Marion’s Quinn Dunkle has her sights set on big things in hockey ... like the Olympics

CORALVILLE – On a warm Tuesday afternoon, roughly a dozen people have found their way to the ice rink at Coral Ridge Mall. The humidity from the nearby doors leading outside have left a film of condensation on the glass all around the rink.

The scene does not exactly scream hockey season.

But for Quinn Dunkle, it’s almost always hockey season. You don’t become perhaps the best female player ever to come out of Iowa without working at your game constantly.

The best-ever talk here is not hyperbole.

You’re talking about a 17-year-old from Marion who is one of 60 girls to be invited to attend the prestigious USA Hockey U18 Select National Player Development Camp later this month in St. Cloud, Minn. You’re talking about a girl who had three full-ride scholarship offers from Division I colleges … when she was in eighth grade.

“Being one of few girls from Iowa that plays hockey, I hope to be a role model for younger girls,” she said. “To let them know they can play with the boys. You can fit in, you can still beat them, no matter what your gender is.”

That’s how she grew up, playing on boys’ teams. Her dad, Sean, is originally from Red Deer, Alberta, and played AAA-level hockey in Canada, passing on the love of the game to his daughter and son.

Gabe Dunkle, 20, also played AAA in the Midwest before finishing his career with the Cedar Rapids High School RoughRiders. He’s a student at the University of Iowa.

For those unfamiliar with the youth hockey hierarchy, the AAA level is really good: lots of games, lots of high-level competition for players with more than ordinary abilities. Only junior hockey, such as the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and the United States Hockey League, is better.

“Yes, I played AAA hockey, but nothing like her level,” Sean Dunkle said. “It’s great, it’s exciting to see her go beyond my level of play. It’s hard for me to teach her things when she’s gone beyond it.”

Since there is nothing equivalent to junior hockey in the girls’ game, and Iowa isn’t exactly a hotbed of the sport, Quinn has had to leave home to continue to develop her career. She attended prep school and played for a program in Rochester, N.Y., the last two years.

When the fall rolls around, she’ll spend a month or so at Linn-Mar High School, then move on to the North American Hockey Academy in Wellesley, Mass. She’ll return to Linn-Mar once hockey season ends in late winter/early spring.

“Obviously it is very hard to be away from my family and friends,” she said. “But you’ve got to make some sacrifices to make it, to get better competition, to find a better development (path), to find new resources. You’ve got to move out of the Midwest sometimes, out of Iowa.”

“I miss her,” said Quinn’s mother, Jolene. “I think it’s great that she is working toward something, and that she’s learned a lot of good lessons. She deserves anything she gets because she’s a good girl, a good player. We watched our son do it (move away), and she watched our son do it. We’ve seen a lot of hockey players do it, so it was kind of a natural thing for us. Yet a lot of people in the area really questioned our choices. I understand that. But it has turned out all right.”

Even as a novice, you can watch Quinn, who’s a defenseman, and be impressed by the way she skates with grace and fluidity. You watch her ace the puck-handling drills her father put her through Tuesday, watch her unleash a powerful wrist shot into the top corner of the net and understand she’s good.

It’s easy to see her skill. But you need to listen to people who know a ton about the game to appreciate how good she really is.

“What she has going on is unreal,” said Kevin Brooks, the former RoughRiders and D-I college player and longtime youth coach. Brooks helped Quinn learn how to skate well as a young girl and has been a mentor of sorts for her as she has progressed in the game.

“Hands down the best player (around here),” Brooks said. “She is one of the top girls in the country … Quinn is the most humble, hard-working player I have ever met. She will be an Olympian someday.”

Did you read that? An Olympian?

“I want to get really far in hockey, obviously, Get into D-I college hockey,” she said. “But career-wise, I’m hoping to maybe become a doctor, haven’t really ruled out becoming a professional golfer. I do like to golf, it’s a great hobby in life. I’m really good at, like, making things and selling them, so I have a knack for that, too. We’ll see how it all works out.

“Maybe the Olympics someday. We’ll see.”

Dunkle has not committed to a Division I school, yet. There are only 41 D-I varsity women’s hockey programs in the U.S., with Wisconsin being this year’s national champion.

Ohio State, Minnesota and Penn State are other Big Ten Conference schools with programs. Most are located in the East.

The NCAA put the kibosh on schools recruiting younger girls shortly after Dunkle got her three offers in eighth grade. Going into her junior year academically, she can begin to be recruited again.

“They’ve starting talking to me again (since) June 15,” she said. “So I’m in that process again: taking a lot of calls, doing my research. It can be stressful sometimes, but it’s really an exciting time. I am very determined. This is going to happen.”

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