First Ever International Inline Sledge Game
On the 6th March 2010 the first ever International game of Inline Sledge Hockey will take place at Simply Skate, Rotherham at 11am. There will also be have a go sessions at 10am and 12pm.
Entry is free and more information can be found on the British Roller Sports Federation and BIPHA websites. Inline Sledge Hockey is being developed in Great Britain by both the BSHA and BIPHA.
BBC Film Sledge Hockey
On the 1st March Paralympians Gary Farmer, Mark Briggs and Matt Lloyd spent their lunchtime teaching children how to play Sledge Hockey whilst recording for both BBC Breakfast and Sportsround.
BBC crews filmed both Inline and Ice Sledge Hockey with a number of children to promote Sledge Hockey as a sport and the Nottingham Knights Sledge Hockey team.
The BBC Breakfast film will be shown on the 20th March 2010 with the Sportround transmisson date to be confirmed.
Kestrels Race Night
The Kingston Kestrels are holding a fund raising race night on the 13th March.
Please note that training is cancelled on on the 13th March.
Sledge Hockey Challenge
The 27th February 2010 sees the first Festival of Sledge Hockey in the Humberside area. including Hull Stingrays vs Grimsby Redwings (10am Hull Ice Arena) to raise money for the charity Cash 4 Kids (which is the charity arm of Bauer Media). Each team will be made up of GB Sledge Hockey players, sledge hockey club players, ice hockey players and radio personalities. We are hoping to make it the largest (in terms of attendance) sledge hockey game ever held in Europe (outside of the International Paralympic Committee events). There will be a live radio feed to Viking FM, refreshments, games for kids between periods, cheerleaders, announcer etc.
There will then be "Have a Go" Sessions (2pm Grimsby Leisure Centre) There will also be a number of have a go sessions run at Grimsby Leisure Centre to give people the opportunity to try Sledge Hockey and to encourage them to take up the sport. This will be supported by Viking FM.
If you want to make a day of it take in the Hull Stingrays vs Coventry Blaze Elite League Ice Hockey Game (5:30pm Hull Ice Arena) The Stingrays are going to promote Sledge Hockey at the game. Each team will have a sledge hockey mascot coming onto the ice and there will be a short demo game between periods.
More information can be found on the Magic116, Viking FM and the Hull Stingrays websites.
GB Junior Development
The BSHA is delighted to announce that from January 2010 it will be introducing a GB junior development programme, lead by Mick Barley under GB Head Coach, Tom Ham. Mick is a EIHA Level 2 qualified coach (who will be sitting his Level 3 early next year) and has been involved with Ice Hockey for many years including coaching the Grimsby Redwings since they were launched.
There will be four GB junior camps run during 2010 and the initial GB junior development squad will be as follows; Bryan Hackworth (Hull), Chris Wilson (Hull), Natalie Calthorpe (Grimsby), Kris Calthorpe (Grimsby), Dan Grummit (Grimsby), Vicki Bell (Poole) and Dan Cook (Poole). It is expected that as the clubs develop throughout 2010 the GB junior development squad will grow. It is also highly likely that some players will feature in both GB senior and junior squads. The initial target is for a GB junior team to play in the Malmo Open in 2011.
Bisley Inline Sledge Launch
Despite the treacherous weather conditions 10 players and 1 team manager made their way from all over the country to Bisley, Surrey to play in the first ever game of Inline Sledge Hockey.
At 12:30 pm on the 19 th December 2009 Nigel Wright (Captain - Hull Stingrays) and Natalie Calthorpe (Captain - Grimsby Redwings) lead their two team teams onto the pad to play in the first game. It was a frantic game, with players from both sides learning to deal with the differences between ice and inline sledges, however it was still competitively played and it clearly showed that Inline Sledge Hockey can match the ice variant for speed and excitement. The Stingrays won the first game 3 -1, with Nigel Wright scoring an almost perfect goal.
Then at 2:20pm the second game was played. Again Nigel and Natalie lead their teams out, with Nigel showing his experience and enthusiasm with possibly the finest performance of his career, with the Stingrays again winning, this time by a score of 4 -2. The game this time was less frantic but incredible fast and end to end, with the younger players showing just why the future is so bright for GB Sledge Hockey. Natalie received the puck for scoring her first ever hockey goal during the game, with strong performances from Callum, Vicki, Dan and Kris who where playing their first ever games of sledge hockey ever.
The Sunday saw a combined Stingrays/Redwings team take on the veterans and officials in a challenge game that was as much about education as it was about fun. The Stingrays/Redwings completely dominated in a 7 - 0 win and it was clear that we changed perceptions with people recognising the Sledge Hockey is proper hockey and probably more physical than Inline Puck hockey. At the end of the game Nigel was presented with a fantastic glass trophy recognising the launch of Inline Sledge Hockey (the trophy will be put on display at Stoke Manderville Stadium).