This American plays for Korea

From their seats at the front of Section 212, Albert and Eliza Lee watched intently late Monday night as a referee skated to center ice. There was their daughter, a foot away, rocking back and forth on her skates, waiting for the faceoff in the Olympics.

Their daughter. On skates. In the Olympics.

A dozen years ago, those words were never in the realm of possibilities. Never mind that Grace Lee — a high school student and Colorado native who turned 18 last month — was handling that faceoff for the Korean hockey team. “She’s as American of a girl as they come,” said Gordon Stafford, her coach at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn. But we’ll get to that later, because that might be the least-shocking part for the Lees.

Before Grace Lee was born, doctors told her parents that she’d be born with clubfoot, a congenital birth defect that twists the feet out of position. Lee underwent surgeries and treatments. She wore heavy casts on her legs, and special shoes that were attached by a metal bar, intended to reposition her feet.

“Her feet pointed inward and the doctors said it was just too severe,” Eliza said.

Because of the treatment, she was slow to crawl and slow to walk. After a final surgery, when Lee was around 6, the doctor said the family’s best bet was to focus on strengthening her legs and ankles, as her legs had barely 60 percent of normal muscle mass, and walking was awkward and uncomfortable.

So the Lees turned to sports — skiing first and then figuring skating.

“She just hated it,” Eliza said. “She would get on the ice and grab her ankles, saying it hurts and start to cry. So we tried ice hockey skates and she just took off. That was it. She was hooked.”

Lee felt comfortable, her feet, ankles and legs supported and best of all, she could glide around. On the ice, she felt like everyone else. The family lives in Superior, and they signed her up for the local hockey leagues.

“As a sport, hockey gave her strength in her legs, but at the same time, it gives her more confidence,” Albert said. “It’s helped in her in many ways.”

Lee played against boys because that was the only option, and as she got better, her ambitions grew. The family began exploring options and discovered a small private school in Minnesota called Shattuck-St. Mary’s School that has blossomed into a hockey factory.

One graduate is Sarah Murray, who was tapped by South Korea as head coach of its national women’s team after it was awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics. Murray started making annual pilgrammages to the United States with her team, holding a month-long training camp at her alma mater in Faribault, Minn., each January, often practicing and scrimmaging with the high school team.

On one of those trips, she took notice of Lee, whose potential was obvious. She’s fast and has a sixth sense for the net. Despite her club feet, she skates as well as most others on the ice.

“She’s a more natural skater than she is a walker,” Stafford said. “It’s kind of amazing.”

Lee’s father, a computer engineer, was born in Colorado but raised in South Korea, and her mother, a pharmacist, was both in South Korea but raised in Colorado. Murray offered Lee a spot on the South Korean national team. “Grace was so excited,” Albert said. “She felt this was an opportunity she couldn’t miss.”

Only a junior, Lee had already accepted an offer to play for Yale in college, but made arrangements to postpone. Shattuck allowed her to essentially take a sabbatical and push back graduation. After finishing her junior year last June, she left for Seoul, where she’s lived and trained full time for the PyeongChang Games.

When the Games are over, Lee will return to the U.S. and resume her life as high school student bound for an Ivy League school.