The 2022 Winter Olympic games are underway and Women’s Hockey Team Captain Kendall Coyne is competing for the third time! She’s defending the Gold Medal for Team USA in Beijing and she also won the silver medal in the 2014 Olympics. We talked with her about growing up as one of the only girls in this male-dominated sport, the sacrifices of her family, and her new book “As Fast As Her”
Interviewed for Family Entourage
Kelli Gillespie: Absolutely. I want to take it back to your childhood. When you put on those skates for the first time, there’s no way you could have had any idea that they would take you to where you’re at today. And now adding author to that list, which is so exciting. I know this has been a longtime goal of yours to write your story. So, what does it mean to you to see As Fast As Her come to fruition?
Kendall Coyne: It’s a dream come true. And honestly my goal is that I hope it inspires someone else. I hope it inspires them to follow their dreams. As I mentioned in the book I wasn’t born to play hockey, I really just picked up the sport because I wanted to do what my brother was doing at the time. And when I started playing hockey, women’s hockey wasn’t even in the Olympic games. It wasn’t an Olympic sport. So to know where this game would take me is nearly impossible when I started it. But what was possible, and what I did know, was how much I loved the sport, how much passion I had for the sport at even such a young age. And it’s really that love, that passion, that drive, and work ethic that was ingrained in me. Because I love this sport so much, that really helped get me to where I am today.
And throughout the book in As Fast As Her there’s so many stories of my career, my journey, my journey through life that helped get me to where I am today. And some of those stories are… sometimes it can be scary to share moments that I was like I didn’t realize it at the time, why I went through it or why it was so hard and why this was happening to me. But as I was writing this book, as I was reflecting back on my journey, I started to realize the why. And that’s why it was so important to me to write this book and to really put those stories on paper to show people, it wasn’t a straight line, it wasn’t as easy as it looks. And hopefully some of my stories can influence some of the other people who are reading my book too… whether it’s to follow their dreams, whether it’s in hockey, or in anything else.
KG: You were a girl in a male-dominated sport, talk about those challenges and how you overcame them. Now girls can go pick up your book on the shelf and have somewhat of a blueprint.
KC: When I put on my first pair of skates there definitely weren’t many girls in the rink. But I didn’t really realize that, I just realized I love this sport, I loved to chase the puck around, skate fast, and follow my brother to the rink. And I really didn’t recognize it. And then as I get older I got cut from a team — and that story is in the book — and not really understanding why I got cut until years later I recognized maybe the why. And then I started to look around the room and the Blackhawks games weren’t on TV growing up in the Chicagoland area. When I would go to school and PE would be my favorite hockey unit, no one really would get as excited as me. And they’re like, you play this sport?
And then for the kids that did know the sport, they’re like, girls don’t play this sport. So there were always these phrases, or these sentiments around me playing the sport. Whether it was people that didn’t know about the sport, people that did and knew it was male dominated at that time. But then when I’d go home and it was no different. It was just another sport that I played with my brother. And then my little brother started to play, and then my little sister started to play. At my house, it was completely normal. It was outside the house that it felt so abnormal to everybody else. And it was kind of channeling those feelings of why is this so odd to everybody else? Because right here at home, it’s completely normal. And I think it was really finding that love and that passion that I talked about before. Every time I walked into the rink I wanted to be there.
I was waking my parents up saying, let’s go! We’ve hockey practice today. They never made me go to the rink, they never made me train, they never made me want to love the sport of hockey. I just had that desire inside me. And so it was really tuning out some of those naysayers that said I didn’t belong in the sport. And ultimately leaning on those who told me I did. The coaches that I had along the way that treated me just as another hockey player on the team. Not as the only girl on the team. Just another member of the team and made me feel just as equal and no different. And it was really leaning on those people throughout my career that helped me get to where I am today.
KG: You talk about your parents, and obviously to play at the level that you’re at, they would’ve had to been pretty instrumental and have made sacrifices. What impact, or what have they done to support your career that hits home most with you?
KC: Everything. To be honest… in the book I talk about how my mom was a teller at the racetrack. And then when one became two, and two became four, pretty quickly in terms of kids in the Coyne household, I witnessed my mom give up her career so that we could fulfill ours. And I don’t think there’s any greater sacrifice in that because I know how much she loves working, and how she’s such a workhorse. And she loved being at the racetrack, and around her coworkers.
When you’re young you don’t really understand it, but she did that so that we could fulfill ours. And then as we start to get older and bills became more expensive and hockey was expensive, I saw her become a cleaning lady, a lunch lady, and doing any odd side jobs that she could to help bring in extra money so that we could continue to play the sport. And same with my dad. He continued his job, but then would do extra jobs along the way. And so when people talk about my work ethic, I had the best leaders and role models right in front of me. And they didn’t even have to say anything. I just had to watch the work that they put in every day so that I could live out my dream and play the sports I loved. And it wasn’t just hockey, I was playing basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, I was doing it all. And to have their work ethic showed me that there’s no reason that I can’t give it my best every time I have the opportunity to go out there and play because they’ve provided that opportunity for me.
KG: One of my favorite things throughout your book are these “Golden Coynes” And yes it’s a play on your last name which I love, and they’re sprinkled throughout. So share a little bit about how these motivational thoughts came about.
KC: So a lot of it came about after talking about the chapter, writing the chapter, and really like what was that take away from that chapter for me? And I will say coming up with your own quotes is very hard. Some of them obviously are ones that are really well known quotes, but those are quotes that mean so much to me. When I think of that chapter it’s this quote that came to mind in that moment, it isn’t an original golden coyne.
But really it was just really the strong message, the source of inspiration just to go back to when you may be trying to look for something to help you get through that tough time or to celebrate that awesome time. You can go back to that golden coyne and it really hopefully hammers home not only the chapter, but the moment and how I experienced that moment through that one small lesson in the golden coyne.
KG: Now your husband’s an athlete too, [Super Bowl Champion Mike Schofield] he plays professional football. But the two of you knew each other from high school, is that correct?
KC: So we went to the same high school, but we didn’t know each other in high school. So we’re not technically high school sweethearts. But we did go to the same high school. But similar to my story, he was so busy with his academic and athletic schedule playing football for the school. He was kind of on his own path this way, and I was on my own path this way. And we didn’t meet each other until after the 2014 Olympics.
KG: How do the two of you sharpen each other and compartmentalize and actually just have time where it’s the two of you and sports may be not involved?
KC: We’re each other’s biggest fans in sport, but more importantly in life. He’s my biggest fan literally and figuratively. But I think it’s such a unique bond that we have. Each of us have been able to accomplish our childhood dreams whether it was winning the Super Bowl or winning a gold medal. And being at the pinnacle of our sport that we’ve put so much time and commitment and sacrifice into.
And so there’s just kind of that unspoken, known commitment that we have to our jobs, to our sport. But then that commitment only is greater when it comes to our relationship and to each other. Sports dominate our life away from each other so when we do get to be with each other, sometimes we don’t even talk about sports. Because I think that’s definitely the most challenging part in our relationship is not being able to be with each other.
And especially through COVID with us playing our sports in two different states and the risk, and mitigating the risk, and not being with each other, trying to be with each other. And the Olympic year is always definitely the hardest year because we basically go five to six months without seeing each other. Maybe for two to four days of those six months. But we understand what we’re dealing with and we’ve been through it before.
We’ve been pretty distant during the sports seasons since my junior year of college. So, we just have a really deep appreciation for the time that we do get together. And like everybody, we’re really good at Zoom and FaceTime.
