Athletes

Ashley Sessa

Women’s Field Hockey - Ashley’s team has qualified for PARIS 2024 & the team will be officially announced in June of 2024. Ashley was a member of the team when they won Silver at the 2023 Pan American Games and in the Olympic qualifying tournament in India in 2024 when the United States punched their ticket to Paris 2024.

Ashley won a NCAA Championship at UNC-Chapel Hill, but entered the transfer portal and will be a sophomore at Northwestern University in the Fall of 2024. She is a native of the greater Philadelphia region.

Off the pitch, Ashley has made donations of field hockey equipment in 3 Eastern United States markets in 2024 (Cape Cod, Charlotte and greater Philadelphia) - $7,500 worth of gear and will have another donation within the greater Philadelphia area in conjunction with her own 501 c(3) and major universities who open up their facilities for her summer clinics.

Courtney Ryan

Women’s Wheelchair Basketball - Courtney was named to her 2nd Paralympic Team in April of 2024. She earned her first Paralympic medal at Tokyo 2020 where she and her teammates took home the Bronze for Team USA. Additionally, she has won a World Championship Bronze in 2023 and ParaPan American Games Champion in 2023 and Silver in 2019.

She is a graduate of the University of Arizona where she also serves as a Volunteer Assistant Basketball Coach for the women’s wheelchair basketball team which also allows her to continue to train for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She is a native of the greater San Diego region.

Courtney had played professionally in Australia in the Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League (Sydney Metro Blues) prior to her position at her alma mater.

Joe Berenyi

Para Cycling - Joe is a Paralympic Champion having competed at three Games during his career (London 2012, Rio 2016 & Tokyo 2020).

Having lost his arm & injuring his knee in a construction accident when a crane toppled over building a movie theatre, Joe ultimately overcame this and at the age of 43 and only 3 years into being a Paralympic athlete, he won Gold, Silver & Bronze at London 2012. Four years later at Rio 2016, he added a Silver medal and two top 5 finishes. At Tokyo 2020, he qualified for both track and road races and had two-top 7 finishes.

Still competing today at the age of 57, more than double the age of most of his competition, Joe is in the hunt to qualify for his 4th Paralympic Games.

Joe resides with his wife (Jill) and 3 daughters (Sydney, Gwen & Tatum) in Oswego, Illinois. When not cycling, Joe handles construction jobs domestically and in the Caribbean.

Maggie Steffens

Women’s Water Polo - Maggie is a 3x Olympic Champion, 5x FINA/World Aquatics World Champion & 4x Pan American Games Championships and holds all of the scoring records in the sport at the Olympics, World Championship and Pan American Games, she is considered to be the greatest female player in the history of the sport. The U.S. has already qualified for Paris 2024 and the team will be named in June of 2024.

She holds two degrees from Stanford University where she won 3 NCAA Championships and won the 2017 NCAA MVP of the tournament, a bachelors and masters. She is a native of the northern California Bay Area. Additionally, she is a co-founder of the sports data analytic company 6-8 Sports.

Out of the pool, Maggie got married (Bobby) in Fall 2023 and serves on the World Aquatics Athletes’ Commission.

Paige Madden

Women’s Swimming - Paige is an Olympic Silver Medalist from Tokyo 2020 in the 4x200 Freestyle Relay. U.S. Olympic Trials are in June in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. During her U.S. National Team career, she has earned Gold, Silver & Bronze medals at the Pan American Games and World Championships individually and in team relay events.

In April of 2024, news reports came out that the Chinese relay team that won Gold ahead of Paige’s team at Tokyo 2020, had 23 members of their team dope but WADA & World Aquatics let them swim anyway being satisfied with the Chinese ADA report. This situation is being reviewed now and may result in their disqualification thus elevating the United States to Gold, Australia to Silver & Canada to Bronze.

She is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she earned a Bachelors and Loughborough University, M.A. Clinical Exercise Physiology ‘23 in the UK where she earned a Masters degree. She is a native of Mobile, Alabama.

Alexandra Poznikoff

Women’s Ice Hockey - Alex is a member of PWHL Montreal. Initially, she made the team as a reserve player, midway through the inaugural season, she signed a one-year standard player agreement.

She is a graduate of the University of Alberta, winning a U Sports National Championship in 2017 and has a Silver medal representing Canada at the 2017 Winter University Games. Alex is a native of Edmonton. Prior to playing in the PWHL, Alex played in the PWHPA where she earned 2 DREAM GAP TOUR titles with Team Scotiabank in 2022 & Team Harvey’s in 2023 championship.

Emily Clark

Women’s Ice Hockey - Emily is a 2022 Olympic Champion for Team Canada and a 2024 World Champion. A professional hockey player for PWHL Ottawa having signed a three year deal that will keep her in the Nation’s Capital through the 2025-26 season.

She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, a NCAA Champion and has a total of 3 IIHF World Championships and 2 Olympic medals in her career. She is a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Emily has participated in the NHL All Star Weekend in 2023 & 2024 (PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase).

Gigi Marvin

Women’s Ice Hockey - Gigi is a 2018 Olympic Champion for Team USA and a multiple World Champion. A professional hockey player for PWHL Boston, she came to training camp as a free agent where she earned her spot and signed a 1 year standard player agreement.

A native of Warroad, Minnesota and a graduate of the University of Minnesota, she is a NCAA Champion and has a total of 3 Olympic medals, 5 IIHF Women’s World Championship titles & 8 IIHF World Championship medals in her career.

Gigi won a Midwestern Emmy award as a member of the broadcast team at Bally Sports North (BSN) in 2022. She still works part-time for BSN as well as on Northeastern University men’s hockey coverage on their networks in New England that airs on NESN/NESN+ and ESPN+.

Kelly Pannek

Women’s Ice Hockey - Kelly is a 2018 Olympic Champion for Team USA and a 3x IIHF Women’s World Champion. A professional hockey player for PWHL Minnesota, she was the first signed player in the history of the League agreeing on her 3 year deal.

A native of the Minneapolis-St Paul region and a graduate of the University of Minnesota, she is a NCAA Champion and has a total of 6 IIHF World Championship medals and 2 Olympic medals in her career. Additionally, Kelly is a member of the broadcast team at Bally Sports North on Minnesota Wild coverage, she was nominated for a 2023 Midwestern Emmy Award for her work as a reporter on the “The Rundown”.

Kelly participated in the NHL All Star Weekend in 2024 in the PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase.

Off the ice, Kelly is an avid golfer. She has hit 2 Hole-In-Ones in the past 3 years (2021 & 2023).

Maddie Rooney

Women’s Hockey —Maddie is a 2018 Olympic Champion for Team USA and a 2x World Champion. A professional hockey player for PWHL Minnesota, she joined the team in free agency and signed a two year deal in December 2023.

A native of the Minneapolis-St Paul region and a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, she has a total of 3 IIHF World Championships and 2 Olympic medals in her career, she is the first U.S. Olympic goalie to earn for her team the Gold medal by winning a shootout.

In the summer time, Maddie and fellow PWHL Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley operate a summer goalie camp in the Twin Cities.

Renata Fast

Women’s Ice Hockey — Renata is a 2022 Olympic Champion for Team Canada and a 2024 World Champion. A professional hockey player for PWHL Toronto having signed a three year deal that will keep her hometown region of the Greater Toronto Area through the 2025-26 season. She is a native of Burlington which is west of Toronto.

A graduate of Clarkson University in NY State, Renata won the first NCAA Championship in school history in any sport during her time on campus. During her career with the Canadian Women’s National Team, she has won 3 IIHF World Championships, 2 Olympic medals and earned individual honors as Best Defender of the 2024 IIHF World Championship and been selected to the Media All Star Team in consecutive years in 2023 & 2024.

Renata has participated in the NHL All Star Weekend in 2019, 2020 & 2024 (PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase).

Off the ice, Renata got married in November of 2023 (Paul) and works part-time for TSN Sports. Additionally, she is the Chairperson of the Hockey Canada WNT leadership group and serves on the IIHF Athletes’ Commission.

Sarah Nurse - broadcast, DEI & NHL-NHLPA only

Women’s Hockey — Sarah is a 2022 Olympic Champion for Team Canada and a 2024 World Champion. A professional hockey player for PWHL Toronto having signed a three year deal that will keep her hometown region of the Greater Toronto Area through the 2025-26 season. She is a native of Hamilton which is west of Toronto.

She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and a 3x IIHF World Champion alongside of her 2 Olympic medals in her career. At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Sarah broke all previously held scoring records for the men’s & women’s tournament.

Sarah has participated in the NHL All Star Weekend in 2020, 2023 & 2024 (PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase).

Off the ice, she has worked previously for Sportsnet in Canada and NHL on TNT in the United States. Additionally, she serves on the Hockey Canada WNT leadership group, NHL Player Inclusion Coalition board and is a member of the PWHLPA Executive Board.