On an Olympic quest, Andrea Kilbourne still seeks gold

During the past Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, Princeton was abuzz with the news of Andrea Kilbourne '02, who had taken the year off to play in the Olympics on the U.S. women's hockey team. The campus not only witnessed the glory of the Olympics but also partook in the pride of a fellow Princetonian as Andrea scuffled, skated and scored her way to an Olympic silver medal.

Her team had been favored to win gold, storming through the tournament before having to settle for silver after being upset by Canada in the finals. She scored a goal and had an assist in five games.

Andrea first strapped on a helmet, shoulder pads and skates at the gentle age of five in order to attend hockey practices at the local skating rink and quickly picked up on the basics of the game.

"My dad and older brother played and I lived about a quarter-mile from the local rink, so it was kind of a given that I'd play hockey," she said.

Hockey soon became an integral part of her life, with the Olympics always on the horizon as a personal goal.

Dedicating the past few years to training as well as all of last summer, Andrea diligently worked towards the August tryouts for the Olympic team.

"Making the team in August was the greatest obstacle I had to overcome on the way to the Olympics."

"Until that point, Coach Smith, the head coach for the team, had always thought I was a great college player but not quite good enough for the elite international level," she explained.

"I spent the whole summer training in Boston with some of the best hockey players around — male and female — to prove him wrong at the tryouts in August."

When Andrea made the team, she joined a colorful group of women as young as 16 and as old as 30.

"The team is a great mix of character and personalities...The Olympics are amazing. Meeting all the different athletes and being able to represent my country has been an incredible experience."

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"I think I had a strong tournament in Salt Lake. I felt that I had the jump in my step throughout the tournament and really forced the other teams to make some mistakes. I had a couple points, which was icing on the cake, but I'm most proud of my line's plus/minus record," she said, noting that her team was unscored upon when she was on the ice.

As for her future goals, Andrea said, "I'll play for Princeton next year and hopefully, continue to improve. Once my career is finished here, I will most likely try to continue to play in a semi-pro league in Canada and for the U.S. national team at major tournaments."

She credits her family with providing her the support with which to pursue her dream. "My family has been instrumental in helping me achieve this goal. They have been supportive of everything I've done and have helped me realize that I could make it to this level."

"My friends and Princeton teammates have also been great and are definitely partly to credit for my success," she added.

Andrea is a psychology major who is also working to earn a certification in education, as part of her enthusiasm for teaching children.

"Since this experience in Salt Lake, I've become a lot more comfortable with public speaking and media events. I definitely wouldn't rule out a career in sports journalism or media but right now I think I'm most interested in helping out in schools that are going through desperate teacher shortages."

"I love going into classes or to sports teams to tell the kids about my experience and journey to the Olympics," she added.

Currently, Andrea plans to return to the Olympics and earn the color medal that was denied her in Salt Lake City.

"My goal is to win gold in Turin, Italy in 2006," she said.