Prince Albert awarded SJFHL team as female hockey continues to expand locally

A similar instance is with his daughter, Jordyn.

She played two seasons with the AAA Northern Bears before aging out last year and instead of moving away to continue playing, she hung up her skates this past season and stayed at home to continue her education.

Although not wanting to move abroad or travel far to continue playing anyway, she said she was still feeling down about not having anywhere to play closer to home.

“Before there was nowhere to go, there weren’t really any options for you if you didn’t want to move or travel,” Jordyn explained. “I think this will definitely encourage more local girls to continue to play while maybe even continuing their education or careers.”

Established in late 2022, the SJFHL dropped the puck on their inaugural season in 2023 and still operates with the same inaugural six teams they started with, including the Lumsden Lynx, Regina Wild (originally the Junior Rebels), Saskatoon Prairie Blaze, Southwest Impact (Swift Current/Gull Lake), Western Prairie Klippers (Kindersley), and the defending champions Outlook Ice Hawks.

Prince Albert will be the first expansion team in the league’s history and while they don’t yet have a name, they will stick to the familiar theme of a Black and Orange colour scheme similar to that of the other female organizations in P.A. like the Foxes and the Northern Bears.

Fiddler said that establishing an identity is one of the next things on the to-do list.

“Right now, we’re just called Prince Albert U22, so that’s on the top of our minds is to get that identity and build that culture.”

He continued the move to bring a U22 female team to P.A. not only makes sense geographically, but it will also provide more players a reason to continue their education in the city as Prince Albert is a sneaky hub for post-secondary schools.

“We have a lot of education opportunities here with our local U of S campus that’s offering many different courses, we have SUNTEP, Sask Polytech, the Gabriel Dumont Institute – there’s a lot more opportunities with that here. So we want to bring that in and maybe even partner up with those institutions to provide more opportunity.”

The team won’t be hitting the ice until next season, but the wheels are already in motion to build the team. Fiddler said that the club is going to put out an expression of interest for players ahead of an ID camp they have planned for December.

“We have a Board of Directors that we still need to put together and obviously the coaching staff too,” he said. “Our big thing too is sponsorships. None of this will be able to happen without them so we’re going to try and hit the pavement running with that stuff.”

Those with questions about the new team can contact management at pau22femalehockey@gmail.com or by calling 306-961-9920.

The puck drops on the new Sask. Junior Female Hockey League season on Oct. 10, when two games help kick off the season. The Southwest will play host to Lumsden in Gull Lake, while Outlook starts their title defense in Saskatoon.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

Prince Albert awarded SJFHL team as female hockey continues to expand locally

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