Koelzer also had the guidance of her mother, Kristine Koelzer, who raised her alone. An uncle and his two sons introduced Koelzer to the sport, as she and her mom would frequently watch their family at the rink.
As Koelzer begun lacing up the skates, she would frequently be targeted as the only girl playing boys hockey. Opposing teams would be sure to finish every check, give extra slashes and add plenty of name calling. But with supportive family, coaches and teammates and a little bit of size, Koelzer didn’t get rattled.
“I was more of the intimidator than having to worry about getting hit. That definitely helped,” she said. “If I didn’t have that advantage, things could have gone a lot differently. I might not have lasted in boys hockey as long as I did. As far as the name calling, I kind of just brushed it off. It didn’t bother me. I usually tried to take that mindset of, ‘Oh well, I’m going to try and go score or try and make a good play.’ Let my play speak for myself, instead of letting someone else’s words get me down.”
Koelzer always felt very supported by her mom, who encouraged her to not let anyone make her feel like she didn’t deserve to be on the ice. Koelzer was talented and loved the sport. Any jeering or prejudiced comments were just noise.
