The original Map of Women's Hockey in Switzerland was created as a custom Google Map in September 2025. I posted on LinkedIn about its creation in September 2025, and when I made major updates. I have captured those updates below, along with the subsequent updates. They are currently listed from oldest to newest.
Image description: A map focused on the British Isles, with England covered in WNIHL (Women's National Ice Hockey League) logos, showing the locations of arenas in which WNIHL matches take place.
When I first added the WNIHL to the map, I was delighted with how easy it had been, thanks to a simple list of arenas published by England Hockey for the league. This meant, though, that the focus was on the arenas, rather than on the women's teams playing there. This time I dove into the data, shifting the focus to the teams and adding additional information (such as the club and the league, including Elite, WNIHL 1 & 2, The Frank Wright Conference, and the U16.
Going into the detail team by team, I particularly enjoyed discovering where teams had distinct identities while still having a clear connection to the club. My personal favourites:
The Swindon Topcats call their U16 team the Top Kittens, and the Bristol Huskies call theirs the Huskies Puppies.
The Leeds Roses club includes a team called the Roses and another called the Thorns, while Chelmsford Women's Ice Hockey Club includes the Cobras, Pythons, Adders, and Rattlesnakes.
The Caledonia Steel Queens has the Steel Queen Bees and the Iron Maidens, while the The Ice Bees (U16) and Firebees (WNIHL 1) are part of the Queen Bees club in Slough, which shares its name with the Elite team. Also in Slough are the Slough Sirens, who have a second team called the Odyssey, while the Solent Amazons have their own Valkyries.
While I always learn something making updates to the map, this one might be the most fun update so far.
You can access the map with a pre-set focus on the British Isles here.
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