The success of PWHL inspires young girls to dream of a professional hockey career

In 1994, Minnesota became the first state to sanction high school girls' hockey, and for 29 years, the Steve Carroll Goalie School has trained athletes ages 6 to 14, regardless of gender.

The weekend clinics focus on fundamental skills for the specialized position, which goalies don't get much of during the hockey season, Carroll said during a camp at Edinas Braemar Arena in August. So when they return to their teams, they'll be ready to rock.

During each session, Carroll makes sure the players start on an equal footing by putting players in the same jersey, writing their names on helmets and calling players by name, which is not common.

They are often not mentioned by name during the hockey season. It's hey you, or hey goalie, or hey Bauer or whatever, Carroll explained.

Carroll, a player himself since he was 12, said he missed the instruction and attention other teammates received. He founded his part-time goalkeeping school to fill that niche and has had girls in camp since Day 1. Now he is joined by three other coaches, including his son Dave and former Gustavus Adolphus College player Ashley Checkal, whom he coached.

Throughout her entire career, Checkal had only one female coach, and only for one season.

And I remember her specifically, Nikki, and I always wanted to be her, Checkal recalled. That's why I coach. I thought I could be another girls coach from a goalie I used to be.

She has not seen Nikki since and does not know her last name. But if Checkal could share anything with her, it would be her gratitude.

Thank you for just showing me that another girl can do this, come all the way to the top and be successful at it and still love the game, Checkal said.

Steve Carroll Goalkeeping School at Braemar Arena

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One of the oldest children in this camp group was 13-year-old Johnny from Oakdale. He hopes to one day play for the Golden Gophers.

And if I make that, I really hope to play in the NHL, he said, echoing a goal that's not uncommon among young boys' hockey players. But for the first time, girls on the ice can also aspire to go pro in a successful North American women's league.

Alyvia is 10 and came all the way from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for goalkeeper school. Her hockey dream is to play for the Professional Women's Hockey League and she believes she works just as hard as the guys on the ice.

I think I'm no different than a boy, Alyvia said. I didn't think I could get far with it because there wasn't an older team for me to play on. And now that they have PWHL, I can go very far.

Eleven-year-old Sylvia from Minnetonka agrees.

“I feel like this was always supposed to be a thing,” she said. I feel like it should have been around a lot longer ago.

While girls and female athletes have had opportunities like playing for American hockey, Olympic teams or professional leagues abroad for decades, even the Minnesota Whitecaps puts the PWHL women on par with the Womens National Basketball Association and the National Womens Soccer League.

Carroll School alumna Maddie Rooney started playing hockey at the age of 5 in Andover. Two-time Olympian and Minnesota starting goalie Frost says the competition has been a long time coming.

It's huge that these young girls are setting these goals, she said in October. And also the visibility that we are nationally broadcast and that our games are at the Xcel Energy Center, like so many things, the youth can just come and watch us play in person and on the TV screen and have role models.

Coach Checkal is also excited about the possibility of the PWHL expanding beyond the first six teams and seeing a new dream emerge among the girls she now coaches.

It is limitless. I mean, you see the whole path. You don't have to give up after elementary school, Checkal said. If people stick with the game and love it, they can really go for it.

The star power that future Olympians and professional players demonstrate may not yet be apparent during clinics, but honing those fundamental skills will only help young girls and boys in their hockey careers, no matter how far they want to go, Carroll says. Rooney is a good example.

She came to this camp when she was young, very early in her career, and she didn't stand out. She was just like the other 20 kids in the class, Carroll said. But I ran into her a few years ago and she told me how she remembered coming to my goalkeeping school, so we must have done something along the way to keep the fire burning.

Carroll won't take credit for the success of players like Rooney. But he is proud that with just a few hours of coaching, he made a difference in their careers.

It's really rewarding as a coach to see that you can have the impact that you have on these kids in the short amount of time that we get a chance to work with them, and that's, that's one of the goals of coaching , to be able to make a difference for the children, said Carroll.

Rooney advised young players to be a sponge for any coaching they could get.

And the journey goes fast. So enjoy every moment, she said. Don't take a practice for granted because these are the moments in your older career that you look back on and think, those were the best times with those young friendships. And just generally having fun and having dreams.

Digital editor Anna Haecherl contributed to this story.