March 5, 2009

I write to you from Minneapolis, Minn., my new adopted home. An East Coast native and stalwart, I have moved out to the Midwest along with my teammates?15 of the greatest female ice hockey players in the country?to train for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver! Together we are the first members of the “Blaine Residency Program,” which is set up by USA Hockey and commenced in August of 2008. Our base camp on this quest for GOLD is the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn.

Three days a week, we commute in the mornings to spend an hour in the weight room, then an hour and a half on the ice. On Wednesdays we do team yoga followed by shooting and stick handling practice. Then in the evenings we compete in the Minnesota Wild Adult Hockey League (MNWAHL), an elite men’s league based at the NSC. Needless to say, we are the only female participants. It took some of the gentlemen a while to warm to our presence. At first they were hesitant to make any sort of body contact and surprised when we were not quite so scrupulous. However, now, in the second half of the season, there is no letting up. None of them wants to be the guy who gets beat by the girls. We all gain great satisfaction from the jeering that takes place between the guys when one of us makes them look foolish with a great play.  

In addition to the men’s league, we also compete periodically against NCAA Division I women’s college teams in the area, as well as boys’ high school teams. Those games are our favorites. Anyone who is at all acquainted with Minnesota high school hockey knows how seriously folks take it out here. The competition and pace are top notch, and the boys could not be nicer… once the final buzzer has sounded.

We work hard, but like any good hockey team, we also know how to let our hair down. The residency program gave us the freedom to choose our living situations, and as a result, team members are sprinkled all around the greater Twin Cities area. This diversity only encourages us to explore our new surroundings and make the most of our time here. Some of us have taken it upon ourselves to enforce enjoyment. Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.), Lisa Chesson (Plainfield, Ill.), Erin Keys (St. Paul, Minn.) and I have dubbed ourselves the “Ministry of Fun.” We take this responsibility VERY seriously, much to the chagrin of our teammates who are sick of their e-mail inboxes being full of our announcements. We try to investigate entertainment options that we can do as a team. For instance, we go to concerts, movies, organize team birthday parties, and generally encourage merriment and team bonding.

The last outing was a double team birthday for Molly Engstrom (Siren, Wis.) and Karen Thatcher (Douglas, Mass.). Although I should note that Karen was born on Feb. 29, so she is a leap year baby, and since it is not a leap year this year, we begrudgingly celebrated her “birthday” out of pity that she is technically only 6 years old. Anyway, the venue was this crazy traditional German restaurant complete with polka band. Now, I submit that you really don’t know a person until you have seen them dance the polka. Needless to say, we all are now a great deal closer. It’s the little things, like a three-count rhythm, that are responsible for making a good team into a great team. At USA Hockey, we like to think we cover all the angles.

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