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Summit Hockey’s ‘Bam-Bam’ Edstrom commits to D-III Aurora University, plus Team Breck at Mammoth snow camp

Phil Lindeman
plindeman@summitdaily.com
More than 30 athletes with Team Breckenridge Sports Club enjoy the sun and water near the base of Mammoth Mountain in California between training in the gates during the team's annul on-snow summer camp.
Special to the Daily |

This week’s races

Baker’s Tank 4K/9K | Summit Trail Running Series, July 12

What: The third race in the summer-long trail-running series, this one held on a combination of dirt road and tight singletrack near Boreas Pass Road

When: Wednesday, July 12 at 6 p.m.

Cost: $25 for adults, $5 for kids (on-site or online at BreckenridgeRecreation.com)

Frisco Triathlon | Frisco, July 15

What: The third edition of a nontraditional triathlon with three legs split between a 3K stand-up paddle on Lake Dillon, 12K mountain bike ride and 5K trail run at the Frisco Peninsula

When: Saturday, July 15 at 9 a.m.

Cost: $70 solo or $195 per team of three (online at TownOfFrisco.com)

Tough Mudder Copper | Copper, July 15-16

What: The Copper Mountain debut of a long-running obstacle course race featuring 20-25 mud-splattered obstacles like walls, barbed wire and electric wires on a 6-mile sprint course or 10-mile full course

When: Saturday, July 15 at 8 a.m.

Cost: $109 to $209 (online at ToughMudder.com)

Terah ‘Bam-Bam’ Edstrom recruited by D-III Aurora University hockey

“Bam-Bam” Edstrom is headed to the NCAA.

In May, Edstrom — real name Terah, nickname Bam-Bam in reference to her stature and playing style — made the first step to a collegiate hockey career and committed to the brand-new Division III program at Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois. She joins the Spartans in late April, when she leaves her longtime hometown of Fairplay and moves into the dorms with two fellow hockey players.



“This is a new team, so I could be paving the path for future Spartans,” said Edstrom, 17, who said it’s “super cool” to be living and playing with her new teammates just 45 minutes from downtown Chicago and the Blackhawks home ice. “I look forward to being a role model for these girls who might play hockey in the future.”

The Fort Collins native and former Summit Youth Hockey player spent her senior season this past year with the Minnesota Revolution, a private high school hockey academy. She played starting center and occasional defensewoman for the U-19 girls team, bringing with her everything she’s learned in more than a decade on the ice in Colorado, including 13 seasons with Summit club hockey and three seasons with both the Summit High School boys and girls teams.



“With the competitive level of women’s college hockey, I knew I needed more exposure and experience,” Edstrom said of her decision to play in Minnesota her senior season. While there, she saw a whole new world of competitive hockey — she admits the teams there play a harder and faster game than she was used to — and kept the attention of Aurora University head coach Grant Kimball. He first noticed Edstrom at a national tournament in 2016 and had been pursuing her ever since.

“My goal since I was 7 or 8 years old was to play D-I hockey, but to get into the league and see how good these girls are, I realize that D-I wasn’t an option right away,” said Edstrom, who still hopes to play at the NCAA’s highest level sometime in her career. “I looked at this school and saw there is a great coach who wants me, a great school who wants me, and when you grow up in a small place like Fairplay and Breckenridge, a smaller school is better for me.”

Edstrom hasn’t reached this next level on her own. She comes from a long line of hockey players — her father and two brothers are goalkeepers — and started playing as a Mini Mite. Early coaches Jamie Lee Coen and Jessica Johns taught her the fundamentals and inspired her original love of the game, according to Wren Arbuthnot with Summit Youth Hockey. Coach Kory DeKovend invigorated her passion and helped her hone her aggressive skills, while Tigers head coach Billy Barto helped her polish her skills and prepared her to compete at the national level.

“I really want to thank all of my coaches, teammates and coaches who didn’t coach me, but believed in me still,” Edstrom told Arbuthnot. “Every single one of you had some impact on helping me grow into the person and player I am today. Whether it was pushing me to perform 110 percent in every practice, bag skates because of a bad attitude or just encouraging me to have fun, I am truly grateful for everything each of you have done for me.”

Best of luck, Bam-Bam.

Team Breck athletes earn their summer turns at Mammoth Mountain

Team Breckenridge Sports Club just got back from more than a week of alpine training camp at Mammoth Mountain in California. Camp was 10 days total, including eight days on snow, in a quality race-training environment still loaded with snow despite the warm summer sun.


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