Skye Gonzalez

00:00:14 - Intro & sponsor: Welcome back to The Face Off Spot; Play It Again Sports Mansfield read; Adam on wanting to represent women's hockey, the fastest-growing side of the sport.

00:01:54 - Guest intro: Skye Gonzalez, Marian University player and Play It Again Sports Mansfield employee.

00:02:11 - How the episode happened: Shout out to her dad, Daniel Cole, for suggesting her in the Facebook comments.

00:03:22 - Getting into hockey: Gymnastics and a quarter of a soccer practice; watching her dad skate with the police department team; playing on the monkey bars while mom watched.

00:04:03 - Early skating career: Started around age six; Galleria, Plano, Euless; finding the Dallas Stars Elite program and skating there nearly a decade; now at Marian in Wisconsin.

00:04:52 - Family on the ice: Adam recognizing her brother at the rink from a young age. "As soon as he's out of the womb, get him on skates."

00:05:35 - Coaching the little rookies: Helping with youth programs out of Euless and Farmers Branch, and continuing it with the girls' program in Wisconsin.

00:06:58 - Why giving back matters: How coaching younger players resets your own perspective, and what it means for young girls to see older girls playing.

00:08:31 - Women's hockey isn't soft: No body checking doesn't mean less physical; defensive stick work as a next-level skill; Adam's season coaching high school girls in Vermont and how coachable and competitive they were.

00:11:09 - Playing with the boys: Skye on wishing she'd skated with boys more for speed, moving to girls hockey around age nine, and the friendships that came out of it.

00:12:38 - The rewind, what girls hockey used to look like: Nine years old on a 12U team, not enough players to fill age brackets, teams aging up together.

00:14:00 - How much the game has grown: Traveling to Canada for top competition; girls in the program now being seen as D1 prospects; Texas hockey holding its own.

00:15:42 - The 16U crossroads: When hockey stops being purely fun and the college question arrives.

00:17:50 - Skye's own decision: Admitting she pushed the college pathway off; gratitude for her parents' sacrifice, every flight, hotel, tournament and dry land session; the wave of coach emails and texts senior year.

00:20:47 - It's okay not to play in college: Teammates who stopped after youth hockey; feeling the process for girls is sometimes forced and rushed. "It's your process for a reason."

00:22:51 - But don't live with regret: If you're doubting, try it anyway; taking a break is fine; the rink as therapy; the adrenaline of freshman-year exhibition games.

00:25:27 - Where women's hockey is headed: Adam on the pro and collegiate game growing, the finesse and time-and-space of the women's game, and the hook that isn't a hook.

00:27:57 - Arriving at college: Nerves vs. excitement; the coach who told her "you're not nervous, you're excited"; consistency as her personal keyword.

00:29:48 - Freshman year: Being the youngest on an 18 to 22 year old roster; a stall between the two captains; intimidation turning into belonging.

00:30:30 - Teammates and captains' practices: Why older players giving you a hard time is a good sign; preseason captains' skates; looking forward to being that person for incoming freshmen as a sophomore.

00:32:10 - Self-accountability: Adam on Skye as an employee who holds herself to a high bar; her coach telling her to stop being so hard on herself; overthinking in and out of the game.

00:34:13 - Her brother Danny: Eleven years old, defenseman to her left wing; sibling trash talk, giving him pointers on gap and stick length, and who he actually listens to.

00:36:45 - Watching him progress: Pride in his confidence and shot. "I know he'll be better than me, he probably already is."

00:37:44 - The kids who get better: Do they shoot pucks and skate at home on their own, or only at paid ice time? Adam on why that's the whole difference.

00:38:26 - The loaded question: Should parents spend thousands on a kid who won't put in the work at home? Texas travel programs, summer tournaments, roller hockey in Denton.

00:40:54 - Being your own worst critic: Skye telling Danny not to be like her; "you have more bad shifts than good shifts"; what you see on the ice vs. what everyone else sees.

00:41:58 - The truth is in the middle: Adam on starting men's league three weeks ago and being told he played well when he knew he didn't; effort and body language covering mistakes.

00:43:15 - Confidence vs. ego: Would you rather be a player who can't see their mistakes or one who sees too many? The clone thought experiment, and Skye's answer, confidence yes, ego no.

00:46:56 - Wrapping up: Adam telling Skye she should start her own podcast.

00:47:47 - The Shout Out, Skye: "Nobody else can define you except for yourself." Everyone off the ice is noise; be your most authentic self; play because you love it and want to be consistent in it.

00:50:20 - The Shout Out, Adam: Let young players grow into the sport naturally; don't make it too serious too early; don't compare siblings. "Take it step by step," and Skye's better version, "blade by blade."