Our Ladies’ Summer League, Men’s Summer League and our first season competing in the North West 500 have allowed players to stay involved, enjoy competitive hockey and represent Sale throughout the summer months.

From familiar faces to players getting involved with different teams and formats, it’s been great to see so many members out on the pitch — as well as plenty of support from the sidelines.

With the summer competitions now wrapped up, we’ve handed things over to the captains to give their thoughts on each campaign.

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Ladies’ Summer League

Captain’s report - Ladies Summer League, you were a bit of everything...

Rain ?️ Thunder ⛈️ Heatwaves ☀️ Water guns ? Ice lollies ? TikToks ?... and plenty of laughs along the way.

There were wins, losses and draws, but Summer League has never really been about the score.

It's about juniors playing senior hockey for the first time.
Trying out new positions.
Mixing up our 1s, 2s and 3s.
Meeting new faces, catching up with familiar ones, and playing together for Sale Hockey Club??

A huge thank you to our ever-reliable umpire, Loui, for giving up your Tuesday evenings to keep us all in check (no easy task! ?), and to our fantastic supporters and parents who came down week after week to cheer us on; you make such a difference.

Most of all, thank you to every single person who came along. Whether you played one game or every game, scored goals, defended the home goal or simply turned up for the vibes, you made Summer League special.

As your captain, I couldn't be prouder of you all. Thank you for the laughter, the commitment, the memories and for always wearing the blue and yellow with pride.

Bring on the 26/27 season ???

Men’s Summer League

Captain’s report - Summer league 2026 hosted by Timperley Hockey Club was another successful one. Possibly one of the best-attended in recent years, with players from all three Sale men's teams.

As always, the 9 weeks of competition starts with the playoff weeks to see which 'league' you play in for the next 7 weeks. Sale, of course, opts for the fun league and skillfully negotiated ourselves with tactical losses to achieve our aim.

From then on, it was a fantastic 7 weeks of hockey, with hard-fought games and wins, draws, and losses aplenty. We regularly had up to 10 players coming along and sometimes more, which has been unheard of over the last few years.

The icing on the cake has to have been the last week, where it became cup hockey to finish the league off, and as we finished towards the bottom of our league, we would have to play each round to win. With realistic hopes, we thought we would get a good couple of games followed by a few pints.

However, as Sale are now a cup team, we peaked at just the right time, marauding to the final, beating all who came before us. It came down to the final hit of the game with a short corner, which of course went in, allowing us the final victory of Summer League. What a moment it was.

A huge thank you from myself and Sale HC to all who came along and played. It was a joy to play, and I look forward to next year.

North West 500

Captain’s report - Sale's first foray into NW500 (old people's hockey) has been so much fun.
It was filled with laughs, ice lollies, POD confusion and the odd aerial, strop and interesting footwear choice (if remembered).

Most of all though, it brought people together. We saw players retake the pitch, joining with current players from across our teams and the odd visiting player, band together with great support from the sideline to create such an excellent buzz. The sideline seemed as much fun as the pitch at times and, given some of the extreme temperatures, a more desirable place at other times. The reminiscing in the bar afterwards saw friendships build stronger and the Sale family grow and bond further. And the hockey got better week on week.

We finished 4th in our league of 6 with 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. We had 10 different goal scorers of our 29 goals, 36 different players, 5 umpires and lots of supporters. Thanks to everyone involved for your part in the fun, games and revitalising some Sale mixed hockey.

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A huge thank you to everyone who played, captained, organised, umpired and supported our teams throughout the summer. With pre-season now getting underway, attention turns to the 2026/27 season — and we can’t wait to get going. ??