The Brianna Decker Endowment for Girls Hockey was created through The USA Hockey Foundation in 2019 by three-time Olympian Brianna Decker.
The fund aims to provided grants to 8U and 10U girls hockey programs across the country to help develop programs focused on increasing female youth participation in hockey by alleviating costs around ice and equipment, advertising and marketing and overall development.
The fund is open to ALL USA Hockey associations across the United States and applications are open at this time, until June 1st. All grant awards will be paid to the qualifying USA Hockey association applying for the grant, not to individuals. Grant applications must be submitted on an annual basis to The USA Hockey Foundation by the application deadline of June 1 each year.
For questions, please contact Sheila May at (719) 538-1107 or sheilam@usahockey.org.
Decker created the fund in hopes to grow the game in her home state of Wisconsin, but since its inception, the fund has grown to a point where she has expanded its reach to all USA Hockey associations across the United States.
Grant recipients of the Brianna Decker Endowment Fund for Girls Hockey include:
2023 - Marquette Junior Hockey Association (Marquette, Mich.)
Utah Hockey Club (Ogden, Utah)
2022 - Marshfield Youth Hockey Association (Marshfield, MA)
Palouse Youth Hockey Association (Moscow, ID)
San Jose Jr. Sharks (San Jose, CA)
Winthrop Youth Hockey Association (Winthrop, MA)
2021 – River City Youth Hockey (La Crosse, Wisconsin)
Spooner Area Youth Hockey Association (Spooner, Wisconsin)
2020 – River Falls Youth Hockey (River Falls, Wisconsin)
2019 – Waukesha County Youth Hockey Association (Waukesha, Wisconsin)
A three-time Olympian, Brianna Decker has represented the United States both on the ice and behind the bench for over a decade. The Dousman, Wisconsin native played a key role on the gold-medal winning 2018 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team that claimed Team USA's first OIympic gold in 20 years, in addition to eight IIHF Women's World Championship winning teams (2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2011).
Most recently, she was a part of the silver medal-winning 2022 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey team in Beijing, along with the silver medal-winning 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship.
Decker, who played her college hockey at the University of Wisconsin, was the recipient of the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the top NCAA Division I women's ice hockey player each year, while also leading the Badgers to a national championship in 2011.
Off the ice, Decker served as an assistant coach for the 2023, 2020 and 2019 U.S. Under-18 Women's World Championship, winning gold from behind the bench in both 2020 and 2019, and bronze in 2023. She has previously served as a coach at various Central District camps and at USA Hockey Girls Under-18 Select Player Development Camps underscoring her commitment to growing the game and helping girls achieve their full potential in hockey.
2019 Brianna Decker Endowment Fund Award Recipient
Waukesha County Youth Hockey Association
September 4, 2019
Recently, Brianna was interviewed for the Foundation of Sports’ podcast, click here. In her episode she speaks about why giving back is important to her and how she is helping grow the game through her endowment. Brianna is also giving back during the pandemic through a donation to CCM who is providing masks to healthcare workers on the frontlines.