Eden Prairie family pursues a legacy of sports excellence on the ice and field

Whether on the curling sheet or hockey rink, you could say ice runs through the veins of the Pottinger family.

Allison Pottinger is a two-time U.S. Olympic curler, competing in 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Her team won for the United States its first women’s World Championship in 2003. She has also made 12 additional World Championship appearances and numerous national championship appearances.

Her husband, Doug, is also a competitive curler, winning gold with his team at the 2004 United States National Championship, as well as in many other competitions.

Allison and Doug were both raised in curling families in Canada.

“My dad took all the kids to the club, and we all learned how to play, and he ran the junior program,” Allison said. “It was kind of a way of life in the winter. Then every Sunday we started going to tournaments, and we weren’t terrible, so that was always fun.”

Similarly, Doug and his brother played in a curling club with their father. 

What started as a fun winter pastime as kids ultimately shaped Allison and Doug’s lives – including meeting and marrying – and shaped their future family.

Today, their teenage daughters, Lauren and Kelsey, carry on the family’s athletic legacy through their own sports.

Allison and Doug met through curling after both had moved to the United States. After marrying, they continued to compete regularly while juggling careers and a young, active family.

“The first 15 to 17 years we were married, we never took a vacation for anything other than curling,” said Doug. 

For now, they have put away their curling stones and are focused on guiding Lauren and Kelsey as they pursue their own sports dreams. Though they’ve chosen different sports, their parents’ values and commitment have been passed down.

“Some of my best friends and best experiences have come from curling. I got to go all over the world with curling. I don’t know that I would have gone to Switzerland or Bulgaria, or Japan or Germany,” Allison said. “Some of my closest friends are still my teammates I curled with. Those relationships have lasted. It’s the same reason we put the girls into sports – you just make really good friends playing sports. You win and lose together, that sort of stuff.”  

Passing the torch: Lessons in sports and life

Lauren, a senior at Eden Prairie High School, is a team captain on the varsity hockey team, while sophomore Kelsey plays on the school’s junior varsity hockey team.

In a departure from her family’s tradition of ice sports, Kelsey also plays lacrosse.

“I’ve played hockey since I was probably about 6. I was also playing soccer and softball for the longest time,” she said. Then a friend introduced her to lacrosse, “and I loved it, and I’ve just been obsessed with it ever since.” She has played on the high school’s varsity team for two years.

“All the things that come with being on a team, the friends, being a good teammate, responsibility, time management,” Allison said. “We think there’s so much in sports that have such good lessons and such good things you can take from it.”

Doug and Allison also hope their own competitive experiences can benefit their daughters.

“Growing up on teams, every game was the be-all, end-all. If I lost, it felt like the end of the world,” Doug recalled. “Now I can tell them, whether it’s a win or a loss, it’s not nearly as big of a deal as you think it is. I didn’t realize that at the time.”

Though she and Kelsey are following in big sports footsteps, Lauren said of her parents, “Obviously they are both impressive athletes, but there has never really been any pressure in that way. They have always been more supportive than anything.” 

Lauren also noted that her parents’ insights extend into many other aspects of life. 

“Outside of sports, I’ve learned through them that you need to work hard,” she said. “That is something they taught us really young. Hard work and how important it is to give 100 percent in everything, not just sports.”

Kelsey also believes her parents’ backgrounds in competitive sports have made them supportive and understanding of her ambitions. “They’ve always been so supportive of all the traveling for lacrosse and going (to) all these places because they have that past of going to the Olympics and being world champions and everything, so they’ve been awesome,” she said. 

Though they have little memory of it, at ages 1 and 3 they accompanied their mom to the Olympics in 2010. Kelsey finds her mom’s Olympic experience inspiring.

“The Olympics seems like such a faraway goal and something that so many people don’t get to do,” she said. “And I got to see that my mom went twice, so it’s really cool to be able to say that and also see that it’s actually attainable.”

Women’s lacrosse continues to experience rapid growth, with a professional league debuting this year. Playing professionally someday, said Kelsey, “would be amazing, and the same with the Olympics eventually, if I get there … you never know.”

Sports: The tie that binds family and friends

Though busy with careers, school and team schedules, the family is committed to staying connected – and they do that mostly through sports. Sports “weaves its way through a lot of our everyday lives,” Allison said. “We play sports together, we talk about sports together, and I think we use a lot of sports analogies to apply to life in general.” They ski and golf as a family and like to wakeboard and go tubing at their cabin.

The family also enjoys watching sports on television together when they are at home, Lauren noted, adding, “I notice some mornings, we’re already talking about hockey by 7 (a.m.). It just kind of happens.”

“We also try to have dinner together,” added Allison. “It’s a little harder to hit that during hockey season.”

One word Lauren uses to sum up her family’s approach to sports and life is “discipline.” Whether it’s a team practice or shooting pucks in the garage, she strives to “not just be going through the motions but really getting something out of it,” she said.  For example, Monday morning practices are optional, but “if I told my parents I wasn’t going, they would tell me it’s not really optional,” she said, as her parents laughed and nodded in agreement.

While hockey is “kind of up in the air,” for college, Lauren plans to study business in college. Whether in sports or academically, she is committed to “giving 100% because my parents do that every day.”

Kelsey also credits her work ethic to her parents’ examples.

“My dad always taught me growing up that if you want something, you have to work hard for it,” Kelsey said. “If you don’t work for it you’re not going to get it, so that’s definitely influenced me in school and sports and everything. Everything in sports depends on your work ethic. There’s always going to be someone who’s better than you at your sport, so if you want to be the best then you have to work for it.

“I just want to make myself proud and make everyone that’s supported me proud, like my sister and my parents. Just make sure they’re proud of me and where I end up in life. That’s probably my biggest goal is making sure that happens,” Kelsey continued.

In August 2024, Allison was inducted into the USA Curling Hall of Fame, along with her Team McCormick teammates. No other U.S. women’s team has won a world championship since their historic 2003 win.

Looking back, Allison and Doug say that, above the accolades from that evening, they prize the lasting friendships and sense of community as they reunited with teammates and friends.

“It was like a homecoming,” Allison recalled. “To go back and see all of those people. It’s a whole community. I feel like those relationships are a big part of it.” The ties are still strong.

From cleaning the locker room with the team on the first day of winter break to having friends up at their cabin in the summer, Lauren and Kelsey are experiencing the same bonds that endure well beyond a winning season.

“We loved it. It was fun,” Allison said. “We just want the girls to have fun because we had such positive experiences. You make good friends; you learn good lessons. There’s just so much they can carry into the rest of their lives.”