Who We Are

Puck Yea! is a grassroots hockey organization built on a simple belief: hockey should be for everyone.

Founded in 2025, Puck Yea! was created to remove the barriers that keep people from stepping onto the ice for the time or stepping back onto it. Too many adults and young athletes walk away from hockey because of cost, pressure, lack of opportunity, or environments that forget the joy of the game. Puck Yea! exists to change that.

What began as a small effort to create a welcoming women’s league, quickly grew into something much bigger: a community!

Players who hadn’t touched the ice in years returned. First-time skaters found the courage to try. Confidence was rebuilt, friendships were formed, and hockey became fun again.

Today, Puck Yea! continues to grow with the same mission that started it all.

We're not here to follow trends, we're here to build something timeless, With a blend of creativity, strategy, and heart!

Puck Yea! Try Hockey Free is here to do something meaningful.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • JENNA THOMPSON

    President, Founder, & Director

    Jenna provides strategic leadership and oversees the organization’s mission to make hockey accessible to everyone, regardless of experience or financial barriers. She leads program development, partnerships, and long-term planning, ensuring the foundation continues to grow and serve its community.

  • JACOB PAZDERNIK

    Treasurer

    Jake oversees the foundation’s financial management, including budgeting, expense tracking, and financial reporting. He ensures funds are managed responsibly and transparently to directly support programs, equipment access, and player development opportunities.

  • JESSICA SPERL

    Secretary

    Jess manages organizational records and board communications, ensuring the foundation operates with transparency and structure. She supports board coordination and helps maintain clear documentation to strengthen the foundation’s long-term sustainability.

Our Mission

Why We Exist

Where Donations Go

Our Impact

Where We’re Going

Puck Yea! Try Hockey Free Foundation exists to make hockey accessible, inclusive, and community-driven.
We aim to remove financial, social, and psychological barriers so more people can experience the confidence, connection, and joy that hockey provides.
Our primary focus is to create meaningful opportunities for women and girls to enter, return to, and thrive in the sport. Along with all other demographics.
We are committed to building a culture where players feel welcomed, supported, and empowered, on and off the ice.

Hockey can feel inaccessible due to cost, culture, and lack of opportunity. Try Hockey Free Foundations was created to change that. We provide free beginner programs, equipment access, and support so anyone, regardless of background, can step onto the ice for the first time and feel like they belong.

  • Expand loaner equipment inventory to serve more participants

  • Free Try Hockey Free and beginner sessions

  • Trained coaches and structured beginner instruction

  • Expansion of youth and girls programming

  • Reach underserved and first-time participants

Since launching our programs in 2025, we have:

  • 94 first-time participants introduced to hockey

  • Over 25% of Try Hockey Free participants continue on to become full-time players.

  • 24 players joined leagues, including 14 brand-new players and 10 returning participants continuing their development

  • 15 additional individuals on our waitlist, demonstrating strong and growing demand

  • Provided free equipment access to players who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to participate

  • Ongoing access to equipment, ice time, and supportive beginner instruction

  • Created clear pathways for beginners to continue into structured leagues

  • Built a supportive community where first-time players feel welcomed, encouraged, and empowered

These numbers represent more than participation, they reflect lives changed, confidence built, and a growing community of players who now call hockey their sport. Every new player represents a barrier broken and a community strengthened.

We are working to expand our programs to reach more players, provide more equipment access, and create sustainable pathways into hockey for youth and adults alike. With community support, we aim to grow our reach each year and ensure that cost and access are never barriers to trying hockey.

What People Are Saying

“I had been away from hockey for over a decade and assumed that chapter of my life was over. But seeing the community Puck Yea! built, the support, the encouragement, and the genuine joy, made me realize hockey could still be part of my life. It gave me the courage to come back, and I found not just the game again, but a community I didn’t know I was missing.”

— 2025 Summer League Participant

“Thanks for letting me join and be involved with this. It was so fun and rewarding to help usher folks into the sport. Coming from California, I have been really impressed since we moved here in 2024 by what Minnesota offers in terms of adult hockey, but what you are doing is really next level and you are really filling a very important missing piece. I have been hoping that my SO would give it a try since I started playing a little over a year ago, and your program really hit the mark and provided that landing spot to get started. The narrative here has shifted from "I'd like to try" when we saw your initial post to "I'd probably like to be a sub" after week 1. After week 2 it has fully transitioned to "I wanna sign up and play." It's so rad! All that to say, I would love to be included on your future emails for your volunteer needs. I would be honored to help anytime I am able! Also, hopefully I can play in your co-ed league sometime too! I'm already signed up for two HF leagues for spring, but if you do a fall league count me in! Cheers!”

— 2026 Try Hockey Free, Volunteer

“THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Jenna, you created an absolutely incredible program! That first day, I wanted to quit so badly, I wanted to give up, but you wouldn't let me, your volunteers wouldn't let me, and everyone was beyond encouraging in allowing all of us to be beginners & learn something new. The vibes were fantastic, the lessons were packed, and breaking the barrier to equipment was monumental in getting all of us started. I hope you know how truly grateful I am for you, Megan, and all of the volunteers.

Thank you so very much!!”