By Michael Rand ~ Monique Lamoureux-Morando, a standout hockey player for Team USA, gave her country a reason to stay up entirely too late a couple of months ago when she scored the game-tying goal for the Americans in the Olympic gold medal game against Canada. When her twin sister Jocelyne scored in the shootout to help clinch the gold, it was the culmination of years of experience playing hockey for both.

USA Hockey announced today that Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head coach of the University of Minnesota Duluth women's ice hockey team, has been named head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team for the 2018-19 season. Joining her as assistant coaches will be Josh Sciba, head women's ice hockey coach at Union College, and Brianna Decker, member of the gold medal-winning 2018 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team.

By Ryan Williamson ~ As a three-time United States Olympian, three-time All-American and two-time NCAA national champion at the University of Minnesota, Natalie Darwitz was already legendary as a player. Now she’s adding to her legacy in the world of coaching. Raised in Eagan, Minnesota, Darwitz just completed her third year as head coach of the Hamline University women’s hockey program. She has helped the team to improve from near the bottom of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to a third-place finish in this year’s NCAA Division III tournament. That performance led to her being named national Division III women’s coach of the year by U.S. College Hockey Online. We recently talked with Darwitz about her work with the Pipers.

Lady Blackhawks is a program for girls ages 11-14 who have experience playing organized hockey and want to continue to grow as a hockey player! The girls will be coached by an all-girls coaching staff with guest appearances from Olympians, USA U18 women's players, and NCAA D1 and D3 women athletes. The girls will have the opportunity to work on their skills in a 3-phase program and benefit from the knowledge of this experienced staff with weekly Q+A sessions on various topics.

Ever since she founded the National Women’s Hockey League in 2015, Dani Rylan has wanted to have a team in Minnesota. Tuesday, the NWHL commissioner got her wish.

Rylan announced the league has acquired the independent Minnesota Whitecaps, expanding to five teams and bringing the highest level of women’s professional hockey to the state.

When former U.S. Olympian AJ Mleczko left her audition for an NBC television analyst job in the spring of 2005, she assumed her broadcasting career was over before it launched.

Nobody had told her she would audition with legendary play-by-play man Mike Emrick and they would broadcast her U.S. team’s loss to Canada at the 2002 Olympics. Intimidation. Sentimentality. Nervousness. Mleczko had it all going on.

By Positive Coaching Alliance ~ This Ultimate Sports Parent Radio podcast, hosted by parenting writer and sports mom Lisa Cohn, features PCA trainer Samantha Salvia and PCA Portland Executive Director Ben Dudley discussing why girls drop out of sports at a higher rate than boys. Highlights of the podcast include:

By Positive Coaching Alliance ~ Using film as a catalyst for cultural transformation, The Representation Project inspires individuals and communities to challenge and overcome limiting stereotypes so that everyone, regardless of gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, or circumstance can fulfill their human potential. We encourage you to participate in both conversations and hands-on activities that explore the harmful ways that stereotypes limit the opportunities available for girls and women.