From left: Bea Lucas, Kristi Kenworthy and Jennifer Walker play in a recreational game at the Winterhawks Skating Center in Beaverton, Ore., Feb 15, 2026. Portland United Hockey League, which was started in 2022, is an adult league for women, trans and nonbinary players.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Earlier this week, the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team won Olympic gold.
At the same time, clips from the Canadian television series “Heated Rivalry,” a gay hockey romance, have been circulating widely online.
In Beaverton, one local league has been building an inclusive version of the sport for years — and organizers say they’re always ready to welcome new players after hockey’s recent surge in popularity.
At 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday at the Winterhawks Ice Center, the air carries the scent of sweat and freshly cut ice. Courtney Sprinkling-Felt — known around the rink as “Sprinkles” — glides through warmups before the puck drops.
“The music is playing and I’m watching. I’m usually chirping already to the ref,” Sprinkling-Felt said. “I’m singing a song out loud and the puck drops, and then it’s just silence, and then you go.”
Sprinkling-Felt is part of the Portland United Hockey League, an adult recreational league for women, trans and nonbinary players. Four years ago, it was just an idea.
Jess Duggan, one of the league’s founders, said she repeatedly asked the rink’s adult hockey manager for ice time.
“I bugged him and bugged him and bugged him until eventually he was leaving for another job,” Duggan said. “But the last thing he did, he said, ‘It’s my parting gift to you,’ and gave us this ice time on Sunday nights.”
Jess Duggan, president of the Portland United Hockey League, coaches the Honkers during a recreational game. Duggan lobbied to get time for the league at the busy rink, where time on the ice is hard to come by.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Ice time is scarce in the Portland metro area, where demand far outpaces available rinks. As a result, adult league games often run late into the night.
“We have four games every Sunday, and the latest game starts at 11:15 at night,” Duggan said.
The league now includes about 130 players across eight teams, all named after birds — with a cheeky twist.
“We’ve got the Imperial Shags, we’ve got the Bush Tits, we’ve got the Hooters, the Honkers, the Blue-Footed Boobies, the Flying V’s...” Sprinkling-Felt said.
Some players skated competitively in college, while others first laced up their skates at the league’s “Give Hockey a Try” clinics.
“A lot of the people that we have playing are people who said, ‘I always wanted to play hockey growing up, but I couldn’t afford it,’” Duggan said. “‘And I’m doing it now for myself that I’m an adult.’”
A player of the Portland United Hockey League competes in a recreational game.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
From its inception, the league has welcomed transgender and nonbinary players.
“It’s just so important to have a space where people can come and feel safe to be who they are and play within a community,” Duggan said.
That mission has taken on added urgency. USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body, recently changed its eligibility policy for gender-designated leagues, making it more difficult for transgender athletes to participate in certain divisions.
Duggan said the Portland United Hockey League is structured as an adult league rather than a women-specific league, so it is not directly affected by the rule change. Still, she said organizers are in conversation with roughly 40 other leagues nationwide navigating the new policy.
“There are a lot of leagues who have been inclusive who are now in a position where they don’t want to have to kick people out of their community,” Duggan said.
Sprinkling-Felt said inclusive leagues could help grow the sport.
“We’re creating a bigger world for hockey,” she said. “We’re creating a space where more people who didn’t feel safe coming into this sport because it was so bro-y can come in and want to play and they feel welcomed. And I think we’re going to grow faster than other leagues because that is who we are. We’re inclusive.”
Sara Rice of the Flamingos watches the game from the bench while the team plays a recreational game against the Honkers. The league plays recreational and competitive games every Sunday late into the evening.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
The popularity of the television show “Heated Rivalry” has even translated to local interest. Duggan said about 40 spectators recently attended a game as part of a fan meetup.
While rivalries do play out on the ice, most couples in the league play on the same team.
“We usually put people who are dating together out of respect,” Sprinkling-Felt said. “They’re probably driving home together at 12 o’clock in the morning.”
On a few occasions, she said, organizers have had to place exes on separate teams after breakups.
But for Sprinkling-Felt, the late nights and occasional drama are worth it.
“There’s such a need for joy in everybody’s life right now,” she said. “And this place, this community, this group of people bring everybody so much joy. And I think that’s what makes part of it so magical.”
On Sunday nights in Beaverton, league leaders say there’s always room for one more.
“Join our league,” Sprinkling-Felt said.
“Come play hockey,” Duggan added. “It’s so much fun.”
