Storm Women partner with University Of Salford

Manchester Storm Women, a professional ice hockey team based in Altrincham, recently established a women’s team which is led by former Great Britain Under 18s Women’s Head Coach, James Ashton.

This partnership will provide SBS students with invaluable work experience opportunities in a professional sporting environment. Students looking to pursue a career in sports business management will be able to gain experience with the newly established team as they attempt to successfully progress through the professional league. This unique opportunity will see students build structured business plans, whilst
testing their collaborative and communicative skills in a real corporate sports environment.

Students will be involved in various business functions across the club, including live marketing projects, sports management, finance and operations support. By applying their academic learning to this real-life setting, they will gain vital skills they can carry through to their future careers, bolstering their CVs while enhancing their professional development.

General Manager of the team, Wesley Spurrett, said: “Whilst on the surface this is a new hockey team, there is a fully established business ecosystem underneath. We believe that the latest and most up to date, ideas and practices, that the students can bring to the team will allow us to lead the way in success on and off the ice.”

Students will be mentored by industry experts, providing a tailored experience underpinned by the key frameworks of the sporting sector. This essential collaboration will merge the students’ fresh innovative ideas with the club's profound wealth of experience.

Wesley continued: “Our initial goal was to establish ourselves within the league and the women’s game. However, the speed these amazing women are coming together as a team is phenomenal, so we are certainly entertaining the possibility of playoffs or better with this team.”

The support from SBS will allow Manchester Storm to create a more cost-effective and accessible environment for those wanting to enter the sport, benefiting the societal ties with hockey. It will help to grow women’s sport whilst securing the long-term future of the club.

Professor Francine Morris, Associate Dean for Knowledge Exchange at SBS, commented: “As a civic university, supporting local community organisations, is an integral part of our strategy at Salford. “This partnership not only supports a new women’s team to enter the league, but it allows our students to apply the core learning and essential soft skills they have developed throughout their courses, whilst further developing crucial employability skills.”