Minnesota Wild's "Hockey is for Me" program looks to remove barriers to sport at young age

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Wild Hockey is making it their mission to grow the game for all players, and that means removing cost barriers and access at a very young age.

"I want to practice so that when I'm older I'm going to be a great skater," said 7-year-old Petra Maldonado.

Petra is trying out the Wild's " Hockey is for Me " program and she's already hooked with big dreams.

"I want to play for Edina High School and play for the Hornets," Petra said.

One of the many reasons she's fallen in love with this sport is being surrounded by kids who look like her.

"It's a program designed for 5-8 kids of color. We're trying to grow that area of the game because hockey is primarily a White sport," said Gabby Billing.

In fact, according to USA Hockey, 86% of players in Minnesota who are 8 years old and under are white.

Billing hopes their program can change those statistics by removing barriers to skate — like costs. They provide all the gear for free. Then if they finish this program, they can move into the Little Wild program for free and beyond.

"If they love hockey so much that they want to continue on to their youth association, we try and feed them through that as well," Billing said.

Petra's dad, Roger, got out on the ice too. He wants her to learn this sport a lot earlier than he did.

"If we want to make a difference with those numbers, we got to catch them when they're young — 4, 5, 6 years, and that's exactly what this does," Roger said.