RC: Bri, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?
BM: I am 22 years old from Ohio. I started playing hockey when I was 4 or 5 years old. I grew up playing boys hockey until I was 16 when I switched over to the women’s program with the Ohio Flames. I went on to play for the Robert Morris Colonials for college hockey. I am going into my final year as a nursing major after taking the year off to compete in the Olympics.
RC: Who has influenced and motivated you through your career?
BM: I have had many influential coaches and trainers throughout my life who have believed in me and urged me to compete at the next level. When I had the opportunity to try out with the national team, my teammates were also very supportive and spent hours on the ice with me making sure I was ready for try-outs. My older brother Michael was the one who got me into hockey when I was younger and was always my biggest critic besides myself. He would shoot me straight and let me know exactly what I needed to work on. Even to this day he has been extremely supportive and proud of what I’ve accomplished. As well as my brother, both of my parents have supported me in my dreams and sacrificed more than I know to get me to ALL of my practices, games, and events. They always tried their best to keep me focused on the right track to achieve my goals. I wouldn’t be where I am now without all the support and encouragement of everyone in my life and especially my family.
RC: Being a part of the Olympic Experience must have been great, tell us a little about that?
BM: Since August we had been trained not only on the ice but also in representing the USA. The longer the year went on I had experienced certain situations that would make me realize what that meant. We were not only representing ourselves but our country as well. It was such a cool experience to wear our nation’s colors and be such an influence on the younger generation of athletes. Walking out into opening ceremonies in one huge USA team, one of the bobsledders got us all into a huddle and started a “USA” chant. That was the moment everything came together for me and I realized where we were and what it meant to be there. Getting the silver medal was the proudest moment of my life. Standing there as a team remembering everything we had gone through the last 6 months and everything we had accomplished. The whole arena chanted “USA…USA” and I could see my family up in the corner with a big sign with my name and number on it waving and screaming as I got an Olympic medal put around my neck.
RC: Were there any teams in Vancouver that impressed you?
BM: I didn’t get to a whole lot of other events due to our schedule but I did make it to speed skating and men’s hockey. I made friends with a lot of the speed skaters and they impressed me. I didn’t realize how much went into just skating around doing laps and how strong they were. You don’t realize how fast they are actually going until you watch in real life. I couldn’t believe it. Men’s hockey also really impressed me because going into the tournament they weren’t expected to do much. If you talked to them you would have never guessed that was “suppose” to be their destiny. They were as determined as anyone else to make a name for themselves and prove everyone wrong, and they did. They made it to the gold medal game and took the Canadians into and overtime loss and received a silver medal as well.
RC: What type of obstacles did you have to overcome in order to make it on the US Olympic team?
BM: Being from Ohio which is not exactly a big hockey state, it’s harder to get noticed. Even getting to the college level, I only had a few colleges that were interested. I had my fair share of third goalie offers and the opportunity to “never play my whole four years.” I also had some division 3 schools show interest. Here at RMU, I was offered the starting spot to compete for along with another freshman goalie. It wasn’t until the end of my Junior year that I was invited to my first USA U-22 try out. I didn’t really know anyone and no one really knew me. I ended up making the team and began making a name for myself. I hadn’t heard from the USA program until the following summer; this time competing for a spot on the actual national team going to the Olympics.
RC: How has training impacted your success with Hockey?
BM: To play at an elite level you need to be in shape. I started training off ice once I got to high school playing with the boys. As the only girl on the team I needed to be stronger. That gave me an advantage once I started playing with the girls. I was used to working out and playing at the speed of boys and I think that showed enough to get recruited and play college hockey. Once I started playing at the college level, training also ramped up. At this level I knew my off ice training was what was going to get me to the next level. I made the decision to stay in the area for the next three summers and prepare with our trainer. When pre-season would come around, the few of us that stayed for the summer were more than ready for the season and in much better shape.
RC: How did you and the US Olympic team prepare for this past winter Olympics?
BM: We came together in Blaine, MN in September after August try-outs and began working together. Every morning we had anywhere from a one to two hour practice followed by an off ice hour long work out. We ended every workout with foam rolling and stretching and any additional training we needed. Mondays were completely dedicated to power skating. We had power skating specialists come out with us for an hour or two and work on specific skating technique. We also had a day set a side for yoga and mental training.
RC: Is there a difference in the type of training you currently do to prepare you for your next competition?
BM: Training with the USA program, we focused a lot of our weight training towards lower body and core work. As a hockey player you need to have strong hips and quads. We did a lot of one legged exercises and jumps. Either before or after workouts, we also worked on core. We also did supplemental workouts on bike circuits. As a goalie, our game is aerobic as far as our heart rate goes so we would mirror our bike sessions to our game capacities. The players would do more of an anaerobic training session to mirror their shift by shift game habits.
RC: How to be successful at your sport in 5 words?
BM: Sacrifice, support, dedication, teamwork, consistency.
RC: You’ve been to the Olympics, what’s next?
BM: I will go back to school in the fall to finish my nursing degree. While I’m doing that I will continue to train and get on the ice. I plan on continuing my Olympic dream for 2014, so as long as I get invited back to the USA camps, I will be there. I really want to work with the youth programs both here and in the Cleveland area this summer. So I have plans to work with the mite program back home and my old Ohio Flames teams.
