St. Thomas will be adding women’s hockey to their list of club sports starting in the fall of the 2023-2024 school year.

First-year Jayda Johnson came up with the idea after attending orientation and approaching the club sports booth. After noticing that there was no option for a women’s club hockey team, and meeting first-year Maddie Mootz, they decided to make the dream into a reality.

“I didn’t really think it would actually happen, and now it’s actually legit,” Johnson said.

After attending orientation this past summer, Johnson reached out to the club sports administration.

“I have been missing hockey,” Mootz said. “So, I’m like, this is really perfect.”

It wasn’t until Johnson found Mootz that they decided to take action and create a women’s club hockey team.

“We connected and were like, ‘Oh my god, yes, we should do this,” Mootz said.

With a goal in mind, Johnson and Mootz are spending their free time arranging ice registration and tournaments in preparation to start during the fall 2023 school year.

“We are looking to have practices like twice, maybe three times a week,” Mootz said.

When it comes to scheduling tournaments, the pair is hoping to get more information as fall semester approaches.

“I’ve emailed all of the Division II schools club hockey ACHA and they’ve all responded like, ‘that’s so exciting that you’re starting a team, we would love to play you next fall,’” Johnson said.

In addition, they are hoping to host a few skate-arounds this spring to get an idea of how many students are interested.

“I think it gives people who are looking for the right thing, just another opportunity to join because hockey is such a huge sport in Minnesota,” Mootz said. “I feel like it gives the women here another opportunity to play hockey and play a sport that they love with new people.”

Annabelle Wiskus can be reached at wisk9881@stthomas.edu.