“ When it got announced I honestly thought people were misspeaking . Like that I was hired for this position and they kept saying ‘ the first on ice female ’ I thought it was a mistake .”
“ When it got announced I honestly thought people were misspeaking . Like that I was hired for this position and they kept saying ‘ the first on ice female ’ I thought it was a mistake .”
Everything changed with the hiring of new head coach Cass Turner , who became a mentor . She helped Danielle understand the kind of impact she could have off the ice , behind the scenes ... because she knew that Danielle was someone who never minded not taking all the glory , but instead enjoyed giving it to other players . In essence , she fostered a “ culture of compassion ,” as Cass calls it , and naturally had the kind of personality that lent itself to coaching .
“ Cass is super nice to say that about me ,” Danielle says . “ I was a very social person growing up , so it ’ s no surprise that I loved team sports . I played so many of them growing up . As far as team culture , though , I didn ’ t know what that was or what I was doing [ in college ], I just knew that I really enjoyed spending time with my teammates and wanted to have a good time and succeed with them . Cass saw how strong my relationships with the other players were and sort of spun that to work for her and the program . Because , as I ’ ve learned as a coach , people like me are some of the most dangerous on a team , because we can pull the team in a positive or a negative direction . I ’ m not saying that I was the most influential person on the team , but I was an outgoing , friends-witheverybody person , but if I was in a bad place or being negative , that could affect everyone else . I could be the ‘ bad apple ,’ for sure .
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