u/erkpod

📷 Sydney Sirens socials

TLDR: A netball team is trying to take a womens hockey team's name in the same Australian city in a national competition running at the same time of year where the hockey team is 20 years old.

The Australian Womens Ice Hockey League (AWIHL or AW or Adub for short) season kicks off in parallel with the PWHL. There's a lot less money & resources but we Aussies do the best we can with what we have.

An obvious but unintentional link to the PWHL is obviously the New York Sirens. Sirens is obviously a popular moniker for a sporting team as we have found out in recent days.

In late August, the men's season (AIHL, AI) is about to end. The AW teams & players are preparing to reform for their seasons with tryouts starting soonish depending on the team. Many players have been playing for their club teams over our winter & the AW plays
over summer.

One of the AW foundation teams from
around 20 years ago is the Sydney Sirens. A few days ago, a netball team in Sydney announced to the world that a team would be rebranding from the GWS Giants which is aimed at greater western Sydney (hence the GWS in their name). They have announced that they will be rebranding to the Sydney Sirens for their new identity in the Super Netball competition that also runs across Australia.

The new owners of the GWS Giants are a part of an Australian media company and the netball competition has way more resources and eyes on the sport compared to hockey. Like many in the Australian hockey community, I am deeply concerned that the netball team will be able to bulldoze the hockey Sirens with money & resources that the hockey Sirens simply don't have.

I know that the Sydney Sirens hockey team & name has been around for around 20 years & is well known & respected in the Australian hockey community.

Obviously as an outsider from the inner workings of the hockey team where no one gets paid & players pay to play (around $3500 per player per AW season, the last I heard), I don't know who registered what & when on either side.

What I do know is that the hockey Sirens would appreciate any help whatsoever. This could be as simple as liking & sharing their socials. The season starts in November & games are usually free to watch on YouTube.

This time of year is vital to the setup of the AW season. Tryouts are starting. Jerseys & equipment need to be sourced & acquired. Memberships & merch for fans needs to be created.

5 minutes of the work experience student being on the internet could have avoided this problem.

Guardian article with more info:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/20/sydney-sirens-super-netball-brand-ice-hockey

The PWHL have launched their Season 4 merchandise in what they are calling Back To School.

You might find some bargains in there. You might find something you want to support a new team.

Good luck to everyone who can participate. I'm international so I will have to go elsewhere.

Coming up from 10 - 15 July (East Coast Australian time) is the 2026 Boxall Womens National Championship run by Ice Hockey Australia at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
in Newcastle NSW Australia.

The Australian Womens Ice Hockey
League (AWIHL or AW for short) runs during the Australian summer & runs in parallel with the PWHL season. Meanwhile, Australian women and girls play club hockey in state based competitions during the Australian winter.

As a part of the Australian winter, Ice Hockey Australia runs national championships for each age groups. State teams compete to see who the national champions will be in each age group.

4 of these championships including the Boxall championship for women runs over the next 10 days (10 - 19 July) with the Boxall championship being in the first half of the tournament.

All Boxall championship games will be available to watch live and also on demand via the linked playlist below, free on YouTube. Each game has its own feed.

With the exception of the first day & the medal game days, there are 2 games in the morning & 2 games in the afternoon between 10-15 July.

All times are Australian east coast time which is +10 UTC/GMT. East coast US/Canada is 14 hours behind & west coast US/Canada is 17 hours behind tournament times shown on the graphic.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOyheYTh7qIg

📷 Dunedin Thunder NZWIHL socials

I was scrolling on Facebook earlier this week when I stumbled on a post from the Dunedin Thunder, a team in the New Zealand Womens Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL).

There was a team survey with lots of interesting & fun questions presented with graphs & photos of players. I'd be interested to know how PW teams or their fans would complete these surveys & what the answers would be.

The NZWIHL is starting its final month of the regular season with the Finals in early August. All games are streamed for free on YouTube.

My first bit of PW merch was going to be a
Sirens jersey but I got a customised Canada jersey plus shipping cheaper than I managed to find a blank Sirens jersey that I could ship to Australia.

Then I found this shirt representing our favourite powerplay on Etsy & got one as close as I could get to PW purple.

Excuse me having the shirt on backwards for the second photo but I had to show it off too.

Power through tough messes!

📷 Golden Eyes socials

I'm no graphic designer & this isn't a comment about the signing of this particular player or the ability of the person who did this graphic.

But this is a bugbear of mine when the graphic & the text don't go well together.

This example caught my eye just now.

TfNSW have placed details for the bus services to WSI on their website which will commence in July 2026 from places such as Penrith, Mt Druitt, Liverpool & Campbelltown.

Interesting to note that relevant Bunnings stores that the buses go past are mentioned in addition to shopping centres. Apart from people who work there, who catches a bus to Bunnings?

https://transportnsw.info/news/2026/new-bus-services-for-western-sydney

https://www.thepwhl.com/en/2026-expansion-player-distribution-process

The PWHL have announced details about the expansion process and the various stages. Included is a list of each team & the contract status of current players.