Meet The Canberra Pirates: Powered by MEJ
They’re Canberra’s premier women’s ice hockey team, and they currently play in two leagues: the Australian Women’s Tier 2 Showcase Series, which is the second-top grade in the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League, and the NSW Women’s League.
In the NSW comp, the Canberra Pirates made the finals for the first time in 2019, while in the Tier 2 series, they managed to take out the silver medal in both 2018 and 2019, and finished the season with a fierce determination to bring home the gold.
In 2020, the Pirates got a big boost thanks to sponsorship from MEJ, with the newly minted MEJ Canberra Pirates ready to hit the ice rink.
Then, unfortunately, like with most sports, COVID-19 wreaked havoc on ice hockey, with the 2020 seasons postponed. The Tier 2 series is on hold again in 2021, with a comeback planned for 2022.
The NSW Women’s League is split between Sydney and Canberra, with home games played at Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Centre.
The 2021 season is on temporary pause due to Sydney lockdown, but the MEJ Pirates are on track to make the finals again this year, with a number of new junior players making an immediate impact.
“The Pirates team has a diverse range of skills and experience, led by strong veterans who have experience playing at a high level, including for the Australia women’s team,” says Alex from the MEJ Canberra Pirates.
“We also have a number of up-and-coming juniors, some who have already represented Australia at the U18 international level. A few players are also relatively new to hockey, but bring a wealth of experience from other sports, such as field and inline hockey.”
“Having MEJ and other sponsors step up and support the team has been amazing. Ice hockey is an expensive sport with ice time, gear and lots of travel – it is immensely helpful and exciting to be building a new Canberra representative team with this vital support.”
To follow the progress of the MEJ Canberra Pirates, and to find out when you can next catch them in action at the rink, keep an eye on their Facebook or Instagram pages.
