Josie St. Martin travels to Sweden for hockey Junior Olympics
Photo submitted by Josie St Martin
Josie St. Martin celebrates after scoring a goal during her game against Hill Murray. Each game has given her experience and practice that will lead her to the Junior Olympics this January.
Sophomore Josie St Martin must balance the demands of being a world-class athlete and a high school sophomore.
“To have the best time of my life. Don’t put too much pressure on myself. Just go out there and play your game,” Josie said.
She has earned a spot on the International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women’s World Championship Team and will be traveling to Sweden to play on the Junior Olympics team. She is one of 23 girls in the nation to make the team, seven of whom are Minnesotans.
Josie has an unbelievably competitive personality and a love for winning. These traits have helped push her and have been a huge factor in her success.
“The biggest difference between her and the other players I think is that she hates losing more than she loves winning. I honestly think that is what it takes to be the top player at her age,” Mira Jalosau, the girls varsity hockey coach, said.
Josie’s teammates have provided a supportive environment that has helped her to thrive. Many of the sophomore girls are very like-minded and have grown up skating and training together. The team has always known her level of competitiveness and has accepted who she is.
“I have been super lucky and fortunate to have really good teammates that push me to be the best I can be and they’re always super supportive,” Josie said. “We have super good chemistry and I think that leads to good success.”
Josie puts in time on and off the ice to train. For example, she will work on stick handling at home and often participates in strength and conditioning with private trainers.
“She’s been really lucky she has received significant instruction on and off the ice. She trains at Altius. She’s got a personal trainer there with off-ice things,” Josie’s mom, Kellei St Martin said.
Josie made significant social sacrifices because of hockey. Her commitment to the sport has been not only one of the main causes for her success, but it has also been challenging to miss out on normal high school events.
“I want her to be a kid,” Kellei said. “I want her to have the Pony football games. I want her to have all of the normal things that come with being a teenager. Sometimes you know there is some frustration because she has specific training on nights that she’ll miss something social.”
Josie will travel to Sweden with six other Minnesotans. This speaks wonders to Minnesota’s hockey program and keeps Josie and her family forever grateful for this opportunity.
Kellei said Minnesota is the premier state in the nation for hockey. She thinks it is so lucky to have the programming that we do because many other states do not have this amount of access to hockey. These seven girls will make up a huge percentage of the team.
Jalosau believes the key to Josie’s success is her “internal passion to get better and willingness to go the extra mile.” Josie will attend a training camp shortly after Christmas and will leave for Sweden from Jan. 8 to Jan. 15.
My name is Lauren Guinee and I am a junior. I am a business editor and copy editor for the Pony Express. I am on the synchronized swimming team and I also...
Garin Warner • Nov 14, 2022 at 5:07 pm
Really good quotes and information. You can tell that you have done some good research which helps with the story a lot. I also really like the how on the article there are some interactive adds like the map and little advertisement. Hearing that Josie went to Sweden is a crazy thing and I wanted to learn a little more about it.
Katie Kangas • Dec 21, 2021 at 7:52 am
I love how you focused not only on Josie’s abilities, but the people who support her in her dream and also how her team supports her ventures.
Maya Disher • Dec 20, 2021 at 11:03 pm
Not only does this story share the emotions of Josie but also her mom. This article shows the ideals and struggles of being such a high demanding athlete like Josie, which adds a lot of depth into the perspective of the article.
Sara Norton • Dec 20, 2021 at 5:48 pm
This story is very inspirational and showed a lot of light to Josie’s success. Your first sentence really drew me into your story intriguing me to read more.
Sydney Rodd • Dec 20, 2021 at 8:21 am
Very good fact and quote paragraphs. I can tell you took the time to research this story and make it as informative as possible.
Taya Hehn • Dec 19, 2021 at 10:07 pm
This is a really fun and detailed story. I like how you included multiple perspectives on Josie’s success, and even how it can affect parts of her life. You have great quotes that really tie the story together as well.
Sumer Harrington • Dec 18, 2021 at 7:20 am
Your article is really well written. I can tell you spent a lot of time in writing it and on your research. I really liked the heading of your story, too. It drew me in and made me want to read it more than before.
Chelsea Stahl • Dec 16, 2021 at 8:08 am
You did a really great job showcasing how much research you did and explaining everything well. I was drawn in with your starting fact paragraph and wanted to know more. You executed all the information you had very well.
Tyler Quade • Dec 15, 2021 at 10:50 am
Very well written article. I appreciate how you also included some of the downfalls of being so invested in this kind of sport. The grammar was very good, and I couldn’t find any spelling mistakes or anything, so well done! The only issue I could really find was your intro paragraphs, they just felt a little bit out of place and the quote by Josie didnt make much sense, but that might just have been me. The opening line should have gone later on I think, to where you spoke about the social difficulties. Otherwise, great work!
Hunter Reardon • Dec 15, 2021 at 8:04 am
I really liked your intro and the fact and quote paragraphs are really well done. I love the quotes you chose, I think they’re perfect. Your story really shows Josie’s love for hockey and it is honestly really inspiring.
Mikai Tasch • Dec 14, 2021 at 11:43 am
The structure of your story is great, transitioning from facts into quotes. You did a great job of captivating how much Josie likes hockey. You did a good job using a variety of quote structures.
Nissa Wilcox • Dec 7, 2021 at 5:43 pm
Great fact and quote paragraphs, you used a lot of helpful embedded links as well to expand resources beyond the article. I liked that you got Josies perspective along with her coach and mom, great job!