University of Minnesota Athletics
Keeping Up the Tradition: Terra Rasmussen
3/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
For junior forward Terra Rasmussen, playing hockey at the University of Minnesota wasn’t just about staying close to home. It was about keeping a family tradition.
The Coon Rapids, Minn. native is a third-generation student-athlete at the ‘U,’ where her father and grandfather both played football – beginning what is almost a genetic attraction to the Maroon and Gold.
Her grandfather, Robert, was a three-year offensive lineman for the Gophers under a young Murray Warmath in the late 1950’s. Twenty five years later, her father, Randy, helped break in the Metrodome and was a captain of the 1983 Minnesota football team before spending six years in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings.
But the Gophers football lineage would become the Gophers athletics lineage in the next generation after Randy and Terra’s mother, Dana (also a Minnesota alum), had a pair of girls. Terra’s older sister, Teena, briefly studied at the ‘U’ before joining the Marines. Terra, meanwhile, surprised most of her family by settling on hockey at a young age.
“It was a little different for our family…myself, my wife and our other daughter never played hockey, so it was a little different when she decided to get into as a youngster,” Randy Rasmussen said. “But when she matured and grew and finally got an offer to play at Minnesota, we were all ecstatic.”
Even with the family tradition, Minnesota wasn’t a lock for Terra, who was coming off a senior season at Coon Rapids High School that had seen her named as a finalist for the Let’s Play Hockey Ms. Hockey Award. Like many in-state standouts, Rasmussen looked at the East coast in addition to teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. But Minnesota always had a special draw for Rasmussen.
“In the back of my mind, I always kind of wanted to go here,” Rasmussen said. “I always thought of myself in the Gophers jersey in my head before I went to sleep.” Her father shared her enthusiasm for the Gophers hockey program. “Deep down, it’s about being from Minnesota, and with the University of Minnesota program always being so predominant, it was a pretty easy choice for her when she got the opportunity,” Randy Rasmussen said.
Having her family at every home game and most road games also made the decision easier for Rasmussen, who was named a team captain heading into her junior season – a new tradition of leadership that she shares with her father.
“Family is a huge thing for us, and I think having them here for me is the biggest thing in the world,” Terra Rasmussen said. “I don’t think they know how much it means to me to have them close by.”
In reality, having Terra skate for the Gophers is important to the whole family. So much so that Randy and Dana have turned their basement into a shrine to the family’s alma mater. “My dad is very humble and doesn’t like to show off where he’s been,” Terra Rasmussen said – referring to her father’s NFL career as well as the plethora of honors he earned while at Minnesota. “Now that he has a daughter at (the ‘U’), my mom and him both have put my stuff and their stuff down in the basement. There’s actually a lot of U of M stuff down there.”
Along with the numerous trophies, photographs and plaques at the family’s Coon Rapids home, there are a pair of helmets in the basement – one each for Randy and Robert. A third helmet – this one just slightly different from the others -- will undoubtedly join the pair after Terra’s college career ends next season. After that it’s in the next generation’s hands to add to the Minnesota shrine, and if Terra has her way, that’s exactly what will happen.
“I don’t think I would be the person I am today if I had gone anywhere else, and I don’t think my dad would be the person he is and my grandpa,” Terra Rasmussen said. “It is something that we take a lot of pride in…I’m very proud of my dad and my grandpa, and they are proud of me.”
Written by Athletic Communications Student Assistant Brian Deutsch
