About Us...

Although the Delaware Phoenix women’s ice hockey team was officially established as an organization in 2002, the history of this team dates back to its beginning in 1975. It was then that a handful of current Phoenix players along with a core of players from the Pennsylvania Pandas started the Delaware Bobcats and developed the women’s organization, which still exists today as the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Hockey League (MAWHL).

We have skated since 1975 on our home ice at the University of Delaware, where, in the beginning, we paid just $5 a week to skate! Now each player pays about $750 a season (uniforms and equipment are extra).

The players on this team have shown that hard work, dedication, strength, and commitment make for a very successful combination. As a hockey team, we have grown as individuals, faced highs and lows, and lived life as a bonded unit on and off the ice. Although we have struggled with unpredictable player enrollments, the inner core of this team has remained together for more than 28 years.

As an “A” team, we earned six trips to the Senior Women’s National Championships, including five straight years from 1980 through 1984, and then again many years later in 1996. One of our biggest accomplishments came in 1981, when the team finished second at the National Championships in Lake Placid, NY. Only a major injury to our starting goaltender prevented us from capturing the final win, but we know in our hearts, that we were USA Hockey’s #1 team that year.

The Phoenix name was first used in the 2001-2002 season when the Bobcat “A” team dropped to the MAWHL’s “B” division along side the existing Bobcat “B” team.  Because the Bobcat/Phoenix organization had grown over the last few years to nearly four teams, we decided that it was time to split into two separate organizations. The Phoenix organization is actually comprised of the remaining veteran players who wanted to “rise out of the ashes” and show that we could still play competitive hockey! Since the 2002-2003 season, we have fielded a Phoenix “C” team (National Level C) in the MAWHL, along with a Phoenix “D” team (National Level D) in the United Women’s Hockey League (UWHL). In both 2004 and 2005, the MAWHL Phoenix C team, with Coach Mike Bufano, won the Atlantic District Championships to earn trips to USA Hockey Senior C Women’s Nationals. In both 2004 (at Rochester, New York) and 2005 (at Green Bay, Wisconsin), the team placed fifth at Nationals. In the UWHL, the Phoenix D team won the division championship for the 2002-2003 and the 2005-2006 seasons.

During the “off season”, players from both teams have joined to play in various tournaments and league play. In 2004, the Phoenix were the Summer Sizzler C Division champs at IceWorks in Aston, PA. In both 2005 and 2006, the Phoenix won the C/D division in Spring League also at IceWorks. And with Frank Woods as coach, the Phoenix D team won the 2006 Labatt Blue Women’s tournament in Lancaster, PA.

The 2007-2008 season brought some big changes. Due to the high level of competition at the MAWHL C level and the increasing age of our players, the Phoenix C team made the tough decision to leave the MAWHL and join the UWHL in the Blue (Advanced) Division. So there were Phoenix teams playing in both the advanced and intermediate levels of the UWHL. The Blue team became the UWHL advanced division champs for the 2007-2008 season and also won 2nd place at the 2008 Labatt Blue Women's tournament in Lancaster, PA.

For the 2009-2010 season, the Delaware Phoenix has one team playing in the Blue (Advanced) Division of the UWHL.