‘It should have always existed’: Sask.’s first women’s senior hockey league to begin play this fall

WATCH: The Saskatchewan Senior Women’s Hockey League (SWWHL) will begin play this fall. Donovan Maess has the details.

A new women’s hockey league is coming to Saskatchewan in 2025-26.

Officially announced Thursday, the Saskatchewan Senior Women’s Hockey League (SWWHL) will begin play this fall.

“The SSWHL is currently the only competitive senior women’s hockey league in Saskatchewan,” the league said in a post to social media. “In a province with 24 Men’s senior leagues, the SSWHL is excited to create opportunity for competitive lifelong hockey, for players who have aged out at the junior and collegiate levels.”

As part of Thursday’s launch, the league announced its first five teams in the South Division: the Southeast Saints (Midale, Sask.); Gull Lake Falcons; Grenfell Prairie Fire; Rouleau Reign; and Vibank Bruins.

Five teams in the North Division will be announced soon.

A classic Sasky story

As is the story for anything senior hockey in Saskatchewan, the league has its beginnings on coffee row.

In Weyburn’s ‘Main Track Café,’ league co-founders Megan LeBlanc and Jenna Merk first came up with the idea.

“It’s been a long time coming,” LeBlanc told CTV News Friday. “We had this idea in the back of our heads for a while.”

“We just rolled with it and it’s grown pretty big,” Merk added.

LeBlanc, originally from Estevan, played female AAA hockey for the Notre Dame Hounds and Melville Prairie Fire before moving to NAIT to play college hockey.

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After she graduated, she returned home with no team for her to play for.

“People are shocked when they ask, ‘Why don’t you play senior hockey?’ and I tell them, ‘There is none. It doesn’t exist yet,” Leblanc said. “Being from Saskatchewan, all the boys are playing senior hockey and it’s just like, ‘Why can’t we have that?’”

Merk, a University of Regina Cougar alum, has a similar story.

“[I] didn’t think about what was next,” she said. “I got into coaching and I love that aspect so much. But in terms of physical activity and being able to still play that competitive rush, you’re searching for it again.”

New opportunities

More than 100 men’s teams play across Saskatchewan in the senior hockey circuit.

In 2023, the Saskatchewan Junior Female Hockey League began play with six teams, but for many – the U22 league was the end of their careers.

When the puck drops in October for the 10-team SSWHL, girls will finally have a league of their own.

“It’s really overwhelming to see how many people wanted this for girls in Saskatchewan,” Merk said. “I can’t wait for there to be a day when it’s a normal thing. And it should have always existed.”

In 2010, more than 85,000 women and girls were registered in Hockey Canada programs – which saw an increase of 23,000 in the 2023-24 season.

However, the organization is aiming to have over 170,000 women and girls playing hockey across the country.

League organizers hope the league can keep them in the sport longer.

“You give your whole life to hockey, to a sport, and then all of a sudden it’s over. Then what?” LeBlanc said. “I want that opportunity for myself and for future generations as well.”

“Keeping [girls] playing, hopefully gets them more involved coaching, helping out, being a part of the program still,” Merk added. “Which a lot of [them] lose after [playing].”

The SSWHL’s opening weekend is scheduled for Oct. 17-19, 2025.

A final league schedule is expected to be released in the coming weeks.