The year 2024 was transformative for women’s ice hockey. Not only did it stage the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) in North America, but on a more local scale, it saw the birth of a passion project that is Manchester Storm Women. 

Two years on, with backing from the men’s team and numerous sponsors, including the University of Salford, the club is at the tail-end of their first competitive season, top of their league, and has a potential expansion on the cards. 

What started as a project to welcome female players ageing out of the Manchester Storm Academy’s U16s, has turned into an ambitious team overflowing with player requests, eager to develop and expand. 

At the centre of this project are general manager Wesley Spurrett and Storm Academy coach James Ashton. 

“We started in the summer of ’24 to gauge how many people were around and how many players were interested,” said Wesley Spurrett. “And we filled up to 40 in a very short space of time, including the juniors that James was aware of. And then we knew we had a team, so we entered the league this year, and now we want to grow.” 

The team, currently competing in the Women’s National Ice Hockey League (WNIHL) 2 North Elizabeth, is made up of a range of profiles – adult beginners, Storm Academy graduates, and older players returning to the sport. 

“It’s been really rewarding,” said Spurrett. “70% of the players have never played hockey competitively before. So, we’re constantly getting feedback that they’re so proud that they’re playing league hockey and playing a sport for some of them; some of them have never played or been in a team sport.” 

Storm Women are currently the only women’s team in the UK affiliated to an Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) side, and the name and brand have helped bring newer players and fans to the team. 

Storm player Kate Gleave started playing hockey in 2024 with one year of figure skating experience. She said: 

“I’d been a hockey fan for two years prior. I got into it through Manchester Storm, their men’s team. I’d never considered playing. Like I’d tell people, ‘Oh, I love ice hockey’. They go, ‘Do you play?’ And I’d say, ‘Oh, no, I paid too much money on Invisalign. I wouldn’t risk my teeth like that.’ I didn’t know that women wore cages and that my teeth were not at risk in the same way that the men’s teeth are. 

“And yeah, it was kind of a variety of factors all compounded at one time, but I kind of mostly put it down to free will. I was like, wait, why don’t I try it?” 

Many factors have led to the rise in interest in ice hockey, such as the success of the NHL and PWHL in North America, the popularity of hockey-based books and TV shows on social media, and the record-breaking viewership of the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

Indeed, ice hockey has found increased interest on social media, and Storm Women have been reaching future players and fans new to the sport in a similar way, along with the helpful brand boost of the Manchester Storm name.  

Player Kate Gleave has been documenting her hockey journey on social media and said: 

“I started posting actively on social media right around the time the season started. And that’s reached a lot of people. And a lot of people have found it through that. I get comments all the time saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t know we had a women’s team’.” 

And social media has proved to be successful: since opening the women’s team, general manager Wesley Spurrett has received countless player applications, despite an already filled team. 

“A lot of the emails and messages we get are, ‘Hey, I’m a hockey fan. I’ve been to watch Storm. How do I get involved?’,” said Spurrett. “It might not be the fact that we can help with that, but we can say, ‘Hey, learn to skate and then go to this and then go to that. This is your pathway to get to us. Hopefully one day you’ll be in our jerseys’. 

“Since the social media posts, we’ve had 51 people emailing asking to join the team. So, we’ve definitely got room for another team.” 

An expansion is possible, as Storm Women have officially expressed interest to the WNIHL to enter a second team into the league for the upcoming 2026/27 season. 

However, this is dependent on the current team’s potential promotion to WNIHL 2 North Victoria, as clubs cannot have two teams playing in the same league.  

For now, things are looking good: Storm Women are currently top of their league, and have qualified for the WNIHL playoffs, taking place in Sheffield on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of May. 

“The idea is to have a genuine development pathway for players,” said Spurrett. “Hopefully, one day it’s three teams in the leagues, with one in the elite, one in division one, and then another development team.” 

All the clubs competing in Storm’s league – WNIHL 2 North Elizabeth – have multiple teams playing across the hockey pyramid, although none in the highest tier, the WNIHL Elite. 

With the rise in interest, more players are joining the sport, increasing the number of teams wanting to join the WNIHL leagues. Spurrett said: 

“The general manager of the league, Faye [Andrews], has already said the increase in teams year on year is amazing. It’s expanding at such a fast pace, I think.” 

What needs to improve, in parallel, is the engagement and support these teams get, as it is expensive to run an ice hockey team, no matter the level, with no end in sight due to the rise of energy costs. 

“All the teams in our league and the other leagues are doing an unbelievable job just to keep the teams on the ice”, said Spurrett. “And I really hope, as a community, we all work together and keep this game growing. But it needs more backing from other communities and outside to really grow the game.”