Natalie Darwitz is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in hockey
Forward Natalie Darwitz was the youngest player ever named to the U.S. women's national team when she joined the squad in 1999 at age 15. She earned a silver medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, where she scored a team-high seven goals, and a bronze medal in 2006 in Torino, where she scored three goals and had three assists. Darwitz also has three world championship golds, with the U.S. beating Canada in the
Darwitz played for the University of Minnesota through her junior year, the 2004-05 season. In her three years, she worked her way to the top of the school's all-time points (246) and assists (144) lists. In 2004-05, she set a single-season NCAA record with 114 points. And with college linemates and fellow 2006 Olympians Krissy Wendell and Kelly Stephens, the Gophers won their second-straight national championship. She returned to Minnesota after Torino, but only as a student, after forfeiting her senior season on the ice. Darwitz graduated from Minnesota in 2007 with a degree in business.
Darwitz remained in Minnesota as a member of USA Hockey's residency program in Blaine, a Minneapolis suburb. She spent one season helping her dad, Scott, who is head coach of the girls' team at nearby Eagan High School, before being offered the job of assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. Darwitz hesitated to accept the job because she was concerned it would conflict with her national team responsibilities, but Gophers head coach Brad Frost assured her that USA Hockey would come first. Darwitz also will take a break from coaching in the 2009-10 season, in order to focus fully on preparing for Vancouver.
In late 1997, Darwitz's mother, Nancy, was scouring Minnesota sporting goods stores for what she thought would be the perfect Christmas present for her daughter: a Team USA jersey. "Natalie seemed to love it," Nancy said. Ten months later—eight months after the U.S. women's team won gold in Nagano—Natalie was invited to the USA Hockey Festival in Lake Placid, New York, to compete against those same Olympians. Her mom suggested she bring the still unworn jersey for the players to sign. Once in Lake Placid, Natalie initially told her mom that she had forgotten it, but soon confessed. "She said, 'Mom, I don't want a store-bought jersey,'" Nancy said. Natalie never had to wear her Christmas present; she made her national team debut at age 15, playing four games at the December 1998 Three Nations Cup in Finland.
Darwitz began playing for the Eagan High School varsity girls hockey team in seventh grade. In that first season, competing against girls who were as much as five years older than she was, Darwitz totaled 85 goals and 48 assists in just 25 games. She had 170 goals to her name before she even enrolled at the high school. When she finally got there as a freshman, Darwitz missed part of the season to play with the U.S. national team. After her sophomore year, she was again asked to miss school—all of 2000-01, in fact—to train with the U.S. team in preperation for the 2001 World Championships and 2002 Olympics. Darwitz accepted. As a result, she took almost all of her 11th-grade courses via the Internet, overnight mail and faxes as she trained in Lake Placid.
Darwitz began ice skating at age 4 and was playing organized hockey a year later on a team coached by her father. "When I would leave for practice with (her brother) Ryan, she'd want to come along," says her father, Scott. "When I set up drills, she was right in there. She's been doing it ever since." As she got older, Natalie spent hours at the outdoor rink in town. "I remember times when the rink would close down at 10 p.m. during Christmas vacation," Scott says. "I'd have to leave the car lights on so she could keep playing. She just loves the game.".
Forward Natalie Darwitz was the youngest player ever named to the U.S. women's national team when she joined the squad in 1999 at age 15. She earned a silver medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, where she scored a team-high seven goals, and a bronze medal in 2006 in Torino, where she scored three goals and had three assists. Darwitz also has three world championship golds, with the U.S. beating Canada in the
finals in 2005, 2008 and 2009; and five silvers. At the 2008 Worlds, as team captain, Darwitz led the tournament in scoring and was named Best Forward in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation. As captain again in 2009, Darwitz led the team to another world title, tying for the scoring lead with teammate Julie Chu.
Darwitz played for the University of Minnesota through her junior year, the 2004-05 season. In her three years, she worked her way to the top of the school's all-time points (246) and assists (144) lists. In 2004-05, she set a single-season NCAA record with 114 points. And with college linemates and fellow 2006 Olympians Krissy Wendell and Kelly Stephens, the Gophers won their second-straight national championship. She returned to Minnesota after Torino, but only as a student, after forfeiting her senior season on the ice. Darwitz graduated from Minnesota in 2007 with a degree in business.
Darwitz remained in Minnesota as a member of USA Hockey's residency program in Blaine, a Minneapolis suburb. She spent one season helping her dad, Scott, who is head coach of the girls' team at nearby Eagan High School, before being offered the job of assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. Darwitz hesitated to accept the job because she was concerned it would conflict with her national team responsibilities, but Gophers head coach Brad Frost assured her that USA Hockey would come first. Darwitz also will take a break from coaching in the 2009-10 season, in order to focus fully on preparing for Vancouver.
In late 1997, Darwitz's mother, Nancy, was scouring Minnesota sporting goods stores for what she thought would be the perfect Christmas present for her daughter: a Team USA jersey. "Natalie seemed to love it," Nancy said. Ten months later—eight months after the U.S. women's team won gold in Nagano—Natalie was invited to the USA Hockey Festival in Lake Placid, New York, to compete against those same Olympians. Her mom suggested she bring the still unworn jersey for the players to sign. Once in Lake Placid, Natalie initially told her mom that she had forgotten it, but soon confessed. "She said, 'Mom, I don't want a store-bought jersey,'" Nancy said. Natalie never had to wear her Christmas present; she made her national team debut at age 15, playing four games at the December 1998 Three Nations Cup in Finland.
Darwitz began playing for the Eagan High School varsity girls hockey team in seventh grade. In that first season, competing against girls who were as much as five years older than she was, Darwitz totaled 85 goals and 48 assists in just 25 games. She had 170 goals to her name before she even enrolled at the high school. When she finally got there as a freshman, Darwitz missed part of the season to play with the U.S. national team. After her sophomore year, she was again asked to miss school—all of 2000-01, in fact—to train with the U.S. team in preperation for the 2001 World Championships and 2002 Olympics. Darwitz accepted. As a result, she took almost all of her 11th-grade courses via the Internet, overnight mail and faxes as she trained in Lake Placid.
Darwitz began ice skating at age 4 and was playing organized hockey a year later on a team coached by her father. "When I would leave for practice with (her brother) Ryan, she'd want to come along," says her father, Scott. "When I set up drills, she was right in there. She's been doing it ever since." As she got older, Natalie spent hours at the outdoor rink in town. "I remember times when the rink would close down at 10 p.m. during Christmas vacation," Scott says. "I'd have to leave the car lights on so she could keep playing. She just loves the game.".
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