The Minnetonka High School hockey players stood around on the ice during Skate with the Skippers. The varsity team took the time to meet excited young fans that night.
An eight-year-old Grace Sadura was enjoying her time talking with the players and racing one-on-one against them. All the older girls let her win – except for one, who after leaving Sadura in the dust, looked her in the eye and said something she never forgot.
“She said, ‘you’re just going to have to keep working hard,” Sadura explained to The Ice Garden. “It may seem a little cruel, but it was motivating. It stuck with me for a long time.”
The now 21-year-old recently wrapped up her junior season with the University of Minnesota Duluth. An assistant captain and a reliable forward on the Bulldogs team, the Minnetonka native is also a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. Sadura was the volunteer coordinator for the women’s team. She also volunteered coaching local youth teams, helping with the Duluth Special Wild organization, and the Seven Stars Horse Ranch. The Hockey Humanitarian Award is presented to a student-athlete in college hockey who makes significant contributions to their team and their community through leadership in volunteerism. Sadura is the third Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist for the UMD program in the last five years.
Influenced by the Ones Before Her
Sadura loved interacting with players while growing up in Minnesota. The state of hockey provided her with chances to meet high school players and later Gophers players at the University of Minnesota. Those interactions inspired Sadura to do the same when she got older.
“Being in the position where I am now, having the opportunity to play Division I hockey and be able to make those impacts on little kids, that’s what I like to do,” Sadura said. “I like to give back because I think back to those who made my day a little bit better.”
Getting Started in Duluth
The journey to helping others began in high school with Special Olympics. Sadura didn’t find difficulty in volunteering when she began her efforts. She said she’s a social butterfly who enjoys being in the community and making new connections. Finding her place wasn’t difficult either. Starting as a freshman was a great chance for her to get involved on campus.
“People on my hockey team had already previously been involved in certain things, and I had made connections with them and they invited me to come to a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion [DEI] meeting,” Sadura said of how connections helped her get started with volunteering. “I was good friends with the former volunteer coordinator, and that was what got me into it. I [saw] that my friends were doing it and that they also shared that passion for community.”
How Sadura Reaches Her Community
At UMD, Sadura served as volunteer coordinator for the women’s hockey team. In that role, she handled all requests for the team, and was tasked with organizing and leading community service initiatives. Sadura was also Co-President of UMD Athletic’s DEI initiative. She helped with developing and executing the promotion of inclusivity and engagement. She also helped guide UMD Athletics to participate within the community and create opportunities for student-athletes to volunteer. Sadura was also a board member of the Green Bandana Project and helped with volunteering at Seven Stars Horse Ranch. Sadura’s efforts to foster connection between UMD and the Duluth community resulted in student-athletes averaging 29 hours of community service each.
Some students earned their hours through the DEI Council’s annual clothing drive. Sadura organized where on campus donation boxes would be set up. She also communicated with schools around the Duluth area to see what items were in high demand, instead of donating items randomly. The clothing drive also included a sorting event. There, the student-athletes sorted through donations in an environment that allowed them to meet others and make memories while working on a great cause.
Putting in the Hard Work
One of the biggest volunteer efforts by the Bulldogs women’s hockey team is through their work with Seven Stars Ranch. According to its site, it provides uniquely tailored opportunities for personal growth, social connections, youth development, and healing through exposure to ranch life and experiential learning in equine care and riding skills.
The program serves youth, veterans, and first responders along with their families through hands-on ranch experience.. The Bulldog team had worked with the ranch before. Sadura said she wanted to continue helping out on a more continuous basis. The team’s duties include cleaning up the site to help prepare for events. They also brushed the horses, cleaned their hooves and stalls, and moved unnecessary items around the ranch.
“Grace never avoided the hard or unglamorous work required to keep our facility professional and mission ready. She repeatedly stepped into the most physically demanding and thankless tasks,” said Seven Stars Ranch Director of Education John Molder in a news release. “She did not wait for direction, did not seek recognition, and never asked others to do work she was unwilling to do herself. Grace leads with her hands, sets the tone through effort, and elevates those around her simply by how she shows up.”
Sadura said the team approached their work with Seven Stars Ranch with the same mentality as they would a hockey game.
“We show up every day at the rink to get a job done. So, we treat everything that we do like that,” she said. “When we come to the ranch, our job is to help them get to a comfortable place where they can host events. That’s our main goal. We just want to help them get to a place where they can make that transition seamless and they feel they can do their best work with other people.”
The Work Never Stops
Sadura’s focus is always on planning events and executing them to the best of her potential. However, she has moments where she noticed the impact she’s had on others.
“When you do the sorting event and you get [the items] out to the elementary schools or when you see the reactions of the little kids when you go to the practices, I would say that definitely makes an impact and it makes you feel good too.”
The nomination for the Hockey Humanitarian Award helped Sadura see the impact on her community. Yet, she thinks she’s not doing enough. She wants to keep helping people and be the best person she can be while doing so.
While Sadura is lending a hand to the people around her, she’s also learning about herself through the process. Sadura realized she likes to do hard, back breaking work and wants to help where it’s needed. She’s not the type of person to command people but instead work in collaboration with others. “I lead the way by my actions,” she said.
The Third Duluth Finalist in the Last Five Years
In February, Sadura received a text that she was a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. It was amazing to find out the news, but Sadura was quick to credit those who have helped her.
“I would say incredibly grateful and honored to be able to represent my program for such a prestigious award,” Sadura explained. “I think about all the teammates and all the coaches and parents and everybody who’s helped me get to this point. It’s definitely something that I haven’t done alone and that I’ve had a lot of help with.”
Sadura said winning this award would mean everything to her. She’s grateful for the recognition and doesn’t take being a finalist lightly. She will be graduating in the summer and will begin her Masters degree at Northeastern University. She hopes that leads to more free time. Sadura hopes to use that to focus on new initiatives next season.
“If I was able to win it, it would be so great to be able to represent my program and show people that doing community service and helping other people is what you should be focusing on in life,” Sadura said about the chance of winning the Hockey Humanitarian Award.
“As a player and as a person, that’s your duty to give back to the community.”
The 2026 Hockey Humanitarian Award is celebrating its 31st season this year. Three of the five finalists are women. This year’s recipient will be announced on Friday, April 10, 2026 during the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four weekend. This story is part of a series highlighting the three female finalists for the award. To learn more about the organization Grace Sadura has been involved with head to 7 Stars Ranch, and Green Bandana Project for more information.
