Claire Jenkins Coffman always wanted to be a coach.
That was her parents' job: her mother, Laura, was a college and U.S. Team water polo coach, while her father, Nat, worked with high school athletes.
“I've been watching Olympians since I was a little kid running around poolside,” Jenkins Coffman said. “My mom raised Olympians, and I always thought that was the most amazing thing. You help someone become someone special. You hope that they have skills that nobody else has.”
But Jenkins Coffman doesn't look exactly like her parents.
The water where she practices is frozen.
Jenkins-Coffman will be guest coaching at the Wild development camp this week at Tria Rink in St. Paul.
She is believed to be the first woman to hold that role with the Wild, and it's a chance for the recent Augsburg University graduate to help coach the team's prospects and add to her own repertoire before taking on her first official coaching role.
“It's great playing with my guys,” Jenkins-Coffman said. “I feel like they're 100% listening to what I have to say and want to learn from me.”
The Wild invited 23-year-old Jenkins Coffman to their development camp last winter.
She knew team officials — Wild owner Craig Leipold is from Racine, Wis., where Jenkins-Coffman grew up — and she began talking to Brad Bombardier, the Wild's director of player development, who wanted to know how to get involved with coaching men's hockey.
She started playing hockey as a freshman, playing against boys and even being allowed to hit.
“I've always been a very physical player, always checking,” Augsburg forward Jenkins Coffman said, “You can't do that in women's hockey, but I like that style of play.”
Jenkins Coffman's role models are Jessica Campbell, Kim Weiss and Sanja Sandal.
Last week, Campbell was hired as an assistant with the Seattle Kraken, becoming the first woman to be appointed as a coach in the NHL.
Campbell, who played at Cornell University and played professionally in Canada and Sweden, was also the first woman to coach in the American Hockey League.
“It's really, really amazing,” Jenkins Coffman said. “To see her trajectory is just incredible.”
Trinity College named Weiss the first female assistant coach in NCAA Division III men's hockey. Prior to that, Weiss was the first woman to coach a junior hockey team in North America. Weiss and Bloomington native and former Gopher Kelsey Klein served as guest coaches for the Colorado Avalanche last season.
Meanwhile, Sandahl, a Duluth native, is a professional goalkeeper consultant and the women's director for the United States Goalkeeper Development Association, which hosts camps and clinics.
“Jess is definitely a newcomer and a great player,” Jenkins-Coffman said, “She's already been on the bench, she's been on the bench a lot of times in international games, the AHL and now the NHL. I hope we see more of that because we're learning a lot in terms of female skill development and we look at the game differently. I think our hockey IQ is a little bit different.”
During Wild Camp, Jenkins-Coffman helped with drills and gave players technique tips.
“The men are 100 percent accepting,” she said.
The practice plan resonated with her, as did what she heard when she attended meetings, including with Jenkins-Coffman, a Navy SEAL who speaks daily with Wild coach John Hines.
“I was amazed at the advice he gave us,” Jenkins Coffman said.
This insight is timely.
Jenkins-Coffman will become assistant/skills coach for the New Hampshire Mountain Kings, which has an academy, a North American Hockey League franchise and three North American Hockey League teams.
“I'm just excited,” said Jenkins Coffman, who runs summer camps in Wisconsin for players ranging from 4-year-olds to junior and college-level athletes. “This is something I've always wanted to do, so I'm a little shocked it's happening so soon.”
Her dreams are the same as those of the players she coaches.
“The ultimate goal of everyone on the men's team is to one day hoist the Stanley Cup,” Jenkins-Coffman said, “I just want to coach as long as I can and get to the highest level I can.”
In the meantime, Jenkins Coffman can serve as a role model for other women looking to follow in her footsteps.
“It's pretty surreal,” she says. “It's weird to think about because I've always been the recipient of inspiration.”
