EIH changes Sheffield finals weekend schedule after enquiries by women’s Elite League clubs

Elite League sides Kingston Diamonds, Streatham Storm and Solihull Vixens published letters in which they expressed disappointment in the management of the WNIHL finals weekend which will take place at iceSheffield from Friday 31st May to Sunday 2nd June.

The Kingston Diamonds open letter stated: “Kingston Diamonds Ice Hockey Club (KDIHC) would like to express our shared disappointment in the management of the WNIHL Finals weekend, and the treatment of all teams within the WNIHL throughout the regular season.”

“Every player within the four tiers of women’s hockey in Britain deserves equal treatment to those in the NIHL and junior system, this does not appear to be the case and unfortunately, we are being left behind by the EIH.”

Similar comments were also made in the open letters published by Streatham Storm and the Solihull Vixens. All three teams have called for unity amongst the UK’s female ice hockey clubs in the build up to the finals weekend.

Thirteen matches will be played across the finals weekend with matches from the Elite, WNIHL1, WNIHL 2 and the WNIHL U16s leagues originally scheduled to commence from 9 am on the Friday to 11am on the Sunday.

In a statement released on 2nd May, EIH announced that changes had been made to the schedule: “England Ice Hockey acknowledges the complexities surrounding the scheduling of the WNIHL championship weekend and extends its sincere apologies for any inconveniences experienced by clubs.”

“We remain committed to collaborating closely with clubs, rinks, and fixtures secretaries to mitigate such occurrences in the future and ensure the WNIHL remains a leading priority in the growth of our sport.”

The new schedule now begins at 4pm on Friday with three matches taking place on that day with the other ten taking place across the weekend.

On the changes, Kingston Diamonds said: “Kingston Diamonds welcome the changes made by the EIH and in particular applaud Faye Andrews for her hard work.”

“Hopefully this can be the dawn of a new era of collaboration with the governing body and will see true investment in the women’s game here in the UK.”

For numerous years the WNIHL finals weekend has taken place on the spring bank holiday weekend but this year it will take place the weekend after with the EIH Junior Showcase being at iceSheffield on the weekend of the 25th and 26th May.

On this change, Streatham Storm’s open letter said: “our concerns are compounded by the fact that the decision to schedule games on a workday was made to prioritise the Junior showcase over the biggest weekend of the women’s season.”

“This implication is deeply troubling and reflects a concerning disparity in the perceived value of different segments of the sport.”

All WNIHL teams will turn their attention to the upcoming finals weekend which promises to be a showcase of fantastic ice hockey across all the different women and girl’s leagues.