With the Washington Capitals leading the National Hockey League and their star, Alex Ovechkin getting ready to break an all-time goal record, hockey is hot in this area. The enthusiasm has spread to the team at St. James in Springfield where their slapshots are also in support of one their players who struggling with kidney disease.

Assistant Captain Payton Logothey was diagnosed with stage 4 chronic kidney disease in December 2023 and she struggled with treatments but was still a vital piece of the team’s success. Despite the pain, she scored 25 points and 7 assists in 51 games during the 2023-2024 season until the pain became unbearable. Nonetheless, she plans to return to hockey in any capacity she can manage. Right now, the game is keeping her spirits up and the girl’s on the team have found strength through Payton's determination.

The girls wear green ribbon stickers on their helmets and coaches wear green ribbon pins on their jackets to represent kidney disease awareness.

Drop the Puck

The play out on the ice is beneficial in other ways too. Matt Billman is the coach and guided the team to the finals last year before they lost in the semi-final match in 2024. 

“A lot of our girls go on to the next level,” Billman said, and although there isn’t an NHL for the women in hockey, they could go on to college hockey or a job with an NHL team. Of the 20 players on this year’s team, 11 of them played last year too.

In early April, the team is focusing on the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 16U National Championships where 28 teams from 16 states will compete at rinks at The St. James in Springfield and the Ice House in Ashburn. Northern Virginia was one of 11 locations across 10 states selected to host a National Championship. Tournament games will kick off on April 2 at The St. James and the Ashburn Ice House.

This is part of a sports tourism effort by SportsNOVA and Visit Fairfax. According to the information released by SportsNOVA, this hockey tournament is expected to produce an economic impact of $1.2 million to the region.

Sports Tourism

Fairfax County assembled a "sports tourism task force," spearheaded by Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity and they focus on bringing some of these sports and their financial benefits to the county. Places they are looking to expand sports tourism is the Alpine-X indoor ski facility in Lorton (which has hit some bumps), the newly renovated Mount Vernon REC Center, Mountain Road District Park, Baron Cameron Park, Oak Marr REC Center and Braddock Park. Most of these are places where there is room for these initiatives.

Last year, the Solheim Cup golf tournament in Gainesville was part of the sports tourism plan and mountain bike races at Fountainhead Regional Park in Lorton. The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts are in touch with things that happen with the Fountainhead Trail. Other upcoming sports tourism events include the large soccer tournaments such as The Virginian over Memorial Day Weekend and WAGS Tournament which takes place on fields throughout Fairfax County over Indigenous People’s Day Weekend in October. 

“She Got Game” Basketball Tournament is scheduled at The St. James in December, and Baseball Tournaments at Patriot Park North and other satellite fields throughout Fairfax County from March through November.

The team traveled to Notre Dame this season