Vetter lands 2009 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the top NCAA Division I player in women’s ice hockey. With UW-Madison Athletic Director Barry Alvarez.
Jessie Vetter — among the University of Wisconsin’s most successful women’s hockey players and an integral part of the 2010 and 2014 silver medal U.S. Olympic teams — hasn’t laced up a pair of goalie skates since April.
And she doesn’t know when she will again.
“My bag is down in the basement, zipped up,” says 30-year-old Vetter, who lives in Cottage Grove. “I think as I’ve gotten older — and I just got married — the idea of training and competing and going to the rink as much as I did just doesn’t seem as appealing as it used to. So I’ve been asking myself, ‘If I don’t want to put my hockey gear on, how am I going to be able to stay at the high level I expect of myself?’ I’ve had a long career playing hockey and enjoyed every second, and if it’s time, it’s time.”
With that, Jessie Vetter tells Isthmus she’s done playing competitive hockey.
Her first order of business: hosting the Jessie Vetter Golf Classic at University Ridge on Aug. 19. Open to golfers of all skill levels, the event benefits UW Health and the American Family Children’s Hospital. Now in its sixth year, the outing has raised more than $100,000 for the hospital since 2012; proceeds from the first year’s event benefited the United Way of Dane County. Vetter, an avid golfer, will be stationed at one of the course’s par-3 holes to tee off with all participants. (Vetter and Isthmus co-owner Mark Tauscher are both American Family Brand Ambassadors.)
Vetter also volunteers one day a week at the Children’s Hospital, learning how the facility operates with an eye toward eventually working there in some capacity on a part-time basis. “I’m excited and nervous,” she says. “Luckily, I don’t have to rush into anything.”
Vetter makes a save at the net against Dartmouth during the 2009 NCAA quarterfinals.
Vetter comes from a family of hockey-playing brothers, so joining the Monona Grove High School boys’ hockey team wasn’t a big deal for her. “Back in the early 2000s, there wasn’t a girls’ team for me to play for that didn’t require a lot of travel,” she says. “Now, there are girls’ high school hockey teams everywhere.”
Vetter was named Monona Grove’s most valuable player for three consecutive years and also helped the Silver Eagles win three girls’ state soccer championships. “I think everyone probably thought I would play soccer in college,” she says. “I had a conversation with the soccer coach at Wisconsin to see if I could do both.”
She obviously chose hockey, and after redshirting her freshman year at UW, Vetter went on to post an NCAA record of 39 career shutouts — helping the Badgers win three NCAA championships between 2006 and 2009.
“Playing for Wisconsin was a lifelong dream,” Vetter says. “Because of that, winning at Wisconsin and representing my home state was pretty special. I think it’s even more special because I was with my teammates every day for four years.”
After she graduated, Vetter played several years for Team USA in international competition, including the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
“Both times when I found out I made the Olympic team, we were all sitting in a room and the coaches started announcing names,” Vetter remembers. “If you made the team, you left the room. I’ve always thought that process should be more one-on-one. Your friend is crying next to you, but you made the team and have to walk out.”
The United States skated away with silver in 2010, suffering a devastating shutout by Canada and losing again to the Canadians, 3-2, four years later.
“Looking back, we’re proud of how we played,” Vetter says, before her voice trails off. “Both opportunities were good games, but they scored more goals than we did, so....”
Although Vetter left a legacy as a Badger, she’s reluctant to give herself too much credit.
“I’m a big believer in just having fun and enjoying yourself. I love soccer and golf and baseball just as much as I love hockey. It’s just that hockey was the sport I continued playing. If that, at some point, inspired some young girl or boy to push a little harder and try to achieve a dream — whatever that may be — that’s cool. But it’s not something I set out to do.”
