The concept of ice sports like hockey seem almost silly in a scorching desert climate. Yet there are a few local women that have been playing it all their life without letting the heat get to them. This includes University of Arizona women’s hockey player Savannah Allen.

Allen is a freshman defenseman on Arizona’s inaugural women’s hockey team. A resident of Flagstaff, Arizona, she has played the sport solely in this state for her entire life.

She started her time on the rink with figure skating lessons. This did not end up working out so her parents signed her up for women’s hockey. Since then, her goal was to play at the collegiate level. 

This passion can be attributed to Allen’s time as an Arizona Kachina. The Kachinas are a youth girl’s hockey program located in Phoenix; it was established in 2019 and coaches girls as young as six how to play hockey.

Allen said, before the Kachinas, there were no girls teams in Arizona. Girls who played hockey in the state had to either play on boys teams or had to leave the state. 

Now, Arizona women’s hockey allows Allen to continue in the sport she loves and lets her live her dream as a collegiate player.

“Hockey is very time consuming and takes so much training on [the] ice,” said Allen. She says she is not able to work but is always with her teammates. “I hang out with the team everyday, even outside of practice,” said Allen. 

 Hockey players are usually on the ice for practice. Off the ice, their practices consist of weight and speed training to improve strength and explosiveness. 

When Allen is not with the team, she is an exercise science and physiology major. With her major, she hopes to pursue a career in either sports medicine, athletic training or physical therapy. 

Going into the season, the goal is simple for Allen: It’s to win.

“Win as many games as possible, go to nationals, and put Arizona hockey on the map,” she said.

Allen’s personal goal is to have the best plus-minus differential. This is the calculated difference between individual goals and the goals scored by the opposing team while they are on the ice.

Above all, she is proud to represent the Wildcat community.

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