Growing up on a hog farm in Fayetteville, hockey was not a sport Paul Hockaday had much exposure to as a kid. The first time he ever saw a game was as an adult was when a customer at the bar he was working at in Raleigh gave him a free ticket to a Carolina Hurricanes game.

“Back then the slogan was ‘You’ll know when you go.’ So I went to the game, and I didn’t understand anything about it, but it was pretty fun,” said Hockaday.

Years later, Hockaday moved to Wilmington and started a family. One day he heard about one of USA Hockey’s national ‘Try Hockey For Free’ events being held at the Wilmington Ice House, and he encouraged all three of his kids to give it a try.

“My oldest son took to it right away and wanted to continue. However, my daughter Peyton, who was 11, was doing roller hockey at the time. She didn’t want to switch over to ice hockey at first, but then she then did it and never looked back.”

Even though Peyton fell in love with the sport, the family soon realized that in order for her to play on a team in the Cape Fear area, she would need to play with the boys. A girls hockey program does not yet exist in Wilmington, the closest ones being in Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Charlotte. So Hockaday decided he would do what he could to bring an all-girls junior level team to Wilmington.

“With the US Women’s hockey team winning gold in this year’s Winter Olympics, there’s a lot of momentum right now. We’re seeing a lot of all girls teams sprout up across the country, and as of today 83 junior national women’s hockey leagues have been recognized. So the goal is for us to become one of those teams,” said Hockaday.

Recently, the Carolina Amateur Hockey Association awarded Hockaday and the Ice House a $1,500 grant to help kick-start a girl’s program. With these funds, Hockaday and a team of fellow female hockey enthusiasts have organized an all-girls ‘Try Hockey for Free Day’ on January 5^th. All ages are welcome, and participants need no prior skating ability.

“When you’re starting a girls program, you have to start young, because a lot of older girls are already involved in other sports like soccer or lacrosse. Our ‘Try Hockey for Free for Girls’ event is just meant to expose girls to the sport, then hopefully enroll those girls into future skills lessons and from there grow the program,” says Hockaday.

National Women’s Hockey League player and North Carolina native Alyssa Gagliardi is a huge proponent and supporter of youth hockey, especially when it comes to girls hockey. She believes in Hockaday’s efforts and thinks it will be a great benefit to the young girls in the Port City region.

“Events like this one in Wilmington that allow girls to try hockey for free in a fun environment are such great opportunities to grow interest in girls hockey in the Carolinas and Southeast area. It’s so exciting to see girls get to try the sport at a young age. Obviously, the hope is that they fall in love with the sport like so many girls do, but the most important thing is that they have a great time and have fun, which would be a win-win for everybody,” said Gagliardi.

Along with Hockaday, several other members of the community are involved in this new program. Current women’s player and beginner hockey enthusiast Sidney Hinson will be a coach. So will Patrick Lydon, whose daughter also plays hockey. The third coach will be Alex Mohr, who was previously the captain of Colorado University’s girls hockey team.

If you ask Hockaday why he’s so passionate about creating an all-girls hockey team in Wilmington, he’ll tell you he just wants to do something positive for the community.

“My daughter will never benefit from a girls program in Wilmington now because she’s too old, which is why we really have to concentrate on building it from the ground up and getting girls involved at the really young age of seven or eight, maybe even six. That’s the future.”

As for Peyton, she supports her father’s endeavors and plans to be actively involved in the program as a role model and helper for the younger girls. She also hopes to keep playing hockey herself for as long as she can.

“I definitely want to keep playing, but I’m the only girl on the boys team, so once I move up to the 16-18 year old age group, my parents think it’ll be a little too rough. If I had the chance two years ago to play here on an all-girls team, I might have had more opportunities then I do now,” shared Peyton. “Young girls should give hockey a try because it really boosts your confidence, you get to bond with other players, and it’s just really fun!”

Want to learn more about Try Hockey for Free for Girls?
Try Hockey For Free For Girls will be held at the Wilmington Ice House on January 5^th, from 4:15 pm-5:15 pm. The event is open to females of all ages. Equipment and skates will be provided. Advanced registration required by visiting http://www.tryhockeyforfree.com/9372 or visit the Facebook event .