Olivia Paradise, granddaughter of Herb Brooks, dives into coaching career
MINNEAPOLIS -- Olivia Paradise was a tennis star at Mahtomedi -- a state champion in high school.
Eventually, she settled at the University of St. Thomas, where she just completed her career and her senior season.
"Those are my favorite years of tennis, being with some of my best friends. And I'm sad it's over but, yeah, I'm ready to move on," Olivia said.
That's not all she's doing during her senior year in college -- last fall she took on the head coaching job for the De La Salle girls tennis program.
"It was really cool having a bunch of girls that are so close to my age and kind of being in high school again. It wasn't too long ago I was playing," Olivia said.
And this spring, she is coaching the Burnsville High School boys tennis team. It's a busy school year, but it's filled with what she loves.
"I think when you just like the sport and like where you're at it doesn't seem busy. It just seems like I get to be around stuff that I enjoy every day," Olivia said.
Olivia loves sports and coaching, and maybe that's where this makes sense -- she is the daughter of one of the all-time greats, Herb Brooks, best known for his role as head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1980.
"She's a grinder, she's got passion. She's always had the passion and she can multitask. And when she sets a goal, that's it. And she knows what she wants to do and, yeah, we're really proud of her," Kelly Paradise, Olivia's mom, said.
Olivia was young when she lost her grandpa, but she still has some memories of him.
"From my old house, but not very many. I just remember Christmas and that's about it," Olivia said.
Her grandmother and Herb's widow Patti attends Olivia's events.
And if you are looking for other similarities between Olivia and Herb -- when St. Thomas was going to eliminate its women's tennis team, she led the charge to save it and did. It's all part of her DNA -- that is about teaching and coaching and love for teams.
"My dad coached individually -- each player individually and I see her doing that. Finding the strength of each player and pulling that out, but at the same time she's teaching them to be a team," Kelly said.
She may not be as intense as her grandpa, but she is determined to be a success by managing her busy schedule.
"I'm not as serious. I'm not the most serious person, but I hope to be as strong of a leader as him someday," Olivia said.
"No, it doesn't surprise me at all -- it's in the blood. We couldn't be more proud. ...You know she's been the secretary of the Herb Brooks Foundation Board since 2018, so she's always given back to kids," Kelly said.
You sense if Herb was still here, even he would beam that his granddaughter was on the right path.