ORANGEVILLE — The Monroe Youth Hockey Association has seen its share of success over the years, but this past week the organization — as well as family, friends and the Orangeville school district community — singled out a former player to celebrate.

Tessa Janecke, an Orangeville senior, was named to the USA Hockey Women’s 18-U national team. “Some people reached out that I don’t even talk to. I felt very supported.”

“You never know where ‘give hockey a try’ and a lot of hard work can take you… so dream big!” MYHA wrote in a Facebook post.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Tessa said, adding that it was a bit of a relief when she learned of making the team. “It let me know that all of the hard work I’ve put in is paying off.”

Tessa splits time between Orangeville and North American Hockey Academy (NAHA), a hockey preparatory school in the western suburbs of Boston.

Hockey has had a trickle-down effect in her family. Her grandfather played some, but now her generation is all but engulfed in the sport. According to her father, Rooney Janecke, eight of her cousins lace up to play each year — as does both her older and younger brothers.

Tessa and older brother Cade (Class of 2021) came up in the MYHA program, but by the time they reached high school, they no longer shared the ice on the same team. 

“Maybe he’ll bring his skates home for Christmas,” Tessa joked of dueling her older brother on the ice. Cade is playing for the Illinois State D-1 team alongside former Monroe teammate Payton Stauffacher.

As a young teenager, Tessa stuck out against other girls her age, and as a freshman her parents enrolled her at NAHA Winterhawks. Later that season, she received — and accepted — an opportunity to play in college at Penn State. 

Tessa plays center, though she said she’d be willing to play wherever she’s put on the ice. In her freshman year she had 24 goals and 27 assists in 40 games. The next year she finished with 55 goals and 42 assists in 62 games. Her 2020-21 junior campaign was held to 39 games, but she added another 28 goals and 22 assists to her record book. Total through three seasons: 141 games, 107 goals, 91 assists, and a total of 198 points. 

This season, her squad is 10-3 overall and she is tied for the team lead with 20 points, including eight goals and 12 assists.

“I’ve seen tremendous growth. The improvement just after that first year was so large. They push you to go faster, and to be a better teammate,” Tessa said.

Making Team USA was no easy task. Tessa was one of 10 in the Central District to advance out of a Midwest tryout in April, then attended the Select Camp in St. Cloud in July, competing against 70 other players from around the country. Then she was one of just 32 invited to the National Festival camp in Blaine, Minnesota in August — with 23 making the final roster.

“We knew there was a chance at that point. We talked about maybe not doing that family fishing trip” and holding off on other vacation plans, Rooney said, because the tournament dates were not set yet.

On Oct. 14, USA Hockey announced the roster of players, who will be coached by Katie Lachapelle, the women’s head coach at Holy Cross. Players from 11 states are represented, including seven from Minnesota. Tessa is one of two Illinois players on the roster — Kelly Gorbatenko is from the Chicagoland area. Wisconsin is represented by Janessa Gazdik, a defender from Somerset that plays with Gentry Academy.

“Our roster is filled with incredibly talented players from across the country and together we’ll strive to bring the gold medal back to the U.S.,” said Lachapelle in a USA Hockey press release from Oct. 14.

The team will get back together Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, then either fly to Finland or quarantine together in the U.S. before flying to Sweden for the International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championship, which will be held Jan. 8-15 in Linköping and Mjölby, Sweden.

Tessa’s Winterhawks team is in the midst of playing a series in Minnesota, then will move on to Detroit next week before headed back to the east coast. She’s the only one in the program that made the final Team USA roster.

The 2021 world championship was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Team USA won the gold in 2020 in a 2-1 overtime win against Canada. Team USA has played in all 13 gold medal games since 2008, winning it all eight times while taking silver five times. 

Above the Team USA U-18 roster is the U-23 roster. Above that is the USA Women’s National Team that represents the country in the Olympics. Tessa said she has her sights set on representing her country in the top tier.

“That’s very important to me,” said Tessa, who has just his one tournament guaranteed to her. Next year she will be too old for the 18-U and will have to try to make the 23-U team.

Rooney said he’s watched his daughter grow from natural talent to a determined competitor. She began lifting weight heavily prior to high school, a trend for female athletes that is still behind male athletes, even in hockey. She also trains herself with endurance and running all year-round. This past summer, Tessa was working on sprinting programs and running the bleachers at the football field.

“She hits the weights hard. There are not many girl hockey players her age as fast and strong as her. I know there are girls that work really hard in different aspects of hockey,” like stick handling and skating, Rooney said, “but I don’t know that there are many like her.”

She gained a bit of a “no fear” attitude at a young age, which could be seen by more people than just her father. As a young elementary student, she was routinely shagging fly balls in the outfield with Cade during batting practice as Rooney played Home Talent Baseball. As she got older, Rooney said he noticed she was standing out on the ice, even while trying to take some of his own innate bias out of the equation.

“I’ve gone and seen some of the elite players in this country playing at the highest level, AAA, and you kind of know who is good,” said Rooney, who felt Tessa fit that bill. “Seeing your own kid, you think they are a good player. As parents, you hope she gets noticed.”

Those growing skills, and the understanding of Tessa’s potential, helped Rooney and wife Kari let their daughter move halfway across the country for nearly six months out of the year — just to play a little extra hockey. It seems to have worked out. 

Now the biggest question on Rooney and Kari’s minds are if, due to COVID-19 restrictions, will they be allowed to travel to Sweden to watch Tessa play?

“If we can go, we will. This is probably something that you don’t want to miss as a parent,” Rooney said. “We’re really proud of her.”