Empower Her: Marisa Bonilla

She was born to be a Gator, but she wasn’t born to play hockey — at least, not on paper. With both her parents having completed their PhDs at the University of Florida, Marisa Bonilla entered the world on campus at UF Hospital. From the beginning, the orange and blue were in her blood. But unlike many athletes, hockey was not. It wasn’t a sport that chose her — it was one she chose.

Two years after moving to her mother’s hometown of Stillwater, Minnesota, Bonilla began to explore her new environment. It was a state where hockey wasn’t just a pastime; it was a way of life.

“At the time, I played soccer growing up and didn’t even know what hockey was,” she recalls. “But once I moved to Minnesota, I got introduced to it, and I just loved it.”

She started skating at age eight — later than many of her peers — yet she quickly fell for the sport’s speed, physicality, and intensity.

“When I first started playing, it was just for fun,” she explains. “I played soccer, so hockey was honestly kind of a secondary thing. It’s fast-paced, and for girls, it’s pretty physical, which isn’t something you can get in a lot of other sports.”

Her love for hockey wasn’t tied to collegiate aspirations or dreams of playing professionally. It was simply a passion — a sport she wanted to play for herself. By her mid-teens, however, academics and soccer took precedence, and she stepped away from competitive hockey.

“I thought I was never going to play competitively again,” she admits. “But I still kept up with it — playing with friends, at outdoor rinks, indoor rinks — just for the love of it.”

Then, just a few years later, an Instagram post changed everything.

It was the summer of 2024, and Bonilla had returned to Gainesville as an official Florida Gator. The men’s hockey team posted a call for women interested in joining and founding a women’s hockey program. She jumped at the opportunity.

“I emailed them immediately,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is my chance.’ I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into, but I knew I had to try.”

Alongside Sarah Pagels, Bonilla helped build the team from the ground up. She took on the role of Director of Outreach, tasked with recruiting players, connecting with supporters, and even scheduling games. By their second year, the University of Florida Women’s Hockey team had joined the ACHA and College Hockey South.

In creating this new program, Bonilla found herself surrounded by other women who had grown up with hockey but had come to Florida for reasons other than the sport — and were now able to play again.

“Men’s hockey is exploding here — youth leagues, juniors, everything,” she says. “So it’s only natural for women to grow the game down here too.”

Through her work, Bonilla has given other women the opportunity she never knew she wanted: the ability to stay close to home while continuing to play the sport they love, without uprooting their lives for a much colder climate.

“These girls can go to their dream school and still play hockey,” she says. “That’s huge. It’s about giving women choices, letting them have the best of both worlds.”

But those opportunities don’t come without challenges. Gainesville still lacks an ice arena, and the closest rink to UF is over an hour away in Jacksonville. Even the men’s teams have to travel extensively for practice. The women’s team faces even greater obstacles, including limited support from the university itself.

“Obviously, the men get a lot more attention,” Bonilla explains. “They have more fans, more money from the school. We don’t yet. We’re having trouble getting into the University of Florida Rec Sports system to get support — both monetary and even simple things, like being able to use the UF logo.”

The lack of official recognition has created tension for Bonilla, who grew up proud to be a Gator.

“I hope to see a team with a full roster — girls who are reaching out, excited to play at UF,” she says. “But right now, we have to use ‘Gators Women’s Hockey,’ not really ‘UF Women’s Hockey.’ We can’t use the Gator head logo.”

Despite these challenges, Bonilla remains optimistic about the program’s future.

“We do still represent the Gators, maybe not on an official, written-on-paper level yet, but eventually it will happen,” she says.

Support has come from other corners: the men’s team, the league, and fellow women’s hockey presidents.

“It’s nice to have people going through the same thing,” she says. “We ask each other questions, share advice, and just want each other to succeed. That sense of community means a lot.”

The work hasn’t just been about building a team — it’s been about building a culture, too. Bonilla hopes that future players will inherit a program that’s sustainable, competitive, and connected to the school in a way that feels official and empowering.

“I want to see the team succeed, have full rosters, get resources from both the school and the community, and compete at the top of the league,” she says. “Eventually, maybe even SEC hockey — men’s and women’s — competing together. That would be amazing.”

Her vision extends beyond Gainesville. Bonilla wants to grow women’s hockey across the South, giving young players the same opportunities she had to discover the sport, develop their skills, and find community.

Helping to found Women’s Hockey at UF wasn’t in her original plan. She never imagined returning to Gainesville and creating a program from scratch. But that’s exactly what she has done.

“The team, the community, the girls who come after us — it’s all about creating something lasting,” she reflects. “We’re making a space for women in a sport that’s still growing here, and that’s empowering in itself.”

The University of Florida is lucky she didn’t let the script define her. Instead, Marisa Bonilla let it empower her.

ABOUT College Hockey South: Founded in 2008, College Hockey South is a 29-school, 45 team intercollegiate hockey conference spanning eight southeastern U.S. states. College Hockey South is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization.