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Team USA’s Maddie Rookey talks about hockey’s near future

Meldoie Daoust and Maddie Rooney playing Ice Hockey / JWS
Meldoie Daoust taking on USA’s Maddie Rooney during the shootout at the 2018 Olympics. (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

Maddie Rooney is a goaltender for both the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team and the PWHPA. The starting goaltender for the U.S.’s gold medal run at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, Rooney has also won two world championships with the team, and was the named 2018 Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year while playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. 

The National Team just had a camp in October. What did that look like and how did you feel getting back on the ice?  

That was my first time being back with the national team since, I believe, December. So that was a long time coming, due to the cancellation of the World Championships. And then we couldn’t have an August camp like we usually do. So it was just great to be back in that elite environment, see everyone, even though it’s socially distanced, with masks on. It definitely wasn’t a normal camp. But on the ice, it was just so good to be back. And the level of competition was high. It was just a very intense camp, but it was also really fun. And it’s always the best when we’re all with each other. And fortunately enough, here in the Minnesota region, there are about seven of us who were on the National and Olympic Team together. So I’ve been practicing regularly with them since early September, and we did some stuff in the summer as well. So once I got back into the National Team, I was already used to the pace of the game, and the speed of the shots. It was like riding a bike in that sense.

I read that the team invited about 53 players to camp. Is that a normal roster size for this type of camp?

Yeah, usually our biggest camp is in August. And since we weren’t able to have that August camp with the big number of players, I think it was shifted into that October camp.

Were there any new faces at camp that you were excited to compete with and against? 

Yeah, it was definitely a younger camp, I would say, due to some of the veterans and all the girls that weren’t able to attend due to travel restrictions or certain personal reasons regarding COVID. But I was really impressed. The younger girls definitely kept the pace up, and I know, just as a core group, they impressed a lot of the older girls too. It’s definitely exciting for the future of the program. And I’m excited to see how they progress and who will get their shot.

How was managing the COVID protocols? 

It was very seamless. I thought the doctors and training staff and National Team staff as a whole really laid out the protocols well. And we had multiple calls about it before going into camp, so we all knew what to expect. We knew the rules. And everyone obviously followed the rules. And we got tested right when we got there, tested before we left the camp. And then you were able to get tested if you felt funny or anything like that. But it all went very well. I was actually very impressed. And yeah, because of all the protocols, everyone came out testing negative.

The national team is supposed to participate in a Rivalry Series in February against Canada. Do you know what the status of that series is? 

I’ve been told it’s still to be determined. But we’re hopeful because it isn’t canceled yet.

Like you mentioned, the World Championship was canceled in 2020, and it’s been moved to 2021. Your team has won the past five championships. What do you think is the secret to the team’s success at the World Championships?

I think just overall, our record in the World’s gives us a ton of confidence. And then I think we’re really focused on preparing every time we are together the whole year. So we really take advantage of our camps. I mean, whether it’s video, intra-squad scrimmages, and obviously the games, like the Rivalry Series, we really just take advantage of the time when we’re together. And I think all of that, building up to the World Championships, we really always come prepared, and we know what we need to get done.

What do you think needs to happen from now until April, when the 2021 World Championships are supposed to happen, for your team to repeat?

I mean, all the teams are in the same boat here, not having camps together. So I think everyone’s probably going to have a similar game plan, just to, when we are together, really take advantage of it, really bear down, know the system’s effort level, know what we need to do and be prepared for those World Championships. And we just need to build off our current system and what we’ve been doing in the past, and just gain overall confidence.

You were obviously an integral part of Team USA in the 2018 Olympics, where your team finally took home Gold against Canada and you made some epic saves in the shootout. From that year forward did you feel a lot of pressure to continue to perform and make big plays like you did that year?

Yeah. I went back to college for another two years. Right after the Olympics, I went back for my junior year. And I definitely had a ton of pressure on myself. But also there were high expectations from the outside as well. And it was tough. That junior year was tough for me. But coming out of that, I definitely feel mentally stronger, and I had a great senior year. The pressure was tough, but I bounced out of it.

Some big named players decide to leave college early to pursue a professional career. What went into your decision to go back to school, especially after your epic 2018 Olympic performance?

Honestly, I really loved college hockey. I loved the routine of it all. And if it wasn’t for Duluth, I don’t think I would have made that Olympic team. And I also just wanted to get my degree. I majored in business marketing, and I definitely want to pursue something in that field once I decide to hang up the skates. It was definitely about just going back and finishing what I started at UMD, and then also for my degree.

Once you graduated from school you decided to join the PWPHA. What went into that decision?

Being around my actual teammates, and they had already been in the PWHPA for a year, since it started. I was always around the conversations, and it was just really familiar to me. And I also really appreciated what the league stands for, and the initiatives that they have taken outside of the rink as well, and just their overall motivation for growing the game. I think just the familiarity and what the league stands for was the main driving factors in my decision. And here in Minnesota, I would have a great setup. I live very close to a training facility for the PWHPA. So it just worked out very well.

Overall, heading into the new year, do you have any specific goals for yourself with both the national team and the PWHPA?

Yeah, within the PWHPA, I mean, it’s such an elite atmosphere. It’s the top players coming from both Canada’s national team and the US national team. And then just a lot of standout college players as well. I think it’s just overall a great league. So being a goaltender, I just want to take everything in and challenge myself every day, whether it’s in the games or the practice, and just continue to grow in that sense. And hopefully this year the PWHPA will prepare me for that world stage next year and any opportunities I can get with the national team. So I just want to continue to grow and take in all these opportunities.

Although you have had awesome experiences with the national team, you are still a young player. Is there anyone in particular that you look up to, both in your position and outside of your position?

For my position, when I was younger, I always looked up to the national team goalies, whether it was Jessie Vetter, and then from the men’s side, I mean, my idol has always been Marc-André Fleury. I just love the fun he has with the game. And I’ve always tried to model my game after his as well. And then within the team, when I was named to my first national team, which was the 2017 World’s, I’ve always looked up to Meghan Duggan as a leader, and I just admire her drive to grow the game, and the leadership she displayed on the national team.

Decorated Olympic Swimmer Katie Ledecky to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

swimmer katie ledecky with world championship gold medal
Katie Ledecky is the most decorated athlete in the history of women's swimming. (Zheng Huansong/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony this afternoon. 

The Team USA standout is the most decorated women’s swimmer in the sport’s history. In addition to her seven Olympic golds, she’s also won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Championships, the most of any swimmer regardless of gender. 

The esteemed award recognizes those who have "made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors," according to a White House press briefing

Ledecky is one of 19 medal recipients chosen by the Biden administration this year. She joins a class that spans the worlds of politics, sports, film, human rights, religion, and science. Her fellow 2024 awardees include Everything Everywhere All at Once actress Michelle Yeoh, pioneering Hispanic astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, plus posthumous winners Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US, and assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe were among 2022’s class of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Biles and Rapinoe were the fifth and sixth women athletes to be given the honor, making Ledecky the seventh.

Exclusive: Kelley O’Hara announces retirement at end of 2024 NWSL season

uswnt player kelley o'hara poses with an american flag at the world cup
USWNT defender Kelley O'Hara will close out her decorated career at the end of the 2024 NWSL season. (Jose Breton/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

After an illustrious career for both club and country, Gotham FC and U.S. Women’s National Team defender Kelley O’Hara announced today via Kelley on the Street that she will be retiring from professional soccer at the end of this year, making the 2024 NWSL season her last.

"I have always said I would play under two conditions: that I still love playing soccer, and if my body would let me do it the way I wanted to," O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in the lead-up to her retirement announcement. "I realized a while back that I was always going to love it, so it was the physical piece that was going to be the deciding factor."

The 35-year-old will retire as a two-time World Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and at least a two-time NWSL champion, depending on where Gotham finishes this season. Her legacy as a player is hard to fully encapsulate, and will forever run through some of the biggest snapshots in USWNT and NWSL history. 

In 2012, O’Hara played every minute of the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run, after having recently converted into a defender. Her soaring goal off the bench in the 2015 World Cup semifinal is the stuff of legend. And her return from lingering injury to play in every knockout match of the national team’s 2019 World Cup win cemented a storybook international career. 

It was O’Hara who scored the overtime goal in 2021 to earn the Washington Spirit their first-ever NWSL championship, and O’Hara who returned to help see Gotham earn a title in 2023 after years spent in the trenches with the club’s previous iteration, Sky Blue. Her 15-year career spanned two professional women’s soccer leagues in the U.S. (she earned her first professional title in 2010 with WPS’s FC Gold Pride), as well as sweeping changes to the sport both on and off the pitch.

O'Hara celebrates after scoring the winning goal for the Washington Spirit at the 2021 NWSL Championship match in Louisville, Kentucky. (Jamie Rhodes/USA TODAY Sports)

On the field, O’Hara has always been known for a motor that never quits, making the right flank her domain in attacking possession and defensive transition. In recent years, she’s also been celebrated for a competitive fire that raises the level of her teammates, whether she’s in the starting XI or supporting from the bench.

But injuries take a toll, a reality not always seen by the fans watching from home. "I've never taken anything for granted, and I feel like I've never coasted either," O’Hara said of her late-career success in the NWSL despite battling injuries. "I've always been like, 'I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field' — which is honestly probably half the reason why I'm having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I've just grinded hard."

Recently, O’Hara has been sidelined at Gotham with ankle and knee injuries, and the situation motivated her to really prioritize listening to her body. "To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you.

"People don't see the doubt that's associated with injury,” she continued. "As athletes we feel a certain way, we perform a certain way, our body feels a certain way, we're very in tune with our bodies. And there's always so much doubt surrounding injury. It’s like, 'Can I feel the way I felt before?' The reality is sometimes you don't."

O’Hara didn’t arrive at the decision to move on from her playing career lightly. But once she began seriously considering making 2024 her final year during the last NWSL offseason, it felt right. "Once I was like, 'Alright, you know what, this will be my last year,' I have had a lot of peace with it," she said. "Truly the only thing I felt was gratitude for everything that my career has been, all the things I've been able to do and the people I've been able to do it with."

She said she’ll miss daily interactions with her teammates and all the amazing memories they’ve created, though she feels lucky to have formed relationships that go beyond sharing a locker room. "You're basically getting to hang out and just shoot the shit with your best friends every day," she reflected. "Which is so unheard of, and I just feel very lucky to do it for so long."

O'Hara poses with USWNT teammates Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath after winning the 2015 Women's World Cup in Vancouver, Canada. (Mike Hewitt - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The Stanford graduate also mentioned that the NWSL’s suspension of regular season play in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic made her realize how much playing allowed her the space to simply be creative every day. The tactical elements of soccer provided O’Hara an outlet for problem solving and made use of her naturally competitive edge.

She’s now gearing up to channel her on-field intensity into her post-playing career full time, which is a new chapter she’s excited to begin. "I don't know if the world's ready for it, like the fact that I'm not going to be putting all of my energy into football all the time," she said with a laugh. 

O’Hara said she would like to stay connected to the game in some fashion, whether it be as an owner, coach, or member of a front office. She’s also interested in the growing media space surrounding women’s sports, having provided on-camera analysis for broadcasters like CBS Sports in addition to starting a production company with her fiancée.

"I just feel like I have a lot of passions, and things that excite me," she says. "And I do want to stay as close as I can to the game, because I feel a responsibility — and I'm not sure in what capacity — to continue to grow it."

O'Hara speaking with fellow USWNT members and vets at the White House Equal Pay Day Summit in 2022. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

A sense of responsibility to grow the game has been a consistent refrain for the USWNT and NWSL players of O’Hara’s era, who ushered in a new age of equal pay for the national team and collectively bargained protections for those in the league. The landscape for new players looks different than it did 14 years ago, in large part due to this pivotal generation.

"I feel an immense sense of pride around that, because I don't know if any of us knew that was gonna happen," she said. "We kind of, as things unfolded, took the next step towards changing what women's football looks like in this country and around the world.

"I'm really grateful to have been part of this era with the players that I was [with], not backing down and pushing and knowing that was the right thing to do."

Whatever the future holds, O’Hara is going ahead full throttle. It’s a piece of advice she’d also give to the next generation of professionals looking to make their own impact.

"Whatever you do in life, do it because you love it, and the chips will fall in place," she said. "If you love something, you're willing to do what it takes. You're willing to make the sacrifices, you're willing to handle the roller coaster.

"To me, it's simple. Don't do it for any other reason but that, and I think you'll be alright."

Brittney Griner Opens Up about Russian Imprisonment in New ’20/20′ Special

brittney griner talks to press
Griner was jailed in Russia for almost 10 months in 2022. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Phoenix Mercury center spoke with Robin Roberts about her 10-month incarceration, reflecting on her poor living conditions and shaky mental state ahead of her May 7th memoir.

"The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper," Griner told the ABC News anchor in last night’s 20/20 special. "That was the moment where I just felt less than a human." 

She also detailed some of her lowest moments during that time, saying with tears in her eyes that she went so far as to consider taking her own life on more than one occasion. However, the thought of Russian officials not releasing her body back to her family made her reconsider.

"I just didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through," said Griner.

In February 2022, Griner was arrested and charged with drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court after Sheremetyevo International Airport police found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. The cartridges were prescribed by Griner’s doctor for chronic pain back in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal. In the interview, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said she had a "mental lapse" while packing, and never intended to bring the cannabis products with her when she returned to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

"It's just so easy to have a mental lapse," Griner said. "Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn't take away from how that can happen." 

She was later sentenced to nine years behind bars after her Russian attorneys advised her to plead guilty the following July. Griner was then sent to a remote penal colony where she was forced to spend her days cutting cloth to make military uniforms. From there, it only got worse.

"Honestly, it just had to happen," she said when asked about her decision to cut off her signature long locks. "We had spiders above my bed making nests.

"My dreads started to freeze," she added. "They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You've gotta do what you've gotta do to survive."

Shortly after Griner’s initial arrest, the U.S. State Department classified her case as wrongfully detained, escalating its urgency within the government and calling even more attention to the situation. On December 8th, she was freed in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Biden administration.

While she told Roberts she was "thrilled" when she got the news, she was also very upset about having to leave fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan behind. She also continues to carry guilt about her arrest, saying "At the end of the day, it's my fault. And I let everybody down."

Griner’s memoir, Coming Home, hits shelves on May 7th.

"Coming Home begins in a land where my roots developed and is the diary of my heartaches and regrets," Griner told ABC News in an exclusive statement. "But, ultimately, the book is also a story of how my family, my faith, and the support of millions who rallied for my rescue helped me endure a nightmare."

USWNT Vet Carli Lloyd Announces Pregnancy After ‘Rollercoaster’ IVF Journey

retired soccer player carli lloyd
Lloyd will welcome her first child with husband Brian Hollins this October. (Dennis Schneidler/USA TODAY Sports)

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

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