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34 // AUGUST 2023 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM AUTHOR NAME SUBHEAD ourtney Menches flawlessly remembers the tremendous amount of pride that overcame her during the U.S. Women's National Team's 4-2 victory over Canada last November during the Rivalry Series. The record-breaking crowd of 14,551 fans inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle broke out in a "USA! USA! chant." Menches, who served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for Team USA last season during the Rivalry Series, felt her lifelong passion for hockey and her career collided in multiple ways. When Menches is not training members of the U.S. Women's National Team, or teenagers at this summer's USA Hockey-BioSteel Girls 15 Player Development Camp, Menches can be found training fighter pilots a n d m i l i t a r y p e r s o n n e l a s a t a c t i c a l st r e n g t h a n d conditioning specialist. "The Women's National Team was an awesome oppor- tunity to coach and see at that level the caliber of athlete that is representing Team USA," Menches recalled this year in Oxford, Ohio. "It also gave me an appreciation for the fact that I have the opportunity to work with some of our finest warfighters at the highest level of their career and at the tip of the spear. They're doing X, Y and Z to defend the constitution, so that we as a federa- tion can compete at the highest level, spread the game and allow these kids an opportunity to fulfill their dreams and make the game better in the future. "It was very rewarding and humbling. It gave me a lot of time to reflect." During her reflection, Menches, a South Carolina native, thought about some of the pilots she had been training on the east coast. "I was lucky enough to stand on the bench (in Seattle) and we had a group (of pilots) deployed at the time," Menches said. PHOTOS BY Taylor Swierc; Kourtney Menches For Love Of Country & The Game By:Taylor Swierc Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach Kourtney Menches Takes Pride In Training Hockey Players And Members Of The United States Military TITLE Kourtney Menches VIDEO: The U.S. Women's National Team defeats Canada 4-2 during the 2022 Rivalry Series. K 34 // AUGUST 2023 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM