A Spark – turned into a Life Long Passions

Sami Reber, Edina High School Girls Hockey Coach

When born with passion in your blood, it shows. Apply your passion to other aspects of life and you find success. Sami Reber, one of Edina’s greatest hockey players, laced up her first pair of skates at the age of three, and hasn’t taken them off since. Reber played hockey with the boys until she was about ten years old, transitioning to girls hockey and playing all through high school. Going on to play four years at Harvard University for the women’s hockey team.

Learn How to Cross-Apply Your Skills

Reber took skills she learned from hockey and applied them across her whole life. She learned time management, teamwork, camaraderie, and punctuality. By testing out different roles and positions on the team, she developed skills which helped her figure out where she belongs… not only on her team, but in life.

She’s now applying those philosophies to her Edina Women’s High School Hockey Team. Reber maintains a team-first attitude among her girls, encouraging them to take things day by day, and teaching them to hold each other accountable. Buying into each other and holding each other accountable is important, whether it’s backchecking or picking up trash. “The hockey piece is a huge part, but the biggest piece is getting these girls ready to go out into … the real world,” says Reber. She knows her girls will be moving on to college, where they won’t be around parents all the time, so she’s focused on helping develop these girls into independent women after leaving her Edina hockey program.

Get Rid of Negativity – The Power of Teamwork and Positive Attitudes

Sami Reber tells her story on the Advice Givers (R) Podcast.

One of Reber’s favorite years was her junior year of college hockey at Harvard University. The assistant coach was filling in while their head coach went off to lead the Olympics Team that year. Their team lost four girls to the Olympics Team and one to a concussion. Everyone thought it would be a down year for us. Instead, “it was kind of this ‘prove people wrong’ year, and we ended up making the National Tournament – almost beating Wisconsin, who made the Frozen Four and almost went on to win the whole thing,” says Reber. “We got rid of the negative stuff. We didn’t care what people thought about us, and we just came together as a group… it was such a special time for us to really come together and play the game we love.” Attitude plays a big role in teamwork. It just goes to show when it comes to “the team that you have,” advises Reber, “it’s not all about talent.”

Carrying this philosophy over Reber lead the Edina Girls Hockey Team to their first ever Girls State High School Hockey Championship this year.

Giving Back

Tim Murphy and Sami Reber on Advice Givers (R)

Reber credits her coaches, growing up, for instilling a desire to work with kids, “The … effect they’ve had on me is unparalleled.” From youth to college coaches, each taught her something different. Building a fire inside to give back. Having hockey as her foundation for working with kids, giving back what she was given growing up, it’s a dream come true and she can’t picture herself doing anything else.

Reber wants her girls to walk away from the Edina Girls High School Hockey Program with a positive energy, a love for life and unafraid to take on any challenge that comes their way. Of course she wants to help them get to the next level in hockey, but she’s hopeful for a positive impact overall, as well. “I hope that people say I left a positive impact on the Edina Girls Hockey Program,” says Reber. She would be humbled if that were the case.
Edina Girls Hockey Program – keep following the story