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Her extra private achievements embody being a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which is given to the highest feminine school ice hockey participant every year. She lastly gained the award on the finish of this previous season (and gave a great speech afterwards.)
What may presumably be left for her to attain? Changing into an expert. For O’Brien, becoming a member of the PWHL is a part of a dream that extends again to her childhood.
“Once I was 5 – 6, I had chalkboards in my room with years written on them, they usually had been Olympic years,” stated O’Brien. “I knew from a younger age I needed to be an Olympian and play hockey.”
She was born in New York Metropolis, right into a household of 5 that included older brothers Jack and Max. As many youthful siblings do, O’Brien appeared as much as her older brothers and emulated their enjoyment of sports activities. She credit her older siblings for getting her into hockey and growing her aggressive streak.
O’Brien’s mother and father, Erika and Jamie, had been athletes. Erika performed squash at Yale whereas Jamie ran monitor at Bates. They rapidly realized their youngsters’s athletic potential and determined to maneuver the household to Milton, MA when O’Brien was 9.
Probably the most transformative choice that O’Brien made early in her profession was enrolling at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the elite prep program in Minnesota.
“With all the large names that went there, like [Brianna] Decker, I used to be like, I must go right here. This place is my dream,” stated O’Brien.
Although she initially utilized to hitch the prep faculty in eighth grade, she ended up ready till her sophomore 12 months to attend. “I believe it was good that I waited these two years as a result of even once I went as a sophomore, I did get actually homesick,” stated O’Brien. “I adjusted, but it surely undoubtedly took a bit. I believe it was properly value it as a result of I knew my dream was to get pretty much as good as I may at hockey, and Shattuck was the place to do it.”
Common messages from residence and journeys to see video games had been the primary methods during which her household supported her in these years. To at the present time, O’Brien stays shut along with her household. Her mother and father attended practically each Wisconsin sport final season. Those they couldn’t be in particular person, they watched on-line.
In the end, O’Brien made her title at Wisconsin, successful nationwide championships and growing into a really harmful participant on the ice. “Figuring out how gifted each single participant on the group was, I used to be simply attempting to be a sponge and be taught as a lot as I may,” O’Brien defined. “With out Wisconsin, with out the teammates that I had … I don’t assume I might be anyplace close to the participant I’m at present … that’s the place I actually rounded out my sport and discovered that being a 200-foot middle is extra beneficial than simply offense.”
