Olympic Medalist Coyne Schofield Gives Back To Palos Heights With Park

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Kendall Coyne Schofield has always had a special place in her heart for parks, especially those that she grew up playing in growing up in Palos Heights.

For a girl who grew up to become an Olympic gold medal hockey player and captain of the U.S. women’s hockey team, a local park represented an open space where she could run and jump and dream of a day when anything was possible.

Now, years later, Coyne and her husband, newly signed Chicago Bears offensive lineman Michael Schofield, are giving back to Coyne’s hometown with a park that will soon open and that will be a place where children can roam free — no matter who they are.

The Kendall Coyne Dream Big Park will open in the Misty Meadows subdivision near Palos South Middle School. The opening, according to city officials, is slated for the coming weeks, although some bigger park equipment may be delayed in arriving. Yet for Coyne Schofield, the opportunity to create a sports-themed park that is built on the themes of inclusion and diversity represents a chance not only to give back to her hometown, but to do it for kids who may be experiencing feelings of inadequacy because of who they are.

Coyne Schofield grew up playing hockey in boys' youth leagues, hearing the snickers of those who believed a girl had no place playing in such a league. The pushback only motivated her more, and says the park space in Palos Heights is a place where everyone can enjoy the opportunity to be themselves.

“We wanted to make sure that any kid who walks into this park felt represented and knew that this was a park that they could play in and that they were reflected in and that they could walk in and have a dream and walk out knowing they could accomplish it,” Coyne Schofield told Patch on Wednesday.

She added: “It is hard when you don’t see anyone that looks like you doing what you love to do, it’s hard. I’ve been there, and so having this opportunity for kids to walk into this park and know it’s a place where they can dream big is something we’re honored to be a part of.”

Coyne Schofield said that she and her husband were approached by Palos Heights city officials about a year ago, gauging their interest in helping with the park. They were included in the park design phase and were given the chance to put their own stamp on a park that the couple hopes will have as much meaning as local parks in their hometowns or Palos Heights and Orland Park provided to them.

The inclusion and diversity themes are also shown in how it is designed. While hockey has played a major role in Coyne Schofield’s life and football has taken Michael Schofield to the NFL after he played collegiately at football, the couple wanted all kids —including those who may be paralyzed — and all sports and activities to be represented.

The park includes a variety of sports equipment, but is also accessible to meet the standards of the Americans With Disabilities Act. It offers sensory equipment for park visitors who need it and provides special surfaces to allow anyone to be able to use the space to its full capacity, Coyne Schofield said on Wednesday, and allowing park-goers to leave knowing that the space is there for them.

Coyne Schofield and her husband, along with their foundation, The Schofield Family Foundation, have made contributions to the creation of the space that the couple hopes will become a place that can be enjoyed by everyone who enters.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is tentatively scheduled for September. Coyne-Schofield will leave soon for duties with USA Hockey and hopes to make the team for the upcoming world championships, which will be played in Denmark. Meanwhile, Schofield just opened up training camp with the Bears, with whom he hopes to earn a starting job that will allow him to be in the area more than when he was playing with the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and Carolina Panthers.

Coyne Schofield said she hopes the park’s name about dreaming big and knowing kids can accomplish anything they set their mind to resonates with Palos Heights children. Whether that means a girl playing hockey or a marathon athlete in a wheelchair, she said that she hopes the experiences she and Schofield had growing up can serve as an inspiration to the next generation.

“For us, it started out playing at a park,” Coyne Schofield said. “It started with our love for being active, for having an imagination, for walking into a park and just being able to be a kid, to be spontaneous, and to love being outside and not having any responsibilities when it comes to life.

“And for us, our love for being active started at the parks here in our hometowns and so hopefully, to be able to provide more opportunities for kids in the town is extremely important to us.”