Julia Takatsuka grew up in Seattle playing co-ed hockey where she was often the only girl or one of two on a team. 

Now, she takes pride in helping to provide opportunities she didn’t have to young girls and the next generation of young athletes on the ice through events like Try Hockey For Free in her hometown.

“The success is smiles per hour,” said Takatsuka, goalie development coach and Learn to Play coordinator with the Seattle Kraken Youth Hockey Association. “We’ve got a ton of kids on the ice, and the majority of them are smiling, having fun.”

About 50 girls registered for Seattle’s Try Hockey For Free event Oct. 18 at the Kraken Community Iceplex, giving young girls ages 4 to 9 the chance to try hockey in a relaxed environment during the 2025 IIHF World Girls’ Hockey Weekend. Those new to the sport can hold a stick, stand up on skates and shoot pucks around the ice. 

The association hosts multiple co-ed gatherings throughout the year, but this Try Hockey For Free event was the lone one only for girls. Takatsuka has organized these youth hockey events with the Kraken since the team was founded in 2021. 

The girls are shown how to approach the ice, how to fall down, get up and what it’s like to have a stick in their hands. While they can be a bit nervous at first, Takatsuka said “it’s cool to see how their confidence grows from the first time they step on the ice.”

With hockey historically being a male-dominated sport, having a girls-only platform like this Try Hockey For Free event will likely attract some girls who just want to be with other girls on the ice “and feel safer in that environment,” Takatsuka said. 

She added that it’s great to provide that environment for the girls, especially with an all-female staff, too.

Fifty registrations for an event like this is typical of what the organization has seen in the past, and most of those who register show up to the rink for the event, too, which is another good sign. On top of the coaches who run the event, 12 and 14-year-old hockey players help the younger kids on the ice as well.

“That’s also really important in building that safe and inclusive environment for them to try something new,” Takatsuka said. “Hockey’s not always easy to try for the first time. It’s kind of scary. You can’t even stand up. You’re away from your parents; they’re on the other side of the glass. You’re just alone on the ice out there.”

By the end of the event, they’re usually moving, shooting pucks and having a great time.

“The parents are just right up against the glass with their phones out, trying to capture every moment there,” Takatsuka said. “I’d say it’s been really successful. The kids are having fun and just having a great time.”

The organization will see about 20% of the participants continue with Learn to Skate programs. There’s also the intrigue for kids of getting to be on the same ice where the pros practice. Kids can look up to hockey role models on the Seattle Kraken and the new PWHL expansion team coming to Seattle for the 2025-26 season.

Takatsuka said they are trying to set something up in the future for further youth girls-only events with PWHL Seattle.

Still, the addition of a PWHL team in the area has already generated excitement among youth hockey players in the Seattle area. Girls hockey players on organized teams were present and excited when the PWHL revealed Seattle would get an expansion team during the hockey offseason.

“It’s just really cool to see how excited they were for that,” Takatsuka said. “We’re definitely going to see another boost once they get started here with registration and more girls being interested in the sport and wanting to try hockey.

“That’ll just be really cool to have them here in the same building that everyone practices in and then on the big ice down at Climate Pledge [Arena] where the Kraken play as well.”

Seattle youth hockey has seen steady growth in its participation since the announcement of the new PWHL team, and that growth could continue once the PWHL season gets started later this fall as more kids get interested in hockey. Takatsuka anticipates even more players will come out for hockey and be interested in trying the sport, hopefully falling in love with it, too.

Takatsuka recalled more than a few young kids who’ve come through previous Try Hockey For Free events, enjoyed it and then completed all the Learn to Skate programs. Those kids “just can’t wait to get the stick back in their hands and try to score goals,” she added.

“You see it on the ice when they’re out there for the first time, the ones that really are enjoying it,” Takatsuka said. “They just can’t wait to get back on.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.