Amber Fryklund sees dream come true, 'eager' to take on tests at Bemidji State's head coach

Apr. 16—Amber Fryklund took the scenic route to become Bemidji State's women's hockey head coach.

Jim Scanlan

announced his resignation last Monday.

Twenty-four hours later, the Beavers tabbed his replacement. Fryklund, who spent roughly a decade coaching BSU as an assistant and associate head coach, finally got the call she'd dreamed of getting.

"It was always my goal to be a head coach," Fryklund said on Friday at her introductory press conference. "When I started my coaching and teaching career, I knew I wanted to be a head coach. That's always something I wanted to do."

Growing up in Hibbing, it was difficult for Fryklund to envision a hockey career after high school. While many universities had women's hockey as early as the 1970s, the NCAA women's hockey championship wasn't adopted for another 30 years.

During the 1999-2000 season, the WCHA teamed up with the ECAC to push for a sanctioned NCAA league. The NCAA announced the 2000-01 season would be the first to conclude with a national tournament to crown a champion.

"It was just a dream at that time," Fryklund said. "I was lucky to grow up in Minnesota at the time girls hockey started. That one opportunity to play girls hockey in Minnesota led me here to Bemidji State. My experiences at BSU have given me so much in life, and I have so much gratitude for the opportunity to be a student-athlete here at BSU and for the opportunity to have a coaching career."

Her collegiate coaching career began back in 2011 as an assistant for Bemidji State, the school she spent four years playing for in college from 2000-03.

She became the program's all-time leading scorer with 122 points. Fryklund was the first-ever Beaver to cross 100 career points and be named to the All-WCHA First Team during the 2001-02 season.

After nine years of coaching under Steve Sertich and Scanlan, Fryklund decided to alter her career path. She earned her Ph.D. in educational leadership from Minnesota Duluth, then left coaching to become the assistant professor of human performance, sport and health at Bemidji State in 2020.

Three years later,

Fryklund was behind the Beavers' bench again

as associate head coach, hoping to get a chance as a head coach in the future.

"When I took that break and went into education, it was an opportunity for me to grow professionally and personally," Fryklund said. "I had some chances to do some other coaching things at the time. I always hoped an opportunity like this would come along — the right opportunity. I'm really grateful it did."

Fryklund wasn't sure when that opportunity would come, but Scanlan hung up his clipboard after leading BSU to nine wins over the last two seasons.

But despite Bemidji State's struggles in 2023-24, Fryklund was glad she decided to return.

"Those three years when I was on the academic side, I certainly missed everything about coaching," Fryklund said. "I missed the team; I missed being involved. To come back was an easy decision for me. This year was amazing. There were certainly challenges, but I loved what I got to do every single day impacting student-athletes."

Fryklund faces an uphill battle. The Beavers play in the toughest conference in women's college hockey. One could argue the WCHA is among the most dominant in college athletics across all sports.

But Fryklund has seen the better days of the past and envisions them returning in the future, even against elite programs like Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"We want to be the top team in our league," Fryklund said. "When you're the top team in our league, you're going to be in the national conversation as well. We've had success here before. We've had 20-win seasons, and that's our mission. We want to be the top team in our conference."

Britt Lauritson, Bemidji State's director of athletics, admired Fryklund's unique journey to becoming the Beavers' head coach.

"As an educator and as a coach, she's leaned into developing humans as their best versions, whether that's athletically, academically, socially or emotionally," Lauritson said. "I have a lot of faith that she will build on the tradition of having competitive teams and creating great experiences for student-athletes that enhance their academic endeavors and prepare them for life after sport."

Lauritson also expressed her confidence in Fryklund to lead BSU women's hockey through a new era of college sports. Bemidji State was ravaged by the transfer portal following the 2022-23 season, with five Beavers leaving the program to play for different teams in the WCHA.

"We know the world of college athletics is changing," Lauritson continued. "Sometimes it feels like it's careening toward chaos. However, I feel that even amongst that chaos, there's great opportunity. I've had great conversations with Coach Fryklund that have expressed urgency in aligning our aspirations and expectations, as well as embracing the ways we can ride the wave of change in college athletics to find a competitive path, not only in the WCHA but nationally."

Several other BSU coaches joined Lauriston and Fryklund at the introductory press conference in the Beaver Pride room on Friday. Fryklund said she felt overwhelmed with the support she'd received from around campus when the news of her promotion broke.

"Being a part of this program is so special to me," Frylund said. "To coach where you played, not many people get that opportunity. This institution has given me so much education, hockey-wise and so many opportunities in life. To have this chance to serve our student-athletes and lead them is really special. (I feel) all of the emotions — overwhelmed, excited, eager and really grateful."