Why I Coach
Purely for love of the game, and a drive to see Saudi Arabia excel. I want Saudis to fall for hockey the way I did at eight years old, and to help build the sport into something much bigger in the Kingdom.
Saudi ArabiaIce Hockey
FaisalAlasseri
Player & Coach
I'm the first Saudi ice hockey player to coach internationally.
01The Player
The
Beginning
Dhahran Saad Falcons, Khobar
At 8 years old, I picked up hockey for the first time, joining the Dhahran Saad Falcons in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. I played there for seven years, all the way until I was 15, moving up through every age group from U9 to U15. Those years took me across the region and beyond, with tournaments in Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and even as far as Sweden. At 15, I stepped away, and hockey went quiet for a while.
01In Print
The Arabian Sun · February 25, 2015
“Dhahran youth hockey squads pile up the medals in U.A.E.”
The U15 C team roster, coached by Tony Morcos, Brad Zukiwsky and Dan Gaines, included Faisal Al-Asseri.
From my seven seasons with the Falcons. Name spelled as printed.
02The Player
Manchester
From the D team to the A team
Moving to Manchester opened a new chapter in my playing career. I started out practicing with the D team, worked my way up to the C team, then the B team, and earned five call-ups to the A team, the highest level of university hockey in the UK. There, I lined up against national and international stars from all over the world, players who'd represented countries like the UK, Thailand, Latvia, the US, Canada, and South Africa, among others. In my final year, I became a genuine difference maker for my team, racking up 13 goals and 13 assists to finish as the Manchester Metros B team's top points and goal scorer.
2025-26 Season
Manchester Metros B · 16 games
13GoalsMetros Top Scorer
13Assists
26PointsMetros Top Points
Outside of university hockey, I also played semi-pro with the Manchester Steamers, going up against ex-league players, testing myself against a faster, more experienced level of the game and sharpening my skills even further.
03The Player
Varsity
The Battle of Oxford Road
Varsity is the biggest night on the university ice hockey calendar, the stage where the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan play in front of a huge crowd, packing in 857 fans, to be crowned the best team in Manchester. The last 2 times the teams met, I was able to secure my spot twice, winning both years. In my second year, though, I was given the assistant captain role, helping lead the team to another win, a moment of real achievement for me. I left my first year with a 1 point night, and my second year with a 2 point night, making it a truly memorable stretch of my career.
The crowd
857
Fans in the stands
Assistant
Captain University of Manchester2025-26
Captain University of Manchester2025-26
2
Varsity titles, back to back
1 → 2
Points, year one to year two
04By The Numbers
Every Season,
Every Team
Verified live on BUIHA
Season highlights only tell part of the story. Here's the complete ledger, verified live on my official BUIHA profile.
37Games
43Goals
32Assists
75Points
22PIM
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 21 | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| 2024-25 | 8 | 21 | 17 | 38 |
| 2023-24 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
- IMost Valuable Player
- INationals Contender
- IIIGoal Scorer
- IIPlaymaker
- IIVarsity Contender
- IHat-Trick Hero
05Recognition
In Other
People's Words
“University of Manchester's Varsity side, captained by the Super Saudi upfront, Faisal Alasseri.”
“The Metros scoreline is lead by international star Faisal Alasseri.”
“After losing top scorer Faisal Alasseri, Manchester Metros C had to reassess their entire attacking approach.”
06Achievements
Things I'm
Proud Of
Every achievement, its own moment.
07Coaching
The Coach
I'm the first Saudi ice hockey player to coach internationally.
Manchester Metros D, first-ever season
Stepping behind the bench for the Manchester Metros D team taught me as much about coaching as it did about the game itself. Every week meant hours of preparation: building out drills, running on-ice sessions, and sitting down with my assistant coaches to assess what the team needed and make decisions together. That work translated onto the ice, a full season traveling across the UK, from Hull to Leeds to Sheffield and up into Scotland, and a 7 and 1 record in what was the D team's first ever season, just one point shy of the league and cup champions. Taking a brand new team that far in its debut year, while learning how to lead one, is something I'm genuinely proud of.
2nd
Non-Checking 3 North, 2025-26
7W-1L-2D, 16 pts, first-ever season
6
Players developed
and promoted to a higher-level team
Non-Checking 3 North
2025-26 Final Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | D | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle Wildcats B Cup Champions | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | +52 | 17 |
| Manchester Metros D My Team | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | +65 | 16 |
| Leeds Gryphons C | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | +29 | 12 |
| Glasgow Stags C | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | +4 | 11 |
| Nottingham Mavericks E | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | -32 | 4 |
| Hull Ice Hogs B | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | -118 | 0 |
The best goal differential in the league, ahead of the champions.
How I Coach
Feedback first: building players up from the fundamentals, then shaping every session around whatever the team needs most that week. Players who ask for extra help get more ice time or drills to take home. Above all, I treat culture as the real difference maker, running every squad like a second family where teammates push each other and genuinely look out for one another.
My Vision
Saudi Arabia sits unranked in ice hockey today. I want to take the sport from zero to a genuine international contender, putting the Kingdom's name on the map and eventually seeing Saudi players competing in leagues around the globe. It's a fifty to sixty year vision, built one development step at a time.