‘We want to still be able to play’: Competitive senior women’s hockey league looking to expand into Manitoba

The Canadian Senior Women’s Hockey League is looking at adding new teams from Manitoba.

After a successful inaugural year in Saskatchewan, a women’s senior hockey league is looking to expand to Manitoba and Alberta, with hopes of providing competitive hockey for women who want to continue playing the game.

The Canadian Senior Women’s Hockey League was started in Saskatchewan last year. It featured 11 teams of women 18 and older split between two divisions, ranging from Lloydminster and Saskatoon to Regina and Gull Lake.

Jenna Merk, the co-president and co-founder of the league, said it all started after she and a longtime friend were looking for a way to still play competitive hockey.

“We want to still be able to play. There’s so many senior teams across Saskatchewan for the boy’s side. We want to have some senior competitive hockey for the women’s side,” said Merk.

So, Merk said they gauged interest from around the province, and within a few days, over 200 women replied, saying they want to have a league of their own.

“They all felt the same way as us. They missed playing this game that they grew up their whole life playing.”

As the season progressed in Saskatchewan, Merk said interest stretched past the provincial borders, with teams in Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Virden and Morden wanting to join.

The interest led to a conversation about looking at the possibility of expanding outside of Saskatchewan.

So again, forms were sent out, and hundreds of responses from both provinces came back expressing a desire to join.

Merk said they are still planning out areas of where teams will be, but the hope is both Alberta and Manitoba will be brought into the fold for the 2026-27 season.

While teams in each individual province would play each other during the season, Merk said she would love to see a battle for provincial supremacy as well.

“There’s a hope that we have a team Saskatchewan, a team Alberta, and a team Manitoba in the senior league that can play off in a little tournament.”

Then on top of all of that, Merk said there would be an annual Western Cup—taking the best teams from the season to compete for a championship.

‘Not just dad gets to play senior’

While the league is about giving women a chance to continue playing hockey, Merk said it’s also about growing the game so more women and girls can fall in love with the sport.

“We hear the message right from minor hockey, where you see girls quitting at the U15 and U18 age groups because there’s nothing really after for them, so why do they continue playing? Now we’re creating something that’s there. There’s also the players that age out of USPORTS, NCAA, their university careers, and once again, there’s nothing for them.”

Merk said her favourite part about the league is seeing how mothers and daughters can bond over hockey.

“Something that always gives me butterflies is when you see girls or women posting in our league and it’s them and their daughters and their captions are ‘Daughter got to see their mom be a strong role model,’” said Merk. “Not just dad gets to play senior (hockey) on Saturday nights; mom does too.”

Following the two-province expansion, Merk said she is focused on strengthening the league and possibly developing skill tiers in each province.

After going through the data, Merk expects to have a clearer picture of where all the teams will be based in the next month.

She will then reach out to the women who said they would be interested in running the teams and help them with getting jerseys, ice times, and schedules.