Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek are riding high as members of the inaugural Walter Cup Champion PWHL Minnesota squad.

The Roseville and Plymouth natives, respectively, are both quick to credit a multisport upbringing to their hockey success, which includes Olympic gold medals in 2018.

“I grew up in a time where you’re always playing outside, playing whatever games with the neighborhood kids, playing a bunch of different sports,” said Pannek, a dual-sport varsity athlete for four years at Benilde-St. Margaret’s and the 2013 Ms. Soccer winner. “I played baseball for a couple of years, I’d play basketball just in the backyard, just stuff like that. And I think that’s a huge reason why I am the athlete I am now.”

For Stecklein, a new season always meant a new sport.

“The rule in our house was, whatever season you’re in, that’s the priority,” she said. “So, if I had something for hockey in the soccer season, I did the soccer thing and stuff like that.

“As the season changed, so did my sports.”

Be an athlete

The benefits of playing multiple sports are numerous.

“I think, especially when you’re younger, it’s about developing overall athleticism,” said Stecklein, who helped the Gophers win three NCAA National Championships. “As you get older, it’s about problem solving and figuring out the game and understanding the sport and processes – reading the plays at different speeds and those sorts of things. But playing different sports helps with that aspect too.”

Pannek was even presented with an opportunity to play both Division I soccer and hockey at the University of Minnesota. She ultimately decided to play just hockey, but it cemented her belief that coaches of all sports want well-rounded athletes.

“I think 90 percent of college coaches would say they prefer a multisport athlete,” she noted. “A well-rounded athlete.”

“Playing different sports, it’s going to help you prevent injuries because you’re using different muscles, and so it will actually help you prolong whichever sport you might choose to do the longest.”

Not to mention, oftentimes what you learn in one sport can directly transfer and help you improve in another.

“Soccer and hockey are possession games,” said Pannek. “I mean, most sports are. It’s a keep-away game. And it’s the way you move and see things in lanes. So for me, it was always interesting going back and forth between the two because they’re similar, just maybe at different speeds.

Pannek, a midfielder in soccer, said using bursts of speed on the pitch helped her navigate the tight spaces on the ice.

Stecklein, arguably the most dominant shutdown defenseman in the world over the past decade, took a different role on the lacrosse field as a forward, providing a nice mix-up from the shutdown role on the ice.

“It helps you appreciate how hard it is to score and helps you learn different avenues to score, and then I transferred that into my defensive game too,” she said. “Plus, it was just kind of nice to try out a different position.”

Take a break

Too much of a good thing isn’t always a good thing (as noted here).

“There are kids out there who are going to love playing one sport, and they’re going to want to keep doing it all the time,” explained Pannek. “So I try to remind them to find something that you love outside of it because you don’t want to lose that love at the same time.

“Yeah, it’s fun and it’s a game, but there are going to be moments where it’s hard, and the schedule and the weight rooms and all of those challenging points can really make you lose interest, so why not miss it while you can and take a break after a season.”

“When soccer season ended, I was always excited to pull out the hockey gear. Being able to switch just kind of takes your mind off overthinking about your season or that sport. If I had played just hockey all the way through, I don’t know that I’d be a hockey player today.”

Stecklein agrees.

“It was always nice to know that a change in sports was coming,” said Stecklein. “I liked hockey. I liked being at the rink, but I always looked forward to that change of sports with different people, different groups, and different roles. I played defense for hockey but was offense in lacrosse, so that was extra fun, too.”

‘If you’re good enough, you’re good enough’

You don’t need to sign up for year-round hockey to be seen.

“A lot of times people get the misconception that more is better. More ice time, more time doing this and that,” said Pannek. “And sometimes, as parents and as kids, you feel that if you’re not doing this camp or doing this training, you might be missing out on being seen by certain coaches or miss an opportunity for a certain camp invite. But when you’re a young athlete, having another spot helps you balance your mindset in a different way while allowing you to still be in a competitive environment. Kids need those different outlets.”

Stecklein reiterates her teammate’s point: “The good players will always be sought out. You don’t have to go out of your way to prove your skill set. If you have the ability to make those select teams or to earn recognition from a college coach, stuff like that, it will come. They won’t care that you were busy playing soccer during soccer season.”