Coach Maybelline (May) Beiring was born in Calumet, Michigan where ice and hockey go hand-in-hand. She describes it as a rural region with lots of outdoor rinks.

“I started skating when my dad made us a ‘backdoor’ rink,” explains Coach Maybelline, “I probably started when I was three or four.”

By the time she was seven, May was playing hockey and sharing the ice with other youngsters — like the ones she coaches today. She played in boys’ leagues most of her life, but at 11 years old she joined a 19 and under womens’ team of which she was the youngest player.

She looks back fondly on the year her dad upgraded the backdoor rink with a cement pad, plywood sideboards and hanging lights which provided visibility into the night. “Kids used to come to our house all the time, and every night we’d be out skating.”

May’s dad played junior hockey and every other year coached May and her younger brother’s team. Both of her brothers also played in high school and are “very good,” she proudly states.

Coach May’s particular love for the sport and determination have carried her far. Eventually, her talent on the ice caught the eye of a coach from Lansing, MI. Her junior year in high school she moved away from home and in with a host family in Lansing. She attended public school and played hockey whenever she could. “I left my house at 16 with a minivan…and basically just played hockey and went to school,” she recalls.

May graduated in 2016 and was accepted to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island where she played hockey all four years of college. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in the spring of 2021 from the ivy league school. For three of the four years, she received the “best teammate” award, an outstanding feat that speaks volumes to the type of player and person she is.

Not long after graduating college, she was swooped up by Colorado Extreme. “It’s really fun,” she says of the program.

She takes pride in coaching and watching the team get better and better. It has come full circle for Coach May, who feels it is fitting to pay forward what the sport, and the people who have helped her get where she is, have done for her. “From growing up on an outdoor rink to now being able to coach on one is really cool,” she reflects.

Luckily for us, Coach May loves Colorado and the Roaring Fork Valley. She values the sense of community that Colorado Extreme offers and is proud to be part of the team. “We’re really trying to focus on bringing these families together and creating a sense of community at the rink,” she says, “and I’m really grateful to be a part of it.”

“One thing about hockey is that it has brought me so many opportunities and has taught me lessons — not just on the ice but as a person,” she says. The love of the game has instilled within her a strong sense of accountability, leadership and teamwork.