"I've been part of the USA Hockey family doing various national camps and different things with them since I started coaching college hockey [she played four years at Colgate, then served as an assistant coach, two seasons at Brown, and three seasons with UConn]," said Parker in a recent conversation. "I'm familiar in terms of just with what that [preparation and tournament] process looks like for the national teams. I've always wanted to be on a national team staff learning all the ropes."
Parker gets her chance as soon as the national squad lands in Sweden. There will be USA and other nations' practices to scout, plus pre-tournament games. She will watch as much as possible in person, practically living at the rink. She can't wait.
"My primary role is scouting and looking to get our team prepared as much as possible for the tournament games," said Parker. "You're striving to win a gold medal when you're over there. There are challenges along with it. You're coaching under-18-year-olds. Every day is like a new adventure."
Parker said she was "super ecstatic" when the USA Hockey U18 women's team general manager, Christine Wright, called to see if Parker could join the effort. She is grateful to the Kraken organization for allowing her to take time away during the busy winter session, especially youth player development colleagues Martin Hlinka and David Kyu-Ho Min, plus Rob Lampman, senior VP for Kraken business operations and general manager of Kraken Community Iceplex.
USA Hockey GM Wright is equally grateful to welcome Parker to the gold-medal pursuit in Sweden: "We are thrilled to have Katelyn as part of our staff. She brings extensive scouting experience from her time as a college coach and has a keen eye for this age group. We know she will be a key member of our team. She has a charisma both on and off the ice that fits seamlessly within our program's ethos."
Parker's "keen eye for this age group" was developed in those college coaching years with Brown and the University of Connecticut. Similar to Kraken amateur scouts and the hockey operations analytics staff projecting the future success of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds, Parker evaluated all sorts of the players her college teams were looking to recruit. She said the world championship event is a steep and telling test of the globe's best U18 female players.
"When you place these kids in this environment, that's where you really see what kind of training is done mentally and physically," said Parker. "There's a lot of pressure. You always have this hope and vision for what you think the players can give you. That's how you build your team."
An important task for Parker is scouting the other teams, especially players who might be quite advanced from the last World Championship tourney. A year in a teen player's life can transform her into a game-changing force on the ice.
"When I encounter another team, I get an idea of which kids have really good skill sets," said Parker, "who might be a huge threat to our team and how we counter it. Sometimes you go into a game and it's exactly how you predicted. You feel really good about it. Or it might be the exact opposite and it's time to go back to the drawing board. Every day at a tournament is about learning and re-evaluating and not being predetermined in your mindset. It's all about how we get the best out of our kids and get them going."
