From Texas With Love: Hannah Bilka’s Path to the PWHL

In the first year of the PWHL, players represented 12 different countries as well as dozens of US states and Canadian provinces and territories. But not a single player hailed from the Southern United States—something that will be changing this year.

The PWHL welcomed its first two draftees from a Southern state in the 2024 Draft: Hannah Bilka, selected fourth overall by the Boston Fleet, and Allyson Simpson, selected 16th overall by the New York Sirens, are both from the Dallas area in Texas. Bilka has already signed a three-year contract with Boston and Allyson Simpson will be jockeying for a roster spot with the Sirens come training camp. 

Growing up in Coppell, Texas, Bilka watched her older brother play Division III college hockey and was inspired. “I just kind of always looked up to him,” she explained. “I tried to follow in his footsteps.” Though it took some convincing, her parents eventually signed her up. Shortly after, while watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, she realized that hockey wasn’t just a sport for her: it was her dream. At that point, 14 years before the creation of the PWHL, she couldn’t have imagined what that dream could turn into.

The American South is undoubtedly not the largest market for ice hockey, though it has seen growth in recent years. There are not nearly as many youth leagues or opportunities for development as in more traditional markets, and for young girls playing hockey, that situation is only amplified. Bilka and Simpson, who grew up together, both played on boys’ teams growing up due to the lack of girls’ hockey programs in the area, and ultimately had to move away to find opportunities to develop playing on girls’ teams. Both attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota to participate in their elite hockey programs.

“[Ally Simpson] went to Shattuck, and she kind of brought that idea to my parents and me,” Bilka explained. “So I kind of followed after her too, just because she was in the same situation, growing up in Texas and then having to go away, because that was kind of a crazy idea for leaving home at fourteen to play hockey.” 

While leaving home to go to boarding school in Minnesota allowed Bilka to play at an elite level with other girls her age, her style of play still has influences from her time on boys’ teams in Texas. “I played one year of hitting, and that’s naturally faster, you have to make decisions quicker, and I stopped around 14 but all of my development was playing boys’ hockey,” she said. Now that the PWHL allows body-checking in certain circumstances, this experience may prove useful as she enters her rookie year with the Fleet. 

When it came to being recruited for colleges, Bilka had to do much of the work herself. Between playing in a smaller market and only playing boys’ tournaments, she was not getting looks from scouts, so she took matters into her own hands.

“No colleges knew me because I was just playing boys’ tournaments, so I reached out to any school and emailed them…I would just email coaches and be like, hey, I’m at this tournament, I’m interested in your school, so I think it’s a little different than a normal person who’s maybe from Minnesota or Boston.” 

While she had to be more of a self-starter than many of her peers, it worked out in her favor. In 2017, Bilka made her US National Team debut at the Under-18 World Championships. She later attended Boston College for four years, where she won Rookie of the Year as a freshman. With her fifth year of NCAA eligibility that athletes received as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, she transferred to The Ohio State University, where she won the national title with the Buckeyes just a few weeks before being drafted by Boston.

Back home, though, things look a little different than they did when she was growing up: “I’m there in the summers,” Bilka said, “I go and all my coaches growing up still work there, and they’ve developed the girls’ side of the game so much. It’s really cool. I think there’s two organizations just for girls hockey players, which is so cool, and there’ll be camps just for girls…and I’m just trying to help out, just because I’m like, this is the coolest thing, I wish I had this when I was younger.” While Bilka had to leave home young to pursue her dream, now girls in Dallas can stay home. “A lot of girls are staying, and don’t have to play on boys’ teams. So it’s boomed since I’ve been there which is really awesome.”

The hope, of course, is that this is only the beginning for women’s and girls’ hockey in Texas and across the rest of the South. As the PWHL continues to grow in popularity and expand its footprints, the possibilities are endless.