Hundreds of school children celebrate Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Qualifiers coming to Sheffield

In celebration of the Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Qualifiers coming to Sheffield this weekend, hundreds of local school children were invited to take part in the action. 

Kicking off yesterday (Thursday 12th December), the Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Qualifiers will be taking place in the city this weekend, as Great Britain (GB) begins their bid to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Taking place at iceSheffield, GB will host Latvia, Netherlands and Spain in the four-team tournament from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th December.

To celebrate Sheffield hosting the Olympic qualifiers, Sheffield City Council with partners Sheffield City Trust welcomed 400 local school children from across the city to take part in a morning of sporting activities including ice skating, hockey and athletics, before taking their seats at iceSheffield to watch the first game in the tournament - Netherlands v Spain.

Sheffield is a major sporting city in the UK and have hosted a range of sporting events in the city. 

iceSheffield is home of British Ice Skating and the Sheffield Steeldogs. It is also a centre of excellence for figure skating, ice dance and hockey and one of the only two facilities in the UK that has two Olympic sized ice pads.