

It shouldn't surprise anyone to see the Batherson kids developing into star hockey players.

Their father, Norm, a North Sydney native, led Acadia University to a national championship in 1993. He went on to play several seasons of professional hockey overseas, including in Germany.

That's where Mae was born and first learned to skate when her dad played for the Straubing Tigers.

Olympic goals

The entire Batherson family is in Buffalo watching Drake represent Canada.

It might not be the last time a member of the Batherson family pulls on a Canadian hockey jersey.

Mae is hoping she'll be invited to a Hockey Canada camp in the next year or two.

"That's one of my goals but I haven't been contacted by them yet," said Batherson. "My goal moving forward is to try and get a tryout or go to a camp with the development team and go from there."

She hopes to one day play for Canada at the Olympics.

In February, two women from Nova Scotia, Jillian Saulnier of Halifax and Blayre Turnbull of Stellarton, will play for Canada's women's team at the Olympic Games. They will be the first female hockey players from Nova Scotia to play in the Olympics.