Breaking the Ice

Walking into the Polar Ice rink, it looks like any other. The air is chilly and filled with the sound of gliding skates and music from the speakers. It is the same until you approach center ice, where a piece of Wilmington history sits: a sign that reads, “Home of the UNCW Ice Hockey Club Team.”

This fall, UNC Wilmington will make university history with its first season of women’s club ice hockey. It’s new to Wilmington, but for Anna Warren, president of the club, she’s been dreaming of this day for years.

“I started skating when I was three years old and playing hockey when I was four,” says Warren, a sophomore at UNCW. “When I was thirteen or fourteen, I started considering different paths because there really wasn’t much girls’ hockey in North Carolina, or in the South in general.”

Warren is no stranger to the lack of opportunities for local women who play ice hockey — she grew up playing on boys’ hockey teams until she was fourteen years old — but she didn’t want that to be her collegiate experience. When faced with the choice of playing in the NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or attending UNCW, she was called to do something different.

“Once I committed to UNCW and knew that I really wanted to go here, I already had the idea in my mind,” she says. “Once I go to UNCW, I’m going to start the team.”

Warren immediately got to work on this student-led initiative, from finding coaches to connecting with other college athletes who were itching to get back on the ice.

“Interest is something I was worried about initially coming to UNCW,” says Warren. “I thought, are we going to have enough girls and players to actually play? Are they going to have experience at a beach school? It was this huge, mind-boggling thing for me that there were this many girls interested in ice hockey at a beach school.”

To play hockey, you need a minimum of six players: one goaltender, three forwards and two defensemen. Warren hoped that in her first year with the team, they would have 10 or 11 players. Today, ahead of their opening season, they have 16.

Even with enough players to fill the ice, Warren’s job was far from over.

“I went downtown one day in November and just started handing out flyers to different businesses,” she says. “I asked them if they could put some flyers up on their windows, and they were so generous and super open to help out in any way they could, even giving some of their products for giveaway baskets.”

The passion and talent on the team have been there from the start, but support is more critical than ever. Hockey, an infamously expensive sport, is difficult to fund, especially in the beginning club stages. Warren and her teammates are responsible for raising enough money to play, including for equipment, travel and time on the ice, which is about $400 an hour.

Support has flooded in from all directions, including UNCW, the sports club council they are associated with and local businesses. One important player in their initial success has been the preexisting men’s ice hockey team at the college.

“They have been so generous and kind to us,” says Warren. “I actually did a puck drop at one of their home games where I wore our customized jersey. I came out and they announced over the loudspeaker, this is the women’s ice hockey team.”

Women have played ice hockey for more than 130 years, but 2026 marks record growth in the United States for women in the sport. According to USA Hockey, they surpassed 100,000 female registrations in 2026 — a 65% rise in registrations compared with the last 15 years. In February, the United States women’s ice hockey team went undefeated and won gold at the Olympics. The surge is nationwide, but women in the Port City are just as excited.

“It’s been incredibly rewarding, all of the benefits that come from starting the team. The girls who have come up to me saying how proud they are, or even alumni from the school who have said that they always wanted to start the program but didn’t know where to begin. I’ve had girls come up to me and tell me that they’ve always wanted to play ice hockey, but they never had an outlet or their area didn’t have a team growing up.”

Before Warren started the team, players were faced with a difficult choice: their dream sport, hockey, or their dream school, UNCW. Today, instead of ending their athletic careers, they get to begin a new chapter. The UNCW Ice Hockey Club Team now has players committed from across the nation, including California, New Jersey and Colorado. Their season is set to begin in September with the College Hockey South conference, where they will compete against other teams in the South.

“We’re just super grateful to be able to still play,” says Warren. “I’m so happy that, after two years of not playing, I’m able to get back out on the ice and compete. I have loved the sport of hockey so much, and that’s why I’ve done all of this. It’s why we built this program up.”

To support the UNCW Ice Hockey Club Team, visit their social media for opportunities today.