My next stop was college. I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to play four seasons at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, where I completed my bachelor’s degree in education in 2012. I worked harder there than I ever had in my life in hopes of pursuing my goals with the national team.
After two and a half years of hard work, extra workouts and skating between classes whenever I could, I got the call to attend a tryout for the 2011 Women’s World Championship team in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My parents, like they always did for my games, made the long trip to the final exhibition games versus Canada and were there to celebrate with me when I made the final cut for the team.
Representing Team USA over the next 5 years and winning two world championships was the honor of a lifetime.
At the time, my brother was in the Army, so it meant that much more to me to be able to play the sport I loved with the USA crest on my chest. The 2013 world championship was extra special because the tournament was in Switzerland. At the time, my brother was stationed in nearby Germany. Again, my parents dropped everything to make the trip, and I was able to celebrate on the ice with them and my brother.
After my time with the National Team concluded, I was 23 years old and I just felt like my playing career couldn’t be over yet. I moved my focus to playing across the pond and spent one season playing professionally in Russia, traveling all across Europe as we blended worldwide hockey and experiencing different cultures firsthand.
When I returned, I knew it was time to start focusing on my career and paving the way for the next generation of players. What some people don’t know is, the hockey world is extremely small. Everyone, it seems, is connected, especially in women’s hockey because there are less of us than on the men’s side.
My best friend from the National Team, Brianne McLaughlin, was a goalie and former standout for Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. By the time I returned from Russia, my former assistant coach from college had become the head coach there. Through these two connections, I became the Director of Hockey Operations for the women’s team at RMU and was able to complete my Master’s Degree as well.
During this time (with help from Brianne again), I also returned to the ice for two seasons, playing for the Buffalo Beauts in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), the first-ever paid professional women’s league in the U.S., in 2016 and 2017. I was proud to end my playing career alongside my bestie Brianne with a NWHL title, winning the Isobel Cup in 2017.
As I began planning for my post-playing career, I hoped for a job that allowed me to share my love for hockey with others.
After hanging up the skates, I returned to my alma mater, Mercyhurst University, as an assistant coach for four years. I loved being able to help guide my student athletes not only on the ice but also in the classroom, their personal lives, career paths and more. It felt like I was really making a difference, hockey aside. I thought I would be in college hockey forever and would end up being a head coach of a Division I program.
That all changed when I met my future wife, who was also working at Mercyhurst at the time. I think everything happens for a reason and that people come into your life at a certain time for a certain reason. There is no other explanation for how Sara and I met. She was in Erie, Pennsylvania for a one-year job placement and after that was moving back down to Bradenton, FL where she had already accepted a full-time position. We happened to meet (in the ice rink of all places), and the rest is history.
It was a long, winding path, but all the hockey roads led me to Tampa.
While I loved my time coaching college hockey, the travel and time away from home was difficult. Similar to my reason for pursuing a degree in education and following in my mother’s footsteps as a teacher, I knew I wanted to make more of a difference for others and I felt coaching youth hockey was the way to do that. I’ve always loved being around kids. I’m 34 but still a child at heart, so I think it just kind of came naturally for me.
As I began researching the Lightning youth hockey development program, I was impressed that they offered a co-ed program with Learn to Play and development camps. Why not see if I could bring some direct experience to that group? I applied for a part-time hockey ambassador role in 2021 before taking over the full-time position leading area girls hockey in 2022.
Here with the Tampa Bay Lightning, girls hockey has a place. Our entire organization has welcomed me with open arms, and they truly care about growing the sport and prioritizing girls hockey. I’ve worked with other youth programs where the boys get better ice times or better gear, but that doesn’t happen here. It feels amazing to work in a place where what you’re doing is valued.
My days range from scheduling, marketing and staffing for the girls hockey program, jumping on the ice for week night skills clinics or practices with our girls travel teams. Like most who work in youth sports, my weekends are the busiest! All of our girls programs ranging from Learn to Skate to our 13U Rec League run on Sundays, so I’m on the ice for about 10 hours with an all-female staff around me. They are long days but the girls and our staff members make it all worth it. We have so much fun out there.
There are definitely times when I have one or two girls that test my patience, but it just makes me appreciate what my former coaches went through with me. There are some along the way—whether it's just being that high energy kid that loves to be out there or somebody with their skill sets—that remind me of myself. That has definitely happened a lot over the last few years. For the most part though, the girls just have a blast together. They make friends almost instantly and just love being on the ice with other girls.
I’m super fortunate. Like any job, there are positives and negatives. That's a normal thing. But the coolest part for me is seeing them grow and develop on and off the ice. It’s only been three years since we started our programs, but some of the girls currently on our 10U travel team started in our Learn to Skate program. Watching them go from this little girl that's scared to skate without help from their pusher to a 10U kid dominating the other teams we play is incredible.
I get to help grow the game but also help grow these girls as individuals, right? A lot of the things you learn from hockey you take with you for life, and it helps you outside of the rink. Whether it’s learning how to win or lose graciously, how to be a good teammate and leader or how to overcome adversity, everything that happens on the ice is transferable to life.
Regardless of how far girls go in our programming, whether it's a learn to skate class and learn to play or if they go through all our pathways, it's an opportunity for the girls to try something new and push themselves. Most importantly they make friends, some that might even last a lifetime. Most of our girls might not continue to play after high school, but they're going to have these friends they met in one of our programs and that might last forever.
If they do choose to stick with the sport and aspire for something more, they have that opportunity now. They don’t have to just look up to the NHL guys. Girls and women’s hockey grows faster than ever. There are multiple spaces and leagues for young girls to aim for if they wish to become professional hockey players. The enthusiasm and passion for the girl’s and women’s game is alive!
We’ve seen that here.
When I first started, we didn't have as much interest as we do now—our learn to skate, learn to play and rookie league programs each had around 20 to 25 girls the fall I started. Now 2 ½ years later, I help oversee more than 200 girls in our programs from learn to skate through competitive hockey. Each Sunday, over 150 girls walk through our rink doors…in Tampa. That’s incredible to think about.
In the last couple years, we've introduced hundreds and hundreds of girls to the game and hopefully they become hockey fans for life.
I was fortunate enough to become a hockey fan for life. I think I always knew the sport would be part of my life, but I definitely never envisioned being able to work for an NHL organization—especially not in the girls hockey sphere. It's amazing.
I just hope other families will continue to enjoy all girls hockey can bring to the Tampa area. That includes the hardcore fans of the Lightning, youth deep into their playing careers and the young girls just learning how to tie their skates and skate backwards.
Every girl won't end up as a lifelong hockey player, but the sport can still help shape their life.
I know it did mine.
