Beginning with the first official women's ice hockey Swedish Championship in 1988, the Division 1 served as the premier league for women's ice hockey and the winner of its playoffs was named Swedish Champion.

The season begins with four regional series, collectively called the Damettan (lit.

Each Damettan division is administered locally by a regional sub-organ of the SIF, which results in some structural and regulatory differences between divisions, for example, the number of games played and the manner in which teams are selected for the regional qualifier.

Damettan divisions are partially merged for the Damhockeyallsvenskan to form two groups of four teams: Norr/Väst (lit.

[2] In mid-February, the top teams from the NDHL Damettan Östra, Södra, and Västra compete for the remaining playoff berths in a regional qualifier (Swedish: regionalt förkval).