ONE of the key influencers behind Widnes Wild women ice hockey team’s unbeaten start to the new season is Leen de Decker.

She scored both goals in her side’s recent 2-1 win at Sheffield Shadows.

De Decker is one of the original Wild Women players who moved to Widnes when the club was relocated from Altrincham in the wake of the Manchester Phoenix fiasco back in 2015, and had previously played eight seasons for Kingston Diamonds.

She was, until recently, the most capped player for her native Belgium with 52 World Championship games under her belt, along with 3 WC bronze medals and 1 silver medal.

De Decker has played in 7 of the Wild Women’s 8 seasons – having been behind the scenes in a coaching capacity last season – and in that time, scored 86 goals and 34 assists in 72 competitive matches.

(Image: Annie Bennison)

She was an important member of the Wild women’s team that won the Division 1 North league title in the 2019/20 season and was team captain for the 2022/23 season when they were league runners up.

The Wild Women have another away fixture - at Whitley Bay on Sunday, October 27 - before their first home game of the season against Whitley Bay Beacons on Sunday, November 24 at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.