Comphers continue to win gold

Junior Jesse Compher takes a shot during her Mission Hockey practice on Feb. 8. She drives about 45 minutes every Monday and Wednesday night to practice. The team also travels most weekends for games. Photo by Maggie Li.
Junior Jesse Compher takes a shot during her Mission Hockey practice on Feb. 8. She drives about 45 minutes every Monday and Wednesday night to practice. The team also travels most weekends for games. Photo by Maggie Li.

Most competitive families debate who will win a race or an arm wrestling contest. The Compher family debates who is the best athlete based on when each sibling won a gold medal playing hockey.

“I came home [from the Women’s World Hockey Championship] and told my brother, ‘Well I won [my gold medal] when I was 16, and you were 17,’” said junior Jesse Compher. “And he was like, ‘Well that’s just because my tournament was later, and you have a later birthday.’ It’s fun competition between us.”

Compher started playing hockey when she was 3 years old because she was intrigued watching her brother J.T. Compher playing. Since then, she has followed in his footsteps by also representing the United States on the Under-18 National Team.

“Seeing J.T. in the U.S. jersey, he was my role model,” said Jesse Compher. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

According to her mother Valerie Compher, Jesse Compher loves being compared to her brother, especially when people say she is better.

“When it comes to hockey there is no time to goof off,” said Valerie Compher. “Her coach at Mission [Hockey] calls her Captain Serious. … She’s not one to settle.”

According to Jesse Compher, being selected for the U.S. team includes three tryouts with cuts after each. After mononucleosis got in the way of her attendance at the second and third tryouts, her club coaches from Mission Hockey told her to stay optimistic because the scouts for the U.S. team attend tournaments and games to recruit additional players they may have missed from tryouts.

“I knew I was getting the call [about the U.S. roster] during [block] 2-3, so I had to get called out,” said Jesse Compher. “I was sitting in [junior] Zach Knudson’s car because mine was in the shop. I immediately texted in my family group chat when I found out I made it.”

Jesse Compher was one of three players added to the roster after players had already been selected from the tryouts, so she had to get to know a group of girls who already knew each other.

U.S. teammate Alex Gulstene, the only other player on the team from Illinois, said it did not take long for the team to get close.

“When Jesse first arrived at pre-camp, she was pretty quiet since she didn’t know many other people well,” said Gulstene. “But maybe two days into camp she really loosened up, and she was really funny and awesome to sit with at dinner.”

Jesse Compher said the highlight of the trip was celebrating after the championship game against Canada, which her team won 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 15.

“I was … shaking,” said Jesse Compher. “I was so scared. All of a sudden, [the puck] went in [the goal]. I saw my teammate jump, and I was like, ‘Oh my god this is not real.’ We all went and tackled her. Everyone else was crying, but it didn’t hit me yet. It took me a couple minutes to realize we won. When they handed us our gold medals we were like, ‘Woah.’”

According to her mother, winning in overtime added to the excitement because around 6,000 fans were cheering against the United States, as the tournament was held in St. Catherine’s, Canada.

Since the tournament, Jesse Compher has been recognized in various ways. The Northbrook Ice Rink plans to hang a banner in her honor, and she was asked to drop the puck at a Glenbrook North hockey game. Also, her name and accomplishments were announced as she was shown on the scoreboard at a Chicago Blackhawks game.

Jesse Compher said she plans to try out for the team again next year, and she hopes to win more gold medals than her brother.

“[Jesse] has tried to compare some of her accomplishments with mine,” said J.T. Compher. “So far in her career she has done a pretty good job. … Getting to watch her win a gold medal was a proud and surreal moment for me.”