About Maria
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Who is Maria Rooth?
After 265 International Matches, She Hung Up Her Skates After the 2009/2010 Season. Today, Maria works as an inspirational speaker, runs a summer hockey school for girls, organizes mini hockey camps across the Nordic region, sells women’s and girls’ hockey clothing, and is a hockey expert for SVT. In addition, Maria is the CEO of JUSTICE Hockey AB, a company that sells individually tailored hockey sticks.
The Beginning of Her Career
Maria began her hockey career at the age of 5, playing with boys in Rögle BK in her hometown of Ängelholm. Rögle provided her with an exceptional hockey education, which benefited her in her adult career, where she was once considered one of the top 10 female hockey players in the world. Maria played with Rögle until the age of 13 when she joined two other teams: playing with girls in Veddige HK in Halland and with boys in Jonstorp IF. During her five years with Veddige, she won two Swedish Championship bronze medals. With Jonstorp, she played for three years before switching to Helsingborg HC J18/J20, where she played for two years.
The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was the first time women’s hockey was included in the Olympic program as a demonstration sport. At 19 years old, Maria was selected for the Swedish team aiming to win a medal. Ranked fifth before the tournament, Sweden finished in fifth place, losing the decisive match for a semifinal spot to China—a disappointment for many players.
After Graduation
After graduating from Rönneskolan in Ängelholm, Maria moved to Boston to play for the Assabet Valley Girls Hockey Club during the 1998/1999 season. During her time there, she was approached by several universities offering full scholarships. After visiting schools in Maine, UNH, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota Duluth, she decided to commit to the University of Minnesota Duluth. Maria described it as feeling like “home,” and it turned out to be a great decision. Maria earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication while playing world-class hockey with the school’s team, the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs won three consecutive NCAA championships from 2001 to 2003. As a result of their success, the team was invited to the White House three years in a row to be honored by President George W. Bush. As team captain for her final two seasons, Maria had the honor of presenting the team’s gift, a Bulldogs jersey, to the President.
During her time at UMD, Maria participated in her second Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002. In a historic upset, Sweden defeated Finland 2-1 in the bronze medal game. Just days before Christmas 2001, it was announced that Sweden’s women’s team would compete in the Olympics, but few believed they could achieve anything. Fortunately, the team believed in themselves and proved they belonged on the Olympic stage.
Time to Hang Up the Skates and Coach Others
After graduating from Duluth, Maria returned to Sweden to play for Limhamn Limeburners, near Malmö in the south. She played for both the J18 and J20 teams as well as the women’s team. The women’s team earned a silver medal at the 2004 Swedish Championship after losing to AIK in the final.
After her year in Malmö, Maria moved to Stockholm to play for M/B (Mälarhöjden/Bredäng) for two seasons (2004/2005 and 2005/2006), winning the Swedish Championship both years.
The 2006 Olympics in Italy marked Maria’s third Olympic appearance. She played a key role in the historic semifinal victory over the United States. Before this game, Sweden had never earned a single point in their 25 previous meetings with the USA, with a shot differential of 29-187. Sweden won 3-2 in overtime and a shootout. Maria scored both goals during the match and the decisive shootout goal that sent Sweden to their first-ever gold medal game in a World Championship or Olympics. The victory over the USA was dubbed “The Second Miracle” by global media, referencing the 1980 Miracle on Ice when the US college team defeated the Soviet Union. Sweden ultimately lost the final 4-1 to the heavily favored Canadians. Maria was named to the All-Star Team and finished the tournament with 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists).
Before the 2006/2007 season, Maria signed with AIK IF in Stockholm, where she played her final four seasons. Her time with AIK began successfully, as they won the European Championship for club teams in December 2006 in Katrineholm. The season concluded with a Swedish Championship gold medal for AIK and a World Championship bronze medal with Team Sweden. In total, Maria won two European Cup titles and two Swedish Championship gold medals.
Maria retired from playing in March 2010, and shortly thereafter became an assistant coach for her former college team, the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). The head coach was Maria’s former coach, Shannon Miller, whom Maria considered the best coach she had ever had. Maria took the opportunity to learn as much as possible about full-time coaching. The other assistant coach was Laura Schuler, a former Canadian national team player with Olympic and World Championship experience.
In May 2011, Maria decided to return to Ängelholm and Sweden to start a life back home, focusing on developing women’s hockey in Sweden. Today, she works as an inspirational speaker across the Nordic region. Maria also runs her summer hockey school for girls in Halmstad, one of the largest in the world, with 270 students annually. She designs women’s hockey clothing, serves as a hockey analyst for SVT, and is the CEO of JUSTICE Hockey AB, which sells individually customized hockey sticks. You can find the company’s website here.