JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hockey is one of the most popular sports in the world and has been part of every single Winter Olympics since the winter games began in 1924.
While Jacksonville has the Icemen, there's also a group of young hockey players hoping to make their own mark on the sport.
"We're going to do a give and go, so you'll dish the puck up to me," said coach Lauren Kelly to a group of assembled youth travel hockey players before a practice.
It's practice time at the Community First Igloo and some of the top travel hockey players on the First Coast are getting instructions before practice.
Despite the area only having one ice rink, these kids are very skilled and love the sport.
"It's aggressive and you can pass and play around with your friends," said 12-year-old hockey player Hayden Brasiel.
Their coach is Lauren Kelly, she's a Canadian with literally a lifetime of experience in the sport.
"My parents had me on skates at the age of 2, I started playing organized hockey at the age of 4, played boys travel hockey starting at 6, played on my high school boys team and girls teams as well," recalls Kelly as she remembers a few of the accomplishments throughout her hockey career, "played on the under-18 team, heavily recruited, ended up going to Dartmouth, competed professionally in the Canadian Women's Hockey League."
Aside from growing the game with kids on the First Coast, Kelly was also a women's sports ambassador for the Beijing Olympics.
"During our time in China we'd be in different cities holding pop-up clinics and it was incredible that equipment was provided to the kids," said Kelly, "We were there to explain it and it made it very easy to show the sport to a community that didn't have a background in the sport."
Not that hockey is new to the First Coast, but our area's not exactly a hockey hotbed either.
Still, there are plenty of kids who like to play.
"I'm the only girl on the team," said 11-year-old Gracie Porter, "I play with the boys but I also play with 3 other girls teams."
Porter is currently making hockey her life, just like her coach did when she was Gracie's age.
"We like to talk about how we both were the only girl on the team and we understand each other because we're connected," said Porter.
"I think Jacksonville is a hub with a lot of potential," said Kelly, "the presence of the icemen is a great catalyst for it and there's families and parents with awesome kids who are hungry for the game."
Kids with serious skills who just might be the next great American hockey players.