Upcoming Radio Events

If there's one thing that I enjoy more than anything when doing radio, it's participating at live events. Live radio has a certain unpredictability to it that is unlike anything else except for live television, and it's that unpredictability that makes covering events a bit of a thrill. It is with great honour that UMFM has been invited to cover the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge once again, and we are proud to working with the great people at Balmoral Hall School to bring these broadcasts to hockey fans once again! That will all happen this weekend, so let's see why you may want to tune in or watch in-person at the Hockey For All Centre in Winnipeg!

As you you may recall from past tournaments, this tournament was always run by the St. Mary's Academy Flames. After they decided to cut their prep hockey program, the tournament was in jeopardy of being eliminated from the hockey scene, but Balmoral Hall School stepped in to fill the void left by the Flames' absence. That effort will see the tournament continue this weekend from January 22-25 as nine teams battle for the gold medal and bragging rights!

This year's tournament will have a very local flavour as all nine teams are from Manitoba. There were a number of non-Manitoba AAA and CSSHL teams that couldn't squeeze the tournament into their schedules, but they have expressed interest in participating next season. That being said, Balmoral Hall decided to make this year's event into a showcase of the best women's hockey this province has to offer as six MFHL teams and all three Manitoba-based CSSHL teams will participate! If you wanted a best-on-best format, you got it!

UMFM will be broadcasting from the PCL Arena once again this year, and that gives us the honour of calling nine FWSSC games. All games being broadcast can be heard on the UMFM Second Stream internet stream beginning Thursday afternoon while your favorite programming continues on the 101.5 FM frequency. We are excited for the action, so here are the games you'll hear:

• 2:15pm January 22 - Balmoral Hall vs. Winnipeg Avros
• 7:30pm January 22 - Interlake Lightning vs. Pilot Mound
• 9:00am January 23 - Winnipeg Ice vs. Pilot Mound
• 5:00pm January 23 - Balmoral Hall vs. Westman Wildcats
• 9:15am January 24 - Interlake Lightning vs. Winnipeg Ice
• 2:05pm Janaury 24 - Pilot Mound vs. Pembina Valley Hawks
• 5:30pm January 24 - SKILLS COMPETITION!
• 9:00am January 25 - Championship semifinal
• 11:30am January 25 - 5th-place game
• 2:00pm January 25 - FWSSC Gold Medal Game

In total, there will be nine games plus the special event on Saturday night that will be broadcast via the UMFM Second Stream, so you shouldn't have any excuse when it comes to catching a few games as any internet-connected device can carry the broadcasts. Even if you can't get to the Hockey For All Centre, UMFM will make sure you have a window into the best women's hockey tournament in the province!

You may have noticed the words "SKILLS COMPETITION!" above. Balmoral Hall decided that they wanted to put their own stamp on the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge with something a little different, so they're going to run a skills competition where girls from all nine teams will get a shot to show off their dangles, clap-bombs, snipes, and saves! UMFM will pull off some magic by moving rinks with all of our equipment, but we're going to bring you the 2026 FWSSC Skills Competition in full with a pile of interviews and chatter as we cover the event and see which players make their marks!

What's not on the broadcast schedule above is Thursday night's episode of The Hockey Show which will also take place at the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge as Jason and I broadcast the show live from the rink prior to the 7:30pm game between the Interlake Lightning and Pilot Mound Buffaloes. There likely will be a few players who pop by for a chat, we'll get everyone updated on the afternoon games, and we'll chat about some hockey stories before the evening game, so make sure you stick around for that!

If you're planning on coming to a game or are on the fence about going, let me give you one little push: admission to all games and the skills competition is absolutely FREE! Thanks to the generosity of Patrick and Carla Rae who are part of the tournament's incredible sponsors, they have covered the costs of any and all admission costs for the tournament so that all fans can attend and catch the fantastic hockey action all weekend no matter what game you want see!

At the end of the day, there are a pile of women who will be playing this weekend who are heading off to post-secondary institutions on both sides of the border. There will be even more whose performances this weekend and this season will set themselves up for the same opportunities. This is the tournament where all of Aerin Frankel, Jade Iginla, Sarah Potomak, Halli Krzyzaniak, Hannah Miller, and Logan Angers showed their skills before playing on international and professional stages. Perhaps the next potential stars of women's hockey will be showcasing their skills in west Winnipeg this weekend?

The Female World Sport School Challenge is always a weekend of incredible hockey in which UMFM is honoured to included. I have no doubt that Balmoral Hall School and the Balmoral Hall Blazers are going to host an incredible tournament, and I'm excited to watch and call some incredible games between the best teams that Manitoba has to offer. If you can make it down to the Hockey For All Centre, please come and watch. If you can't be at the rinks this weekend, we'll keep you up to speed on what's happening at the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge on the UMFM Second Stream.

There usually isn't a lot to be excited about when it comes to hockey in late January, but the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge has been circled on the UMFM calendar for a while. We're grateful for Balmoral Hall's invitation to be part of the event again this year, and we're proud to be broadcasting the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge for all to hear! See you at the rink this weekend!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!