Ice hockey

Full of Pride: How Pro Hockey Player Kali Flanagan Stays Motivated

The Boston Pride defender is the first woman to serve as an assistant coach of a Tier 2 junior hockey team, coaching alongside her dad in Hudson, New Hampshire

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Hockey is in Kali Flanagan’s blood.

Growing up in Massachusetts, she quickly traded her figure skates for hockey skates.

Her dad, Bill Flanagan, played in college and coached, and Kali was brought up through his organization, the Northern Cyclones.

It wasn’t until Kali went to high school at National Sports Academy in Lake Placid that she started playing with girls. There was a steep learning curve, the defender explained, but she adjusted quickly.

Flanagan went on to play at Boston College. In her junior year, she made the senior national team camp and received her first opportunity to compete at the 2017 World Championships. They brought home the gold!

That same year, she made the U.S. Olympic team. In 2018, the team won the gold medal for the first time since 1998. Flanagan explained that the gold was for not just their team, but the players that fought before and the generations to come.

Now, Flanagan still packs her schedule with hockey. She is the first woman to serve as an assistant coach of a Tier 2 junior hockey team, coaching alongside her dad in Hudson, New Hampshire.

She also plays for The Boston Pride. She joined the team last year and helped them bring home their second Isobel Cup!

Did you know we have the reigning champs of professional hockey right here in Boston? No, not the Bruins-- the Boston Pride. They are the champs of the Premiere Federation professional women's hockey league! Hannah Donnelly sat down with captain Jillian Dempsey about her journey in the latest On Her Mark.

Her days are packed, but she loves it.

When asked if she recognizes how incredible her successes are, Flanagan said, “I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but I feel as though, you know, the sky's the limit and let's just keep going.

To find the full Boston Pride schedule, go to pride.premierhockeyfederation.com/home.

Learn how one woman is making NCAA history with the University of Chicago men's soccer team.
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