Just as Mac Barnett took over control of the Central Michigan women’s club hockey team in 2019, things began to fall apart.
Staring at a roster of six players, none of which played goalie, the newly minted club president made a decision that ensured club hockey continued at CMU, however, Barnett’s journey through life prepared her for the challenge.
Currently a fifth-year senior with CMU women’s club hockey, Barnett got into hockey later than most. Growing up in Clinton Township, the 22-year-old didn’t start playing hockey competitively until she was 11-years-old. She played soccer as a kid, but her father, Tim Barnett, pushed her to try hockey.
“I decided a bit late that I wanted to start playing,” Barnett said. “My dad pushed me to try to do it beforehand, but I guess I was stubborn. So when I decided that I wanted to play you know, most teams for travel already started their tryouts in July. I started saying, ‘Yep, let's do it,’ in August and most of the teams for girls were already full, and there were only like three in the area at the time when I started to play.”
With all of the girls’ teams full, a draft was held at Fraser Arena, sending Barnett to a boys team.
“I got picked up by a team where I was the only girl on the ice,” Barnett said. “So I mean, it was a tough start, but contributed to my experience and how much exponential growth I did that one season because I was forced to. It was a full checking league at that point because we were Pee Wees, and (USA Hockey) didn't make the rule until after my first season… So that was interesting.”
Although Barnett’s first experience with the game wasn’t great, she found her spot on the St. Clair Shores travel team, which she played on through the 19U level.
“After my first season, it was difficult because my first year playing with boys was a mixed emotion,” Barnett said. “I know everybody has different experiences. And what's super nice that I know is that most of the time when girls play with boys, for a long time. It tends to be like that, brother-sister friendship, you know, oh, like I'll protect you type thing and I never had that. All of my teammates would pretty much make fun of me because they were 11-year-old boys with nothing better to do and I was an easy target. So it was not the best season but I improved skillfully because I was forced to because it was either you quit you know you stopped or they're gonna make you quit.”
Now there are multiple teams throughout the state of Michigan, but when Barnett was in high school that wasn’t the case. She would once again have to play with the boys.
“I did try out for my high school team during high school but I didn't want to do it,” Barnett said. “I liked playing with the girls. When I was growing up, there weren't any high school teams for girls. All the high school teams were just coed. Like if you wanted to play you had to play with the boys. Then my sophomore year of high school there was a girl on the team. And so it drove me to try out for it. But I just preference and prefer it, I didn't want to do it so I decided to go back to St. Clair Shores.”
After graduating from L’Anse Creuse High School in 2017, Barnett decided to attend CMU. However, until Rachele Pozzo, a former teammate informed her about the CMU women’s club hockey team she had no clue it existed.
Once she attend a prospect skate, Barnett joined the team full-time along with Pozzo.
Through all the ups and downs, Barnett says her most memorable moment came against Aquinas, the first time she took the ice in Maroon and Gold.
“You know, it's very exciting,” Barnett said. “I can tell you that my first game ever was the best game I had. And I tell everybody all the time, I should have just retired there. Because it was bizarre. I don't know what came over me. You know, I was never the top goal scorer. I was never the fastest skater. I was pretty much just an average good player. In my first ever game college ACHA game, we played a D1 team, and we won 5-4. And I ended up getting a hat trick in that game. And so I was like, Oh my goodness. What is this? It was cool, and it started a good feeling. That was attached to the team, you know, how excited I was to be here.”
After two seasons with the team, Barnett assumed the role of president. But as she transitioned to her new role, things took a turn for the team.
“After my sophomore season, the president that we had before graduated, so she left,” Barnett said. “And so once I took over it folded. In the sense because we didn't have enough players my junior year and then we didn't have a goalie. So obviously you can't do that. And so we were just trying to keep the numbers up and keep everyone together for the season after.”
With its 2019 season canceled, the six members of CMU women’s club hockey joined a beer league squad to stay together on the ice.
Although they weren’t playing a club season, the Chippewas brought home the Pride Award from CMU Club Sports. But that wasn’t the only award the team received, as Barnett won Leader of the Year.
“It was pretty cool,” Barnett said. “I didn't think that anybody was noticing, you know, because there were so few teammates that I had and I didn't tell anybody all the things that I had to do to make sure that all of the season was gonna stay together and all the stuff that we had to do outside. So it was pretty cool. Once one of the club sports administrators called me on the phone and was like, 'Hey, by the way, can you send me your address because we're gonna send you this because you and one of the other guys won the awards and so I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, like really?’ I didn't even know that.”
For sophomore forward Emily Kostielney, the award wasn’t a surprise as Barnett’s style of leadership held the team together at every turn.
“Mac Barnett as a leader is someone who takes her roles very seriously,” Kostielney said. “She tries to be a very understanding leader. But at the same time, she's one of those leaders that have a lot of integrity, where she tries to be lenient, but to a point, she knows she can't cross otherwise the whole team falls apart.”
With the 2020 season canceled due to COVID-19, Barnett’s squad once again returned to the ice in 2021.
“You could tell that she took it very seriously,” Kostielney said. “She wanted the best outcome we could have. And she always preached about wanting to have positive attitudes and bringing each other up rather than bringing each other down on the bench because that's the coach's job to correct us not each other’s, that breaks the team bond.”
Balancing the responsibilities of being club president, team captain and a student, wasn’t easy for Barnett, but she credits her early days at CMU with shaping who she is today.
“Learning when I came to school, and being on the hockey team, my freshman and sophomore year, definitely gave me a good insight into time management,” Barnett said.
When thinking about being on the ice with Barnett, Kostielney said Barnett’s drive to get better was apparent after every shift.
"She was one of those players that would come off or come off the ice after a shift and ask the coach a question,” Kostielney said. “What can I do better in this situation? What should I do? She was always trying to improve herself and better herself. I think it gave a lot of the other players’ courage to do the same as well.”
Although Kostielney looked up to Barnett as more of a motherly figure when she arrived at CMU. After Kostielney saw what went into reviving the team, she was impressed with how Barnett handled the whole ordeal.
“She's someone I've always looked up to,” Kostielney said. “Because even when she's super stressed out, she still keeps her determination running. And even if she has other things in the background going on, she's still putting the team first whether it's not just passing it on to someone lower on the board. She still does it. And it's unfortunate in my point of view because I don't think she gets enough appreciation from the team. After all, no one knows how much that girl does for the team.”
As the spring semester winds down, Barnett is set to receive her bachelor's degree in Clinical Excercise Sciences. If she is accepted into the CMU’s master’s program she will be returning to the women’s club hockey team as the treasurer.
No matter where she goes, Barnett intends on being around the program she helped keep alive as it pushes for dominance in the American Collegiate Hockey Association for years to come.
“It's going to be something that has to happen over the years,” Kostielney said. "And even though (Barnett) knew she wasn't going to be here for that long, she still wants that for that club. And that's the part that gets to her more drive was that even though she's not here, or she may not be involved as much, she still wants it for the club. She puts herself in others' shoes and says, 'we need to keep this going,' which is great. She doesn't just focus on one season, she focuses on the future of the club.”