2025 | Minnesota | GIRLS

Orono High School | Spartans | GIRLS

Maddie Forsyth is truly the epitome of what the Hobey Baker Character Award is all about. Maddie is our back up goaltender, and she has been a back up goaltender her entire career. She was behind a top goaltender in the state for her 1st two years, and for her junior and senior year, she has been behind an up and coming top goaltender in the state (who is a now just a sophomore this year.) Maddie shows up every single day, works hard to improve and is ready to play if she gets called upon, which she knows most likely won’t happen considering our strong schedule unless there is an injury She is always smiling and finds joy in everything about being part of our team at Orono.

Prior to me taking over the program a couple of years ago she had a played a total of 1 game in her high school career. In the past couple of years, we have played her in 12 of our last 50 games. Now, many kids would just say, “what’s the point?”. But Maddie is nothing but an incredible teammate. She is loved by every one of her teammates, is always smiling, and is simply thrilled to be part of this incredible team. She continues to be supportive of her teammates and the team overall. Not ONCE, have I ever heard or seen her be negative about her role on the team, not get more playing time, etc. She is pragmatic, understanding, and caring about the TEAM First.

Having been a goaltender myself, I know how hard it is to continue to be positive when you are not getting games. She fully embraces here role, understands the reasons and never questions what is best for the team.

ON TOP OF THIS, she lost her father to heart disease 3 years ago. Then, last summer, she raised over $50,000 for the American Heart Association! Truly battling through adversity, keeping focused on what is truly important, and being present every day for her teammates is what this award is all about.