Four years ago, Anniston Yoder picked up skates and a hockey stick at the frozen pond at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp.
Now, the 14-year-old plays wing for a Wilkes-Barre Jr. Pens co-ed youth team.
"I saw that there weren't a lot of girls, so I thought that this was a great opportunity for me to do my best," she said.
Less than a month after the U.S. Women's Hockey Team won gold over Canada in overtime during the 2026 Winter Olympics, 63 girls had registered for the Junior Pens Girls Try Hockey for Free event at the Toyota SportsPlex.
The last time the organization held a Girls Try Hockey event, they had 25 girls sign up, Coach Bobbi Fedele said.
"Just seeing this overwhelming response and having to open up registration for extra people, even though we don't really have enough equipment, was really overwhelming and just a great thing to see,” Fedele said. "Hockey is growing in Pennsylvania, and we want girls to be a part of that."
Girls in bike helmets with cat ears and a mohawk and ski pants skated alongside more seasoned girls in hockey helmets with cages and shoulder pads during the event. Volunteers and certified coaches and youth volunteers, like Anniston, guided the girls ages 4 to 18 through stations every 10 minutes.
They learned to pass and shoot and handle the hockey stick. There was a red zone near the end of the rink where anyone who was uncomfortable could skate around. The door was open if the girls needed time off the ice.
At the end they played a game.
The Junior Pens have co-ed travel hockey teams. One of the goals of Saturday’s event was to inspire enough girls to play hockey and have their own team.
"Right now, we're looking to have a 14 and 16 and under girls team to compete in a league called … the Mid Atlantic Women's Hockey Association,” Fedele said.
USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States.
Last week was the organization's National Hockey Week across the country. Saturday was Try Hockey For Free Day.
"We thought it was a great way to celebrate and bring everybody in to the game of hockey," Fedele said.
Scared? Give it a try.
The Mahaffey sisters from Sugarloaf Twp. stood on the ice with their dad, Sterry Mahaffey. He grew up playing hockey. Their uncle was also on the ice. He hit them with a playful hockey stop — spraying ice from his skates. His nieces laughed.
Abby is the youngest, Amelia is the middle sister, and Caitrin, the oldest.
"This is actually my first time for like skating,” Abby said.
She wants to be a hockey player when she grows up.
"I mean, sometimes when I get better at this,” Abby said.
Caitrin is 12 years old. She is in her fifth year of playing travel hockey.
She’s not scared to be on skates. Caitrin said any girl who is interested in the sport should give it a try.
"There's in-house, there's so many clinics like stuff like this that they can do to see if they really enjoy it,” she said, holding a stick in one hand.
'We really need a girls team'
Anniston helped the girls learn to shoot the small black puck into the net. She said it's great to see all the girls come together on the ice.
"And just become like one family, one team," she said. "That's how I feel about the sport myself. But we really need a girls team. So this is great.”
Anniston said hockey taught her to stay positive no matter what.
"It taught me that you have people around you to talk to and make friends with if you are not feeling the best,” she said.
Fedele started playing hockey when she was 12 years old. She is a roller hockey national champion who played travel hockey in New York and for Sacred Heart University and the men’s team at Penn State Berks. She now coaches and has helped run adult hockey leagues in the area for the past 10 years.
Fedele said hockey teaches girls and women perseverance.
"We're always teaching our girls they can do hard things, and once they build this confidence of skating and playing hockey, it just adds another tool to their toolbox to become a great leader, a great friend, you know, not just in sports, but in their whole life,” Fedele said.
