A heavily male dominated sport did not discourage Michigan native, Brittany Knopp from pursuing something she loved.
“I started in the hockey league when I was five years old, but I started skating before that and the ice arena was built in 97 and before that they had an outdoor facility. And so when I came on the scene, this was just built. And so we started out in public skate and my parents would bring us and all my cousins, siblings, all to the public skate. And one day a gentleman approached my parents and said, Hey, your kids are really good at skating. You should really get them into one of the ice skating sports. And so I have an older brother that said, Hey, you know, I’m going to play hockey. So my sister and I were like, Well, I guess now we’re playing hockey,” Brittany Knopp said.
WATCH: Brittany Knopp makes history as the Mid-Michigan Raptors hockey coach
And the rest is history. Due to the lack of female interest in hockey at the time, Brittany continued to play on the boys team until she was 14. She then went on to play in high school and eventually ended up playing NCAA college hockey. But today, Knopp is a hockey coach for the Mid-Michigan Raptors and the youth Learn to Skate Program at Martin Ice Arena in Mount Pleasant.
“I started working at the ice arena part time, just sharpening skates, and our Youth Hockey Association approached me, said, Hey, you know, you have this great background. Would you want to coach, learn to skate? Would you want to start this power skating? And so that’s what really got me started,” Knopp said.
But it doesn’t just stop there. Knopp went on to be the assistant coach for the Central Michigan University Men’s Hockey team for four years and the women’s team for three. Today, she is Michigan’s first female hockey coach of a collegiate co-op boy’s hockey team.
“It feels great. I’ll be honest. It does. It feels awesome. Did I think I was ever going to be here? No. And for me, it’s just now kind of, Hey, what else can we do? And growing from that and getting better every day and in the industry as coaching you make a positive impact of hundreds of kids yearly. And that’s my goal is to stay positive and to give a positive experience,” said Knopp.
But despite Knopp’s incredible success, it wasn’t an easy road to get here.
“Now, at this point in my life, I’m not here to prove my worth. I have the background. It’s either you take it or leave it. But I definitely think there was a time that it was I have to do this because I have to prove that we’re good enough, that I’m good enough. But for my boys, no problem. Now, for the others, I take it as a grain of salt, right? You don’t know me. You don’t know my life, my background. And once you did, I bet you change your mind on it. So that’s where I’m at now” said Knopp.
Knopp has one piece of advice that has led her to where she is today.
“Never say I can’t because you always can. There will always be people on your bench and on your side supporting and they’ll be always other people on the other side of the bench helping you lose. But you need to rely on your support system and know that you you’re going to win and you got to put your mind to it and don’t ever give up because it can happen,” said coach Knopp.
Knopp is an example of an incredible woman who looked past societal norms to follow a true passion that is now positively impacting and inspiring everyone she meets.
“I coach because I see the impact it makes on kids and the joy it brings me to watch them in my learning to skate. And then now I’m at the age that I have had kids in my learning to skate that will soon be on my high school hockey team and watching them grow up. And it’s the families, it’s the kids,” she said.
