JoAnna Sorensen looked down at her phone and suddenly saw $200 in her Venmo account.
It was a gift from a Utah hockey sisterhood. Sorensen’s nephew is battling Lymphoma and was having a hard time after treatments a few weeks ago. So a group of friends that Sorensen made while rooting for the Mammoth last season pooled together funds so that her NHL-loving nephew could buy some hockey trading cards that would hopefully make him feel better.
The people behind this effort are members of what they call “DoanHER Nation.” What started as a group chat with women excited about the NHL in Utah has turned into an extended family that shows up for one another beyond the hockey talk.
Along with hockey card donations, they sent her friendship bracelets, made and rally towels, an autographed puck and new Mammoth merchandise for Sorensen’s nephew, too.
“It was a huge ‘Chin up, we’ve got you and we’re here for you,’” Sorensen said. “It is no one person — it’s bits and pieces of everybody in here who make this incredible community that helps me function every day.”
During the Mammoth’s inaugural season, Emma Stitzer posted on X that she wanted to start a text chat with the female Utah hockey fans. She had been part of larger NHL message boards. But they never felt fully like a safe space for women, she said.
“I think we all probably felt like we can’t always be ourselves in it and have the fun that we like to have,” said Stitzer, who lives in Summit County.
And so, the text chat — which was initially called “UHC Girlies” — was born. The name evolved into “ClubHERS,” a play on the “Clubbers” moniker that Utah Hockey Club fans had given themselves, before the group settled on the “DoanHERs,” a nod to Utah forward Josh Doan’s nickname, “Doaner.”
(Kristin Anderson) Members of doanher nation at a Utah Mammoth game at Delta Center during the 2024-2025 season.
The group organized meetups at the Utah Hockey Club games at Delta Center. During the second intermission, they would all gather at Portal X, socialize and take a photo. The crowd grew throughout the season with four or five new people joining each night, they said.
The in-person interactions and online friendships quickly created a bubble where the women said they felt like they could be hockey fans without judgment.
“I think what’s been so moving about being part of this group is I feel like often when we’re put into that group setting, we have to speak to statistics and prove that we know a sport. I don’t think that’s as common with the male fandom,” said Brittany LaMoreaux, who is one of the DoanHERS. “It’s been nice to have a safe environment where we’re not trying to also prove that we know the sport that we are talking about. We can still have that fun girliness and camaraderie together and it not discredit our love for the sport that is wider than that stereotypical response.”
Some members of the DoanHERS cannot attend games or the non-hockey events, but that has not lessened their connection to the community. Cameron Siciliano is from New Jersey and was a big supporter of the Arizona Coyotes — and Clayton Keller — before the team got relocated to Salt Lake City last April.
(Kristin Anderson) Members of doanher nation participating in a learn-to-skate program together.
“It was definitely tough,” Siciliano said “I wasn’t really sure what to expect because obviously, it sucks watching that get taken from you in a weird sense.”
There was uncertainty around her place in the fandom. Then she joined DoanHER nation.
“It’s been really cool being outside and seeing it grow because I don’t live there and I’m still openly involved in everything and everyone is very inclusive and welcoming,” Siciliano said. “Even though I still have friends on the Arizona side of things, no one’s ever been like, ‘You have to pick one.’”
Noen Rich echoed a similar sentiment. She has not been able to join the women for any of their activities yet but still feels a sense of belonging. A couple of the DoanHERS went to a lantern festival and brought a picture of Rich so that it felt like she was there.
“It’s simple but also so meaningful to me,” Rich said. “These girls always make sure I feel included, which is an entirely new experience for me.”
The DoanHERS have made it a point to create traditions around the Utah Mammoth that make people feel part of something bigger than themselves.
Piper Anderson has made friendship bracelets her whole life; she started doing it for stress relief and ended up with hundreds of creations. She then made hockey-themed bracelets and posted asking if anyone would want one during the season.
“So many people who I had no clue who they were and now we’re all friends reached out and were like, ‘Yes!’” Anderson said. “I met so many people during games through that. Some of them I know got passed to players, which is so crazy to think about. It became kind of a thing bigger than myself because it was something to grow a community around.”
With their bracelets in hand, the DoanHERS have also done adult learn-to-skate classes, watched the Men’s World Championship (where four Mammoths won gold) together and gone to the first “Clubbers Cookout” with fellow fans.
(Kristin Anderson) Members of doanher nation wear their hockey-themed friendship bracelets at a Utah Mammoth game at Delta Center.
The group has even dubbed Red Bull’s summer-edition White Peach the official beverage of DoanHER nation, a joke they’ve seen spread across X. Photos of the pink Red Bull pop up all over Mammoth timelines when you open the app.
“We were just being funny and it caught wind. We kind of pretended like we had a fake Red Bull sponsorship so we would hashtag everything like, ‘Oh you’ve got to try it,’” Kristin Anderson said. “People from out of the country are like, ‘I’m trying the official DoanHER Nation drink.’”
The women said that anyone can be part of DoanHER Nation — it is a “mindset.”
“It’s so fun to see that everyone just wants to feel involved, they want to be part of a community,” Stitzer said. “Remembering that it’s not just us but everybody we welcomed into the fold of it.”
Some don’t understand the DoanHERS’ friendships or, rather, just how close the group has grown. Thais Alberti is originally from Brazil, but her partner is from Utah and is a Jazz fan. He has connected with other NBA followers and chatted online but it never reached the level of solidarity that Alberti feels with the DoanHERS.
“When this all started, he was just like, ‘I don’t get it because I’ve never had anything like that,’” Alberti said “It’s just so amazing that the plans do make it out of the group chat, the friendships do make it out of the group chat. It’s not all about hockey all the time — we’re entertained for the offseason.”
The DoanHERS have helped build the excitement for the Mammoth’s second season in Salt Lake City, too. The enthusiasm does not get a break during the summer. Some are still learning the intricacies of hockey through each other.
“It’s become so important for us to have our chat to ask questions and talk about the sport without the fear of being judged or talked down to,” Kennedy Staples said. “The girls in the chat have been able to teach and learn about the game on a level that is respectful and knowledgeable, which is honestly so relieving.”
As the Mammoth continue to grow as a team, the DoanHERS hope more women join the fandom and feel comfortable voicing their interests. The group agreed that now is the “perfect time” to jump into the hockey world in Utah because the experience is new for everyone.
(Kristin Anderson) Members of doanher nation at the Clubbers Cookout with their White Peach Red Bulls.
The DoanHERS have worked to create a space for hockey fans who may have previously been viewed as non-traditional or not taken seriously. And they have a message for those afraid to break in.
“Don’t silence your enthusiasm,” said Sophie Sanchez, who is from West Jordan. “Being loud and proud about stuff that you love can bring so many different connections. It’s how I met so many of the people here. It’s also how I learned the sport. It kind of creates a gateway for so many opportunities to learn the sport and expand the community around it.”
Sorensen has admired this spirit from the DoanHERS — especially in the way they have shown up for her and her family — and has played her part as somewhat of a mentor to a lot of the women. As — what she called herself, an “older member” of DoanHER nation — Sorensen takes a certain pride in watching these women redefine what being a sports fan means in Utah.
“I think in the whole sports world, there’s this stereotype of girls just like sports because the players are hot or whatever,” Sorensen said. “As these male fans and just general community have seen more of what these young women can do, what they know and how they fan — that stereotype of, ‘Oh, they’re just silly girls’ has completely diminished to, ‘They are a huge part of the fandom, they are important to Utah, they’re important to the team.’”
