By Cara Goldstone
Amy Budde’s hockey career has been global; the former Lake Forest College’s women’s player traveled to play professional hockey in Sweden and Austria after her graduation in 2019. Now, Budde is back in Lake Forest—not to play, but to coach the Foresters.
“It’s a place that has this innate ability of bringing people in and making you feel like you’re such a part of the Forester community,” said Budde, reflecting on her time at the college. “It’s just a magical place. I really feel that way.”
“If I’m expecting them to be the hardest-working team in the nation, I need to be the hardest-working coach,” says Amy Budde.
Since returning to Lake Forest in September, Budde has been hard at work incorporating the lessons she learned as an international hockey player into the team (8-8-3 as of Jan. 30) she coaches.
“I definitely wouldn’t have been able to have this job when I left Lake Forest,” she said, citing the five years since her graduation as instrumental to her growth as a player and a coach. “Each team has taught me something really different about that kind of experience, so I’m really grateful for it.”
Composed of 23 players, Budde could not be prouder of her team’s dedication after the previous coach transferred to a different school.
“Losing a coach, not knowing what’s going on when you’re moving into college to start your season, not knowing what’s going to happen, interviewing the candidates, moving forward with all these different processes, and then getting a new coach, and adapting to the new coach… they’ve been so respectful and resilient,” she said.
Budde knows she holds her players to a high standard; the same is true of her own coaching.
“If I’m expecting them to be the hardest-working team in the nation, I need to be the hardest-working coach,” she explained. Her days are long and busy, from her arrival on campus at 7:45 a.m. to her recruiting calls in the late evening. Between administrative duties, drill planning, practices and lifts, Budde insists every day as a hockey coach is uniquely interesting, however arduous it may be. She remains in awe at her players’ adaptability in the face of such high expectations.
“We’re adding in all these extra skill sessions, adding in more time—I’m expecting all these new things of them and I’m making them work harder and I’m skating them more than they ever have and all these different things, and they’re always game for it,” she said.
There are many qualities of hockey Budde highlights as a coach: the art of the sport itself, its beauty, plus the skill and rigor and accountability the game requires. But the most crucial thing about a hockey team, Budde says, is the maintenance of good relationships between the players. She intentionally focuses her coaching philosophy on the facilitation of such connections.
“How can I bring out the best in each of the athletes, being as transparent as possible, being honest and open with them, communicating everything?” she said.
Budde’s approach in this regard is hands-off. She wants the relationships between her players to be natural and genuine. “I’m not going to be the one to tell you to [spend time together outside of hockey] because you need to want to do that. That’s the only way the [hockey] culture is going to improve.”
Budde’s respect for her players and passion for her sport is echoed in the camaraderie among the team. Chelsea Denniss, a member of the women’s hockey team, speaks highly of Budde’s coaching and its effect on the team.
“She has a contagious pride in the school’s commitment to excellence, but more importantly, being connected to the bigger community where each person has an important role,” Denniss said. “Whether she’s skating us during an intensive practice or joking with us on long bus rides, she is an approachable leader who reminds us of the passion that hockey brings us. She adds warmth and positivity to the rink each day, even during our early-morning skates or late away games, and truly cares for each player’s growth and well-being.”
Fiona Oberhofer, another women’s hockey player at LFC, agrees that Budde’s mindfulness of her players’ lives both on and off the ice is invaluable to the team’s success.
“I am very grateful for all the time, energy, and support Coach Budde has put into getting to know me not only as a hockey player, but as a student, and more importantly, a person. We are very fortunate that Coach Budde's life journey has led her back to the Forest,” she said.
Ultimately, Budde thinks her work—and her team’s work—has paid off. “It shows in our statistics that we’re learning and we’re growing,” she concluded. “We’re building this new beautiful thing happening here at Lake Forest College.”