The British Sledge Hockey Association is proud to announce that Planet Ice, the UK’s largest ice leisure provider, have committed to continuing their on-going support for the sport of Ice Sledge Hockey by sponsoring the 2012 Planet Ice British Sledge Hockey League (PIBSHL). The PIBSHL will showcase the competitive, inclusive sport of Ice Sledge Hockey and feature last year’s League champions the Kingston Kestrels and playoff champions the Peterborough Phantoms. Joining these well-established teams with be the Battle Back Bisons (consisting of injured military personnel) and the Manchester Phoenix.
Sledge Hockey is a variant of ice hockey and can be played on and off ice, using sledges to allow participants to move about the rink at high speeds hitting a puck travelling at speeds of up to 100kph. Players sit in sledges, propelling themselves with sticks adapted to allow propulsion in a manner similar to skiing. As players are strapped to a sledge all players have the same restrictions, regardless of whether or not the player has a disability.
Matt Lloyd, Chairman of the BSHA said, “The league is going to provide a great summer of sport and the league will hopefully attract interest from people who are getting excited about the London Paralympic games and ice hockey fans who are looking for a hockey fix over the summer. We are also really fortunate to have Planet Ice as our league sponsor as they bring ice hockey and event management experience as well as an enthusiasm to provide an audience friendly sport”.
John Neville, Managing Director of Planet Ice said, “Sledge Hockey is amazing as it provides a fast, full contact, high adrenalin sport which can be played by anybody and where everybody is equal. By supporting the league we hope we can help attract a wider audience to the sport and assist the BSHA in developing Sledge Hockey and increasing participation”.
Pete Hagan, head coach of the newly formed Manchester Phoenix Sledge Hockey team said, “I am really excited about entering a team from the North West in the league for the first time and we’re hoping to have Manchester Phoenix senior players such as James Neil playing for our sledge hockey team. In order to support growth of Sledge Hockey we will be welcoming players from the Coventry Flames and Widnes Wolverines Sledge Hockey clubs to play for the Phoenix so that they can develop players with a view to entering teams into the league for next season”.
Players from the Swindon Wildcats sledge hockey team will also be participating alongside the Battle Back Bisons. Aaron Nell, Head Coach of the Wildcats sledge hockey team commented, “rather than enter a team of our own this year we felt it would be benefit our programme for us to gain experience though our players and coaching staff being part of the Battle Back Bisons rather than put out an inexperienced team. We are honoured to have been invited to play alongside the brave service personnel who have given so much for their country”.
Games in the PIBSHL will be played within a series of tournaments taking place throughout the summer months and each team will play each other within each tournament. The tournaments will be hosted at each team’s home rink and will be free for fans to watch.
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