As two teachers walked down the empty hallway at Glenbrook North, they stopped in front of the school’s fitness room to say hello to Jesse Compher and to congratulate her.
They wondered aloud why Compher, a junior, has been so shy about acknowledging her accomplishment. Even as the teachers talked about her with Valerie Compher, Jesse Compher’s mother, on Friday, Jan. 22, Jesse Compher stood several feet away and mostly averted eye contact.
Most people who win gold medals wouldn’t stop sharing the good news, the teachers theorized. Less than a week earlier, Compher had helped the Americans finish first at the Under-18 Women’s World Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario.
“I don’t talk about it because I don’t want to seem cocky,” Jesse Compher said. “If people ask me, I will talk about. I won’t bring it up on my own.”
Jesse Compher, who was at the school for a photo shoot, was wearing her USA hockey jersey over black yoga pants, holding her stick and carrying her gold medal. Before making its first public appearance, the medal had been in its plastic bag and stuffed in a drawer at her home’s office, Jesse Compher said.
At one point during the session, she asked the photographer if she should smile during a particular pose. Later, her mom stepped in and brushed a stray hair from her face. But Jesse Compher jerked her head back, making it clear it was something she could have done without.
Jesse Compher’s Twitter account, @JessComph7, demonstrates her reluctance to call attention to herself. The 16-year-old did not tweet out a message or photo about winning a gold medal. The only mention of the tournament comes via her brother, JT Compher, a junior captain on the Michigan men’s hockey team. He tweeted, “Yes! Congrats @JessComph7 ! Just got to watch my sis win a gold medal in OT. Great job girls! So proud of you Jess!” And she retweeted it.
“She doesn’t like the spotlight,” said Glenbrook North junior and hockey player Andrew Slovis, who’s known Jesse Compher since both were toddlers. “She’s fine not getting noticed. She doesn’t play to get recognized.”
That was clear when Slovis and Zach Knudson, another childhood hockey friend and junior at Glenbrook North, played a prank on Jesse Compher in early November. After she told the two of her commitment to play for the Boston University women’s hockey team, Slovis said he and Knudson shouted out the news in front of about 40 students in Glenbrook North’s student activity center.
“She didn’t want us to make a big deal about it, but we wanted to mess with her,” Slovis said. “She was laughing about it afterward. She’s just not someone who pats herself on the back.”
Added Knudson: “Everyone was excited for her. But she’s not one to say much about that kind of stuff. That’s a good thing.”
Jesse Compher is more interested in playing hockey than talking about it.
In the U.S. team’s 3-2 overtime win over Canada in the final on Friday, Jan. 15, Jesse Compher, a forward, took two faceoffs and won one. The U.S. finished undefeated at the tournament, and Jesse Compher had one assist and a plus/minus of plus-4 in five games.
Jesse Compher celebrated with the American team into the early hours of the following day and didn’t sleep before boarding a plane that landed at O’Hare around 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. Her aunt, Donna Meyer-Hayes, picked her up and drove her to Heartland Ice Arena in Lincolnwood for her U19 Chicago Mission game that started at 10:20 a.m.
“I was texting her while she was in Ontario and told her to not worry about coming to the game,” said Tony Cachey, her club coach with the Mission. “I told her to get home and get some rest. But I knew that wasn’t going to fly with her.”
Not one to stand in the spotlight, Jesse Compher outfitted herself in Mission clothes and carried her equipment in her Mission bag. Cachey said there was no evidence that Jesse Compher, a team captain, played for national team less than 24 hours earlier.
“That’s who she is, and that’s what I expected from her,” Cachey said. “She’s a humble kid. She’s a great example for young players to follow. She handles her success well.”
Matt Harness co-hosts a weekly golf podcast called Teeing Off. Find it on Twitter (@Teeing__Off) or at www.facebook.com/teeingoffpodcast and on iTunes.
Twitter: @harnesspreps