Manx Hockey Association’s 2022-23 Rossborough Mixed League campaign kicks off in earnest this weekend.

After a well-deserved break and a lovely summer to boot, hopefully it will stay that way for a little while moving into the autumn.

Back to only concentrating on mixed hockey locally before Christmas, MHA has introduced a Division Three league to add to the Premiership, plus Divisions One and Two, another sign of Manx hockey flourishing with clubs adding extra teams in this season.

The other change that has occurred over the summer months is that the under-16s league will now go forward as an under-15s division.

This is in the hope of providing a better transition for younger players into the local senior leagues and more opportunities for the 12-13 year olds to gain experience before being able to play senior hockey.

The new season brings an exciting opening this Saturday, with last year’s Premiership winners Vikings A taking on runners-up Ramsey A.

Bacchas A will look to start their campaign with a win over their own second string, while Castletown Celts open their run of fixtures at home to Valkyrs B.

Elsewhere, Vikings B take on Valkyrs A in Peel to round off the top flight fixtures on the opening day.

The ones to watch in Division One this weekend will be Harlequins A against last year’s league winners Valkyrs C, while runners-up Bacchas C take on newly-promoted Vikings D.

In Division Two, the contenders on paper from last year look to be Valkyrs D, Vikings E and Ramsey but in a slightly smaller league all places will be up for grabs, especially with so many young players coming through the ranks.

The newly-formed Division Three will be the hardest league to predict.

With players moving up and down teams to fill in when higher sides need players, they are the ones that will bear the brunt when teams come calling.

But with most sides having buddied up with their u15s teams, they should have an array of players to help if needed.

The u15 league looks to be very close again and could go down to head-to-head and goal difference like last year.

After all the OAK-sponsored junior island teams travelled to Belfast last weekend (report to follow), they will be keen to perform and get back onto the pitch.