Former Wisconsin Badgers defenseman Kerry Weiland doesn't have the typical hockey player's background. Her mother signed her up to play hockey at five years old because she thought it would help Kerry overcome her extreme shyness. Growing up on an Alaska hay farm, Kerry would wait until low areas in fields would fill with water and freeze over so she could create her own ice rinks. Kerry wasn't supposed to run or jump for three years because she had stress fractures in both feet as a youth. Girls hockey was not available in high school, so she skated with the boys and became team captain by her junior year.
In four years at Wisconsin, Weiland was a two-time All America selection and sits sixth on the school's all-time scoring list. After her Badgers career, she helped the Vaughan Flames to the inaugural Canadian Women's Hockey League championship in 2007-08 and played several seasons in the National Women's Hockey League. She is a four-time member of the U.S. Women's National Team for the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship, winning gold in 2008-09.
Watch the 2010 Winter Olympics on the networks of NBC
Coverage begins Friday, Feb. 12, at 7:30p ET/PT with the Opening Ceremony and ends Sunday, Feb. 28.
