Color of Hockey: Rodgers makes history as Dartmouth assistant

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past nine years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of the NHL's celebration of Black History Month, he profiles Nina Rodgers, an assistant for the Dartmouth College women's hockey team. She's believed to be the first Black woman to coach in NCAA Division I hockey.

Nina Rodgers said she came to understand the impact of being Black and coaching hockey over the summer, when she helped guide MN Unbounded + the Hockey Niñas, a group of all girls of color in Minnesota.

"I always take away what I learned there, seeing all the little girls' joy and also all the high school coaches that were helping us, their joy in seeing girls who look like them," she said. "Hopefully, this helps get more of us in the college game."

Rodgers said she plans to do her part as an assistant for Dartmouth College's women's hockey team. The 25-year-old from Minnetonka, Minnesota, is believed to be the first Black woman to coach in NCAA Division I hockey.

She joined Kelsey Koelzer as a coaching trailblazer. Koelzer became the NCAA's first Black woman head coach when Arcadia University, a Division III school in Glenside, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, hired her in 2020 to lead its first-year women's team.

"I didn't even think about it until it happened and then I was, like, 'Whoa,' that's pretty surreal,' " said Rodgers, who was hired July 14, 2021. "There's definitely a responsibility of trying to educate the hockey culture, to build bridges, and hopefully help people understand more."

At the same time, Rodgers said she has a responsibility to herself "to find my way and become the best coach I can to help young women become better people."

Rodgers coaches forwards and works on in-game situations, skills development and does some recruiting under Dartmouth coach Liz Keady Norton, who coached her for two seasons at Boston University.

"Nina is an excellent addition to our staff," said Norton, who became Dartmouth's coach in May 2021. "She brings a level of passion, competitiveness and enthusiasm that is contagious … Nina has the experience to be a tremendous role model for our players."

Hockey has taken Rodgers across the country, from her home state, where she was a 2014 Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalist, to California, where she played in the Anaheim Lady Ducks program, to New England and back.

Rodgers was a forward on University of Minnesota teams that won NCAA Women's Frozen Four championships in 2015 and 2016. But she transferred to Boston University after scoring 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 81 games from 2014-16.

"It just wasn't the right fit," she said of Minnesota. "Going to Boston allowed me to grow up in a way."

Rodgers said she thrived on and off the ice at BU. She scored a collegiate career-high 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in 37 games in 2016-17, then scored 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 28 games in 2017-18.

"It was the confidence from others and myself that I could be the best and then proving it to myself," she said. "I lost some confidence at Minnesota --it's not anyone's fault. It's just what happened. I had to find myself again and believe in myself again and Boston was the place to do that."

Connecticut of the National Women's Hockey League (now the Premier Hockey Federation) selected Rodgers in the fifth round (No. 17) of its 2017 draft. She played one season there before she signed with Minnesota in 2019-20.

Rodgers scored 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 26 games with Minnesota and Connecticut from 2018-21. When Rodgers wasn't playing hockey, she was coaching; she was an instructor at a girls' hockey training program and a coach in the Upper Midwest High School Hockey Elite League, all with an eye toward working behind a college bench.

Then Dartmouth called.

"[Norton] offered me a job and I was kind of, like, 'Yeah, I'll come,'" said Rodgers, a member of the NHL Coaches' Association's Female Coaches Development Program. "I'm super-pumped she gave me an opportunity."

Rodgers said she's grateful for the experience and inspiration that coaching MN Unbounded gave her before heading to Dartmouth's Hanover, New Hampshire, campus.

The program, co-founded by Meredith Lang and former Bemidji State University defenseman Tina Kampa, began with Under-10 and Under-12 teams of girls of color that competed at the 2021 Os Shootout, a tournament in Edina, Minnesota, in August.

The program has since grown to more than 50 girls with the addition of an Under-14 team.

Rodgers was part of a coaching staff of color that included Kampa; University of Maine forward Jenifer Costa; Minnesota defenseman Crystalyn Hengler; Union College forward Maia Martinez; Augsburg University forward Kensie Malone; and former Augsburg defenseman Nikki Nightengale.

"When Tina helped form MN Unbounded, we were just wanting to give this space to players," Rodgers said. "We didn't realize how it was going to affect us as coaches and how much of a resource it was going to be for the families and the parents."

Rodgers said she's heartened when she looks around and sees more girls and women of color involved in elite and college level hockey. At least 17 Black women are on NCAA Division I and Division III hockey rosters this season.

"Being a player, you rarely saw someone who looked similar to you, not just Black, but Latina or Asian," she said. "But now you may see three on a team or five in a conference. I hope that becomes a new normal and we make hockey more inclusive."

Photos: Gil Talbot, Doug Austin, John & Matt Risley, Michelle Jay, Boston University