Sunday 2nd November brought the Ice Hockey Premier League home to Streatham for the Storm's (South London's only female ice hockey team) first nail biting game of the season.
The Slough Phantoms took less than three minutes to open the scoring and by the end of the exciting first period were up two nil- with even more shots attempted on goal.
Five minutes later, with teams talks as finished as they would ever be; the break was over; sides were swapped and the second period began- even faster paced than the first.
International player, Suchanek (No. 2), scored two breathtaking back to back goals, momentarily equalising for The Storm before the Phantoms took the lead once again for a dramatic 6-3 finish.
Ice Hockey, rightfully dubbed the fastest team sport in the world, is rapidly growing in popularity within the UK- Belfast, Braehead and Nottingham are three sides currently dominating the ELITE league (a professional and also the highest league in the United Kingdom).
The game is played by two teams of six players- all battling to put the puck in the back of the other team's net. A typical NHL game (National Hockey League) will see the arena filled with scores of excited fans, news stations and each team will have its own fleet of backroom support staff- if only Women's Hockey could be so lucky.
For such an exciting game, the seating area at Streatham Ice Rink was mainly empty, a handful of family members and team mates were scattered across the stands- all cheering manically when their team took control of the puck.
Lack of support, available ice time and funding are a few of the many problems female ice hockey players must face. With registration fees on the incline- a staggering £550 for valuable international players such as Suchanek- and sponsorship hard to come by, the future of this sport for women's teams is worryingly bleak, unless somehow these issues can be resolved.
By Savannah Howard, Nonsuch High School for Girls
