By Becca Gaddy
Athletic Communications contributor

At seven years old, Kendall Coyne Schofield attended former Olympic standout, Cammi Granato's ice hockey camp in the hope to continue the pursuit of her dream to become an elite women's hockey player. Her experience at the camp gave her a glimpse into the possible future of her career as player. As Coyne Schofield realized she was capable of the same achievements as Granato, she decided to chase a dream bigger than just playing collegiate ice hockey. 
 
"For me, holding her gold medal and seeing her Team USA jersey, that was the moment it hit me that I want to go to the Olympic games. Granato was my ultimate hero for sure," said Coyne Schofield, a Patty Kazmaier Award winner, given to the country's top college player.
 
Through her camp, Granato inspired Coyne Schofield to chase her dream of playing women's hockey at the highest level. Years later, Coyne Schofield has not only accomplished her dream, but has also become a role model who has paved the way for new opportunities for the future of women's hockey. 
 
Coyne Schofield is a part of a large group of former Northeastern University women's hockey players who have continued their involvement within the women's hockey community. After their time at Northeastern, these players have continued to pay their sport forward by pursuing career paths within the industry. By becoming coaches, playing at the professional and national levels, and working as broadcasters and media, former players have assumed roles in which they can continue the growth of women's hockey.
 
When these young women were growing up, there were no established youth hockey programs for girls so many of them had start their hockey career by playing boy's hockey. 
 
"Girls didn't play hockey in the area I was in," said Lindenwood University Coach Shelley Looney. "My family started my brother in hockey, and I used to have to tag along to the rinks. Halfway through the season he didn't want to go so at that point I asked if I could take his spot on the team." After graduating from Northeastern in 1995, Looney continued her successful hockey career as a member of the women's national team for Team USA over 13 seasons. 
 
Without the exposure to hockey, many of Northeastern's players wouldn't have achieved the success that they did at the collegiate and national levels. The same could be said for the program's coaches who have contributed immensely to Northeastern's transformation into a notable school for women's hockey. 
 
"I did a lot of volunteer coaching in youth hockey programs and coached boys for five or six years at the high school level. I started to hear that women were getting more opportunities to play at the high school and college level. At the time, Harvard and Northeastern were both looking for coaches, so I applied and got the job at Northeastern," said Don MacLeod, former Northeastern head coach and member of Northeastern's Hall of Fame. 
 
MacLeod had a successful coaching career at Northeastern for 11 years which included eight Beanpot Championships, two ECAC Championships, 42 straight wins and one undefeated season.
 
Predominantly a men's sport early on, women's hockey didn't begin to see a growth in the number of participants until Title IX was passed in 1972. The International Ice Hockey Federation accepted the United States women's team to compete in the first World Tournament in 1989-90.
 
"I had the honor to coach the first USA women's national team to a silver medal in the IIHF World Tournament. We lost 5-2, but there were about 10,000 people at the game so we must have done okay," MacLeod said. 
 
Another milestone for the sport followed the 1990 IIHF World Tournament, the 1998 Olympic Games were a turning point for women's hockey. Not only were the first Olympic women's hockey games held, but the U.S. took home the gold with a game winning goal scored by Northeastern Alumna, Shelley Looney. 
 
"It's pretty amazing to see the growth in numbers within USA Hockey, before the 98' Olympics and then after. We didn't know how impactful it was going to be for women's hockey, but I think that was a big jumpstart," Looney said.
 
Looney, who was coached by MacLeod at Northeastern, is a part of a substantial group of alumni from the Northeastern women's hockey program who have go on to be successful at the national and international levels.
 
After the Olympics, the sport's growth triumphed and resulted in the development of more opportunities for girls and women to play at the youth, high school, club, collegiate and professional levels. 
 
Today, there are approximately 80,000 girls registered with USA Hockey, 45 Division II and Division III programs, 31 Division I programs and six professional NWHL teams.
 
"When I first started playing, there weren't many Division I teams, we had about twelve maybe. When the 1998 Olympics happened, I think the sport started to gain a lot of attention and a lot more programs came about," said Hilary Witt, University of New Hampshire head coach. Before graduating in 2000, she had a tremendous college career as she was the first Northeastern player to tally 100 career goals or 200 career points. In addition to playing with the USA women's national team, she has been inducted into both the Beanpot Hall of Fame, Massachusetts Hall of Fame and served as an assistant coach at the Olympic team in Sochi. 
 
Since 1998, women's hockey has progressed greatly and the players who have chosen to stay involved with the sport have had a direct influence on its continued growth. 
 
Many players have taken the opportunity to not only hold a volunteer or assistant coaching position, but become head coaches at the youth, high school, collegiate and national levels.
 
"There's been a big topic regarding female coaches – that may not be a lifestyle that matches everybody, but I also think it can work. Little girls look up to other females, it's our duty to nurture the younger generation and women interested in coaching," Looney said.
 
Similar to Looney, many believe the best way to influence the youth of women's hockey is to have former players in coaching positions at every level. This has become a trend for many of the players from the Northeastern women's hockey program.
 
"The young girls need positive role models and that's what my players can provide. Whenever one of my players gets involved in coaching, I light right up and will do anything to help them get involved and stay involved," said Dave Flint, Northeastern University head coach. In just the past couple seasons, Flint has led the women's hockey team to three back-to-back-to-back Hockey East Championships and their first Beanpot Championship win since 2013.
 
Through coaching and a variety of different positions within hockey, Northeastern players have taken on the responsibility to create more opportunities for themselves and future generations in order to promote the sport on a larger scale. 
 
"Since graduating I've been in the broadcasting role a little bit, I've competed in seven world championships, continued to play on Team USA, started a foundation with my husband and started my own hockey camp," Coyne Schofield said, "I think it's extremely important for athletes of any sport to recognize that they're just not an athlete – they can be a role model, an ambassador, they can do so many things with their platforms. I've tried to do that since my time at Northeastern."
 
For their many contributions to the sport, Northeastern players have positively represented the university and program on a large scale. Former Northeastern standouts, Kendall Coyne Schofield (2012-2016) and Dani Rylan (2010-2013) were No. 1 and No. 3, respectively on SportsNet's 25 Most Powerful Women in Hockey.
 
Whether it's chasing a dream of playing for Team USA, racing against the players at the NHL All-Star weekend or becoming a head coach for a college team; Northeastern has bred an influential group of women's hockey players.
 
"I've been doing this for 19 years and obviously played before that. Every year it seems to grow more and more. More support and more notoriety and you have to appreciate the players who continued to make the game better for our growth," Witt said. 

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