On the evening of February 27, 2018 something monumental takes place. Colossal, stupendous, stunning. I will settle, however, on the descriptive "Remarkable". The US Women's Bandy Team defeats defending champion East Isles to become champions of the US Men's Division One league. They play a perfect game, shutting down and shutting out East Isles 1-0. This triumph occurs the night after the USA Women defeat Tsunami 5-4 in the semifinals. The Championship victory is remarkable. And so are the players for the US Women. Each and every one. I cannot think of another accomplishment in sport to compare this to. The US Women have made history.

Thirty five years previous, in the winter of 1983-84, a group of women become the first female bandy players in the US, skating at Lewis Park. There are no teams, no league. They play pickup bandy. Then they disappear. In January 1986 US Women's bandy is revived. Chris Halden and Scott Olson form two teams. The Bandolettes and Ole's All Stars. The most prominent of the skaters is Kim Kostran. A former US Olympic speed skater, Kostran at one time owned the world record times in the 500 meter and 1000 meter sprints. She scores two goals to lead the Bandolettes to a 3-1 victory in the championship match. Watching the game is a hockey player named Karen Jamison. She transforms into a bandy player. In the fall of 1987 Jamison, with the help of Magnus Skold, travels to Sweden where she plays for the Swedish club IK Gota. She will play five more seasons for Gota where she will ultimately be joined by two more US players, Carol Adelman and Lisa Kallberg. Another US skater, Kendra Verbeten, skates for Uppsala. In April 1988 Jamison brings a women's rink bandy team from the US to Stockholm. In 1989 she leads the US team to Norway and the Women's World Rink Bandy Championships. They defeat Holland for their first international victory.

Jamison returns to live and play in Sweden. Paul Meehl steps in to fill the void. In 1991 he becomes Head Coach and in October 1992 the USA women are in Sweden, competing on the big ice in Ljusdal. But then there is a hiatus. An intermission. Although women continue to play on men's teams in the US first and second divisions there are no US women's big ice teams. The first Women's World Championships in Laapenranta Finland in 2004 spurs the revival of US women's bandy. Meehl returns as coach and is joined by Rob Goldnick. Barb Jaeger is instrumental in recruiting a team. Meehl and Goldnick will coach the US women for the next four World Championships. Both emphasize that the players are extremely focused and determined which is essential to overcoming their lack of experience. In 2006 the second Women's World Championships are held in Roseville at the Oval. The US earns their first tie, 1-1 versus Norway. The first victory comes in the 2007 Championships in Budapest, 10-0 over Hungary. But this is not the biggest news that comes out of Budapest. In the round robin the US faces two time defending world champion Sweden. Sweden will win. There is no question. By how much? The final result is 0-0. A dark day for Swedish bandy but a brilliant result, not only for the US but for the entire bandy world. Kristy Powell plays on the 2004 team. She is the Captain. Powell will play in the next five World Championships. She also will skate for Swedish team AIK in the 2008-09 seasons. Powell comes home to the US where she becomes a regular on a US men's elite team, The Blades, where she will win a US elite league title. Joining Powell in the elite league is women's hockey icon, Winny Brodt who plays fullback for the Bandolier. 

2012 and Mikael Sandberg becomes the Head Coach for the USA Women. Born and raised in Sweden, Sandberg has become a US citizen, a mainstay on the Men's national team as well as assistant coach. From 2012 to 2016 the US team and players, under Sandberg's coaching, evolve. Irkutsk to Laapenranta to Roseville. Katie Swor arrives as the consumate Team Leader and Organizer. The 2018 World Championships take place in Chengde, China. The players train both on and off the ice. In league play, all against the men, they become even more skilled as individuals and as a team. In Chengde the World Championships are played on a frozen lake. There is no zamboni and the ice conditions are difficult. There are no locker rooms at the rink. The players walk a quarter mile from the bus to benches on the ice where they put their skates on. It is bitter cold and the wind is blowing. Goalkeeper Sarah Ahlquist-Schneider freezes her fingers putting on her pads. At halftime the players sit on these same benches. The US must alter their strategy to overcome the ice conditions. Skilled and fluid they find it necessary to add a high level of aggressiveness and physicality to their game. They become on ice warriors. When they return to the US the team combines their skill and team unity with tough physical play. They do not lose a single game in the remaining regular season. They accomplish the remarkable and win the Men's D1 Championship. 

In the summer of 2017 I am asked, but also humbly invite myself,  to be assistant coach to Mikael and the team. Yes, I would like to go to China but even more important I want to be a part of this team, this group of athletes. I hope to be able to contribute. I recognize quickly that they are first level athletes and intense competitors but they are also, the entire team, first class human beings. Their team chemistry is magnificent. When the tournament in Chengde ends the team spends two days in Beijing. The Forbidden City. The Summer Palace. We go to the Great Wall and climb thousands of steps to the top of a mountain. As we ascend I have to stop a number of times to catch my breath. Michael slows his pace for me.  My heart feels as if it is going to blow out the front of my chest. I am determined to make it to the top. I don't want to be seen as lesser in the team's eyes. 

Less than two weeks after we return from China I am in Russia with the Men's national team where we defeat Norway for the first time and finish in 5th place. When I return I am asked many times about the difference between the men's and women's teams. I have played on and coached decades of men's teams. This was my first time being a part of the USA Women's team. 

"What is the difference"? I respond each time.

"As athletes, competitors, human beings"?

"There is no difference"

Players On the 2017-18 US National Women's Team/ USA D1 Champions

"Who Made History"

Sarah Alquist-Schneider

Mara Sobczak

Kelly McGinty

Amy Stech

Molly Carroll

Kelsey Kennedy

Allie Thunstrom

Jenna Christensen

Jill Reynolds

Margot Fleming

Meagan Wanecke

Maddie Bergh

Kari Mcclintock-Roden

Kalli Funk

Tam Meuwissen

Katie Lundquist Swor