(uplifting instrumental music) (intense electronic music) - As a team, I think it's just being able to look in the mirror and know that you did your best, it's not always looking at the wins and the losses, and I know people say that a lot, but it's true.

At the end of the day I always said, "If they wanna come back tomorrow, we did our job."

(intense electronic music) - [People] One, two, three, four... (indistinct) (intense electronic music) (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) - [Narrator] "Next Up Minnesota" is made possible by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

- My name is Paul Olsen, I'm from Worthington, Minnesota, I originally grew up in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and I am the head coach...

Co-head coach for the girl's Worthington high school hockey team, and I've been coaching for over 30 years.

My parents got me involved with it real early, and I loved it, the comradery, the friends at you have, some of the closest friends I have nowadays still are the ones that I played youth hockey with, and I just really enjoyed the sport, it was a lot of fun, I had a lot of energy, so it was a way for me to get that out, and then, the coaching just kind of came naturally because being a teacher, they liked to get you into coaching and working with the younger groups is what we did in high school also, and so it just kind of...

It snowballed from there and I started coaching when I got here and I haven't stopped.

- What motivated me to get involved with coaching was I played hockey for, like, 10 years, and after I graduated high school I wanted to stay involved with the team 'cause I was going to college in the same town and I knew all the girls, I knew the coaching staff already, and I just...

I love hockey so I want to just give back what I was given when I was with them.

- All my sisters do it, my dad coached, my uncles coached, all my cousins play, and I think, like, it's, like, a really big part of our family, I feel like it just, like, connects us all together really well.

- What motivated me to play hockey is my whole family played it, all my cousins, my dad, my uncles.

Really just it being... My whole family being involved really just motivated me to be involved, It made us all closer as a family, I feel like.

(upbeat piano music) - My name is Sadie Nickel, I'm from Worthington, Minnesota, I play defense, and I've been on the varsity team for five years.

- My name is Peyton Nickel, I'm from Worthington, Minnesota, I play center, and I've been on the team for five years.

- I feel like what motivates us as a team is partially last year, we didn't really win a lot of games, and I think finally, like, winning, like... We've won two so far, and I think that's really helped us, like, get more drive, working harder and working together to just, like, accomplish more.

- Last year we did not win any games, and this year we started winning games which is helping motivate us in knowing that we can win games and giving us the motivation that we needed.

- Well, we've had some lean years where we didn't have many skaters, we didn't have many wins, and now, we're getting newer, younger girls to come in, so we have a few more players, and we're just trying to slowly work our way up that win chart and to work our way up in the conference, and some of our goals are to finish better than last... (indistinct) We're in the bottom two, we want to be in the middle of the conference at least, and we just try to set goals that are attainable.

- My name is Kory Nickel, I'm from Worthington, Minnesota, I am an assistant coach with the girl's hockey team and I've been coaching for three years.

During this season, to tackle the challenges we've had, I feel like we have a really young team so it's been good to work just with the younger players, get them more accustomed to varsity play 'cause it's a big jump going from youth hockey playing against high schoolers, so I feel like this season, we've had to just kind of go back to the basics to get everybody working together instead of just individually.

- Success means, to me, not necessarily always winning but say we have, like, a goal in mind for our... For, like, a game and, like... And we get it done, and it works, and, like, everyone's happy, I feel like that, like, makes us successful, like, it's not always just winning, it's about, like, accomplishing things together.

- As a team, I think it's just being able to look in the mirror and know that you did your best, know that you're getting better, and to be able to be happy with your performance.

It's not always looking at the wins and the losses, and I know people say that a lot, but it's true.

At the end of the day I always said, "If they want to come back tomorrow, we did our job."

- Success to me does not only mean winning, it's more of growing as a team getting better at things.

We may not win the game, but if we improved on something in the game than I would say that's a success.

- Going over the small hurdles just as much as the big ones, doing small tasks and being successful, to me, is just as much as making, like, big stuff happen.

And as a team, I feel like we try to look at the small successes as well, like, it's not always about winning, it's about, like, if we do something at practice, and then, it's successful in a game, we try to celebrate that.

- We have, like... A lot of girls, like, are very, like, outgoing, and we also have a few that are very quiet, but I feel like we all really mix together really well.

Everyone really looks out for each other and, like, no one really gets left out.

- I feel like our team has a lot of energy, there's some quiet girls but when we're in the locker room in-between periods, we always have music going, we're always up dancing, singing together as a team with high energy, like, staying pumped for the game.

- The dynamic of our team is very positive, which is good, I feel like every couple years we have just issues of just small things that can happen, but this season it's been mostly positive, and I feel like the girls have a lot to do with that, they're all very close and they kind of treat each other like a family, which helps, like, nobody's afraid to, you know, get anybody mad or do something wrong because they just trust each other.

- The younger girls definitely have a lot of energy, we have seen that with our three hour karaoke sessions on bus rides every once in a while, but other than that they really just...

They wanna learn, they ask a lot of questions, they look at film, I get questions all the time during games, I get questions during practice, during dry land training, and this is something that has really started to become more and more prevalent as these younger girls move up because they want to be to the level of the girls that have been here for years and they're willing to put in the time.

(tense electronic music) - So qualities that I think... That are effective for a team to work is just trust, which we've been working on a lot recently is trusting your teammates to do their job, and then, them trusting you to do your job.

The players being open with each other, being open with the coaches, the coaches being open to the players helps a lot.

So if you can get off a quick shot, take it, and then, forwards, really try to push her back in the net so passing in the zone will push her back in.

- Are they beatable?

(indistinct) We gotta show that.

We gotta show that we are gonna skate harder than them, because when they get tired... (indistinct) You look at the face-offs and they're out there standing there laying on their sticks with their hands on their knee.

So if you pass and if you work together they're gonna be skating a lot harder and they're gonna get a lot more tired.

You have to be able to admit that you're not perfect and that other people aren't gonna be, but you're in this together, so you fight through it the best you can, and you help each other up, you pick each other up when you need it, you're critical at times, and you let them know what you're honestly thinking, but at the same time, you don't take it super personal and get hurt about it.

- Definitely, like, understanding, like... Understanding, like, when you mess up and when others mess up that, like, it's okay and, like, we can, like, move past it, just work together to accomplish more.

I definitely think that, like... Just, like, being kind to one another, like, we're all, like... We all have the same goal in mind, we're all trying to play the same game, we all love it here, and I just think, like, that's also, like, a big part of teamwork and working together.

(indistinct) - You had a good shot on that!

(faintly speaking) - Having a good connection with people, like, not only being friends in hockey but, like, outside of the locker room we all need to be able to, like, not hate each other, and be friends with each other so we can connect.

- I think just watching them go to other games together and sitting together, and then, spending all of this time on the hours on the bus riding in, in the hotel and stuff like that, that you start to see their personalities emerge.

And they have really been close together, when you see the seniors are talking to the eighth and ninth graders, it's just one big group, it's not little cliques here and there, and we're really trying to help that along, but the girls do a really good job themselves.

(whistle blowing) (upbeat electronic music) (upbeat electronic music continues) (people exclaiming) (intense electronic music) - I feel like an experience that's strengthened our team's bond was probably this... Like, two weeks ago, we won our first game in the season and we hadn't won a game at all last season, so I think that just gave the girls a big push to just keep working harder 'cause now they know that we can be successful in games, so it'll help them push on and keep working every game.

- Just winning games, like...

Losing, we still have... Like, we bond, but winning games really just makes us grow closer and, like, makes us enjoy the sport more, so we enjoy being with our team more.

(crowd cheering) (uplifting piano music) - I think our community really supports us by, like, coming out to our games and, like, watching us, and, like, being there through, like, the wins and the losses, people coming out to, like, our away games and watching us, like, seeing, like, familiar faces at the stands really helps, like, when you're playing a game, like, five hours away, so that's really nice.

- We had a losing record, so people didn't really like to come watch, but now that they know that we can win games, we've had more people coming and cheering us on and being more supportive since we are actually winning.

(laughs) - I feel like the community really supports, like, the youth programs and the high school programs alike, not just in sports, we did, like, music activities, the arts, so I feel like just the girls working hard and trying to do their best shows the community that they wanna do good for them too so that community can continue to support us.

- I think it's just to show everybody that we're here, and that we can be successful, and we just try to represent our town well.

Something that they can be proud of, something they can come out and watch, they can enjoy the game, and then, the girls, they do a lot of stuff out in the community, they're involved in other sports and other activities, and so, we just really encourage them to do that.

- I feel like our team's achievements, not necessarily of always winning but being a competitive team, kind of promotes and encourages community members, and also, like, high-schoolers, people around town, just to come out and support, so I feel like us being...

Working on being more successful will help motivate them to come out and support us.

- [Sadie] I think a way that, like, the community has given back to us is showing up for Beat the Trojans, we won, so that was... That really added to, like, the effect of, like, seeing, like, everyone there safeguard, like, one of our big wins.

- When I look in the stands, I can see the community just being more supportive in us and cheering us on more, and believing in us more, which makes us all feel better and more motivated.

- [Interviewer] How is your team able to set an example for the younger generation of your community?

- Well, we just try to tell the girls that you have to remember, the young girls are looking at you.

They're watching what you do, they're watching how you act, they're watching things that happen in the community whether it be at the rink or outside of the rink, and you need to represent yourself well.

You have to represent your parents well, your community, and your team well, and if you start to do that, it will trickle down and they will start to see, this is how you have to act, this is what is expected of us, and then, it's easier when they get up at this level.

- I know we have a couple girls that will go out and skate with the youth teams, like the 10U and 12U girls teams, and I think that really helps girls stay in hockey and just, overall, kids get interested in the sport, and I know we also do a "try hockey for free," so where kids in the community can come out, put on renter skates, and just go out and skate with players and just kinda learn some basic stuff about the game.

- During our games, we can see all the younger girls in the stands, and after, they like to give us knuckles when we get off the ice, and just being involved with the younger girls really just helps, like, giving 'em knuckles, waving at 'em during the game, really just acknowledging them, I think, really benefits it.

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) - An obstacle that we've, like, overcome this past season is, like, showing up for games, not, like, literally, but, like, hypothetically, like, mentally, like, preparing to show up for games and play hard all three periods I think.

At the beginning of the season, we kinda, like, had a hard time with that.

As, like, the season has progressed and, like, we've been improving a lot, I think we really started to, like, actually, like, show up, like, mentally, physically prepared to play.

(gentle piano music) - Some of the obstacles are just when we have people that get hurt or we have things that happen during a game where somebody maybe can't play, and other girls will jump in and take that place, that happens a lot and they like to pick each other up and we haven't had any bad ones like we had a couple years ago, but this year, it's just little challenges here and there where we have periods where we don't play so well and you can see the girls all of a sudden start to encourage each other, start to slap each other on the helmet and get...

Try to get everybody back on the same page so that they can pull out of whatever funk it happens to be they're in.

- Throughout the season is just having a young team, it's hard to get the girls accustomed to playing against... Like, we have freshman and eighth-graders playing majority against teams that have juniors and seniors in high school, so when you're putting a 15-year-old against an 18-year-old, there's a big difference in skill and just overall, like, knowledge in the game, so I feel like just working on getting them more used to playing at this level.

Kind of in youth hockey, sometimes, it's a big difference in skill level with your teammates 'cause you have kids that just join, and then, kids that have been in hockey for years, so it can be kind of, like, a one-to-two-man show skating it coast to coast on the ice, so getting up on varsity, we have to kinda teach 'em to have some hockey sense and to play together as a team, which is something we've been trying to work on a lot.

- At the beginning of the season, I was getting in my head a lot in the games, like, I was being too hard on myself, I feel like, and as the season's gone on, I've loosened up a little bit and realized that, like, this is a team sport and not an individual sport, so relying more on my teammates too and not just on myself, and trusting my teammates has really helped.

As a senior, I've learned a lot of respect for myself in the sport and teamwork, and being able to trust other people to help you, and I feel like that's really gonna benefit me for the future.

- It's different because I've coached both the boy's and the girl's high school, and with the girls, you have to talk to them a little bit differently, you have to deal with them a little bit differently, at times during practice, there's things that they do that I just shake my head and skate away, and it's just...

It's not worth addressing at this time, but overall, I think they may be more attentive to the game of hockey because they ask really good questions, and I have to figure out different ways to explain things because they may not understand one way, so I have to try to find another way, it's a lot like teaching, and so, I've learned to look at the game differently and maybe come up with different analogies for them because the hockey...

Since they don't watch as much hockey as they probably could, and so, I have to show them examples, I have to show them YouTube videos and things like that so they get an idea of what it is, so it's changed how I view the player and how you have to be effective and communicate with them.

- Being so young, 'cause I just graduated high school three years ago, was being the girls' friend, like, I'm not their friend but I'll be friendly, I still have to, like, be an authoritative figure, I want them to come to me if they're having problems or if they need to talk, but sometimes, I have to, like, create a boundary, like, "Okay, I am not your friend in high school, I'm your coach on the ice," which...

It's been hard, but I think it helps having Chad and Paul also be there to help me kind of work through that kinda stuff at the same time.

- Some qualities that I would take from my, like, past three years in hockey, I would take, like, trying hard with everything I do and try my best with everything because hockey is, like...

It's a hard sport, but, like, the result is very rewarding, like, knowing you tried your best out there, you get what you give.

(inspiring orchestral music) (indistinct) (inspiring orchestral music) - The team really supports each other during tough times by just encouraging each other, which I feel like our team is very close and they just know how to lift each other up, they try not to get upset with each other, and instead of being mad, they talk it out or they just encourage each other, and I feel like with the coaching staff too, we try to, like, explain to them...

If something wrong happens, we try to not, you know, get so irritated at them, we try to help them learn from that instead of getting sad.

- During tough times, they basically just pick each other.

They'll say what they need to say, and then, it's just knuckles and, "Let's go.

Let's go."

A lot of times, you just sit and listen.

There's a few times where they've had concerns or things that were bothering them, you just sit and listen, just basically be there for them because you spend a lot of time together, especially on those long road trips and things like that, you spend a lot of time together, so if they are comfortable enough to come to me with concerns or with things that are bothering them, then that's perfect, that's exactly what we need.

- Even though, like, we lose a game and, like, things, like, kinda feel, like, hopeless, there's always, like, one or two girls who really, like, bring that energy back and whether it's just, like, play music in the locker room or, like, someone just, like, yelling, like, "Hey, like, we got this, we're gonna keep playing," I think that really helps.

- Our team is a very supportive team with each other, we're always helping each other, lifting each other up, never trying to put anyone down, we're always happy, yelling and cheering in the locker room, and if you see someone down, someone will always go up and talk to 'em, and give 'em a little pep talk, try to bring them up, and it's just, like...

I feel like, as a team, we just really aren't ever down and, like, we're always up in high-end energy, trying to brush off all the bad things that are happening.

(upbeat orchestral music) There's been a couple times where I really just wanted to give up and be done, like, when we play the difficult teams who are absolutely demolishing us, it gets really hard, but you just have to go out there and you have to give it your hardest no matter what, it's a team effort, it's not just you, you can't pin it all on yourself, like, give up... Go out there and give it your all, no matter what the score is, whether you're winning or losing, you just have to keep trying.

- Knowing that, like, you're not just out there alone, like, trying to, like, win, we're all out there doing the same thing, we're all trying to, like, keep the shots off and, like, skate it down and try to score.

- I think a moment that was really tough was last season, we didn't win any games, which is very hard as a player, and as a coach, I felt like maybe we weren't doing enough for the team, like, we weren't giving them the right drills, and the right skills, and the right help and support to help them be successful.

Sticking to what you know and really just being a supportive coach, promoting the team to be supportive towards other kinda just helps everybody push on through and just reminding them of, like, the successful little things, like scoring a goal or getting so many shots on net, like, it's not always about winning, you can't always win games, but you can still be a successful team without necessarily winning games.

You guys did a great job staying calm and not getting overwhelmed, which helped tremendously in those last few minutes.

- Took the puck into the corner just to stall time, I love it!

(people exclaiming in excitement) (upbeat orchestral music) A couple of the games we've had where there's about a four or five-minute stretch where we give up quite a few goals, and it'd be easy just to say, "All right, let's pack it up and go home."

But you know, it's not... You know, it's not over, we've gotta learn how to face adversity and we have to learn how to come back from it, and so, you try to just gather them together, give them some confidence, give them a few things to work on, a few things we need to change, and then, slowly make progress.

- I think a big part of that that helps is, like, our coaches, they're always telling us, like, what we can do better and how we can improve.

They're not afraid to, like, tell us that, like...

When we're playing bad, like, they'll tell us, just be like, "Hey, you guys really gotta pick it up this period."

- Every time... Every second you're on the ice, skate 100%.

That's what it comes down to.

I'm not gonna tell you that this...

They're better or worse than us.

The problem is is when we come and play... (indistinct) Like this, we play down.

- I think that really helps... Like, that, like, constructive criticism helps, like, be like, "All right, we gotta keep going, we gotta keep playing."

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) - I think diversity within our team and my coaching is kind of like... All the girls are so different, like, they have different personalities, they have different family lifestyles, and it's just...

I'm able to learn a lot and just kind of change how I, like, speak to them, if this player acts this way and this other player asks another way, changing how I talk to them and changing how I coach them can help just give everybody the support that they need.

- You have to deal with different players differently.

There's some I can get right in their face and I can just tell 'em what they did wrong, and there's others that if you do that, they'll immediately shut down, so you learn their personalities, what is it gonna take to get them to do what we need them to do to become part of the team and to work together, there's different maturity levels, there's different experiences that they've had, they come from different backgrounds, different towns even in this case, and so, you just have to kinda learn their personalities, how to deal with them, and then, just remember that when you're talking to them or you're addressing them one-on-one.

- We have a very young team, so there's a lot of different age gaps.

It's just the different mature levels between us, a lot of the other teams have a lot of older girls, I try to just tell them to be a little more tough-skinned and not let the age gap between the other teams and them get to them, they can go out there, and if they play their hardest, they can keep up with them, they can skate with them and play against 'em.

- We all share this common interest, we're out here to do it together and have fun, that just really helps keep us all together.

(relaxed orchestral music) (relaxed orchestral music continues) (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) - In the future, next seasons, I think we really need to improve on hockey sense, knowing the game, not just doing everything on your own, like, you can't do it on your own, you have to support your teammates, you have to be trustworthy, you have to do your job, typically just promoting them to, you know, watch film, stick-handle, shoot at home, we can't do everything in an hour practice time, so just working on independent work, but also, being-a-supportive-teammate elements.

- Some of the areas I think we could improve in would probably be, like, just working on our stick-handling, which is something, like, our coaches have told us, like, it's something you have to work on on your own time as well, not just here.

(hockey stick clattering) (dramatic orchestral music) Being confident you can carry the puck down to the other end of the ice, and, like, knowing that your teammates will be there to, like, catch a pass.

- Our team can improve in a couple ways, stick-handling, just making plays, really passing, but with our very young team, they're all very good players, so I think as they grow older, they will get better at that and they will get very far in the future.

- I think it's just watching a little more hockey and having a little more hockey sense so that they understand the flow of the game.

A lot of times, when you get to youth hockey players, they're good at drawing an X and saying, "This is where I stand, and this is the line I skate on that the coach drew on the board," and, well, if there's somebody standing there, you don't do that, you have to adapt to it, and that just comes from watching a lot more hockey.

(inspiring orchestral music) - Any advice that I would give to any athlete out there is to go out there and give it your all, no matter what, no matter you're winning...

If you're winning or if you're losing, never give up, give it your all every day.

- Have fun, surrounding yourself with, like, people who lift you up and not bring you down, you're there to have fun and play the sport you love.

- It's okay to celebrate the little things.

From experience, you can't always be the best team in the state, be the best team in your conference, sometimes, you can't even be the best team in your area, but focusing on creating little goals, and then, accomplishing those instead of making a huge goal can help with your self-confidence, but also, help you keep pushing on.

(uplifting orchestral music) - Small gains, you're not gonna instantly, just 'cause you work out one summer, come back and be the star player.

Pick something small to work on, something to improve on, once you get that down, then move on to the next thing, but you have to put in a lot of time.

A lot of the athletes here put in the time.

You have to put in extra time, you have to go that extra distance.

(dramatic orchestral music) - [Narrator] "Next Up Minnesota" is made possible by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues)