"Because it's quite a small sport here, the kids think it's not a real sport. But when they get out there they realise that it's a big deal and go from playing in small sports halls to 7,000 seat arenas"
Rob Clayton (kneeling, right). image: Sally Utton
It’s ice hockey without the ice, basically. It’s played in an indoor gymnasium with ice hockey sticks and a hard ball. It’s big in places where ice hockey is big, such as Canada, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. In Canada, ball or street hockey is played in parks or anywhere, much like football is in the UK. Here, ball hockey tends to be around areas where ice hockey is popular. It’s more accessible than ice hockey, because it’s not limited by access to an ice rink and full kit is not needed.
Are there any Nottingham teams?
There are four teams in Nottingham. We are the Nottingham Wolves (previously the Arnold Wolves). We are the biggest local team and play out of Southglade Leisure Centre. The Greasley Bears play in Eastwood and we have close links with them for training and playing. There are a couple of teams in South Notts, the South Notts Outlaws and the South Notts Reapers. In addition there is a new team setting up in Clifton.
What age group’s it for?
Both adults and juniors. The age is 16 downwards in the junior teams, but in matches, because it’s a sport in its infancy with not a lot of infrastructure in place, it may take a while for ages to be leveled out. Juniors from age 4 to 14 train together. Nationally, the idea is to start off with an age limit and then move up, because it ought to be going towards seniors being 18-plus, but at the moment seniors are 14-plus. In the national tournament last year for juniors, the Nottingham Wolves had teams in the U15, who got to the final, and U12. There are 13 lads at training who are now around 14 and representing the GB team this summer in Bratislava.
Skills. image: Sally Utton
How much does it cost – kit and participation?
A full kit – shirt and shorts – only costs around £30. A training session of an hour costs £2. Second-hand kit can often be obtained through the club and contacts. We have some sponsors that support the club via kit, and some sponsors that have supported us in other ways, like donating fifty balls.
Can ladies join?
Yes, although there isn’t a separate ladies team in Nottingham at the moment. Ladies play within the existing teams. There are five ladies currently playing in the Wolves and there are ladies players on all the other teams in Nottingham. We hope to have a ladies tournament over the summer in Rotherham and we will try to enter a Nottingham ladies team.
Is there much rough and tumble? If so, is it dangerous?
It’s non-contact, unlike ice hockey. You can wear pretty much the same gear as ice hockey, but you are not allowed to wear shoulder pads. Contact in ball hockey is incidental, whereas in ice hockey you can actually body check. Because it’s in an enclosed area, you do get more contact than you might do on an open field, but it’s not full contact. We’ve recently bought a load of helmets that we want to make mandatory for training as well as in competitions and league games. Juniors wear full-face protection, adults just need a helmet.
How many players do you have that in your club play for GB?
We have 13 boys that have been chosen for the U20s, U18s or U16s, plus our Head Coach Ady Bull, that runs the Sunday sessions, is manager of one of the national teams. The Nottingham Wolves won the National Championship last year and in 2011. We were runners up in 2010 and 2012, so we have had a lot of success. Because of that, we have been invited to take part in a Champions League, which will be taking place in Slovakia in August and we are hoping to send a men’s senior team. It would be great if we could get some sponsorship towards that, otherwise it’s self-funding.
Ice hockey without the ice. image: Sally Utton
What other teams play in the UK?
There’s a league in the central region of the country including Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester. Nottingham-based teams account for seven teams out of ten. Ben Bliss used to play for the Sheffield Steelers professional ice hockey team and now plays in this league, so there are some very high-quality players. Overall, there are about 20 teams that play in the UK as a whole.
Is there any funding available for you?
No, the sport’s not yet recognised by Sports England, as there are not enough people playing it at the moment. Our club has tapped into some funding by Nottingham City Council, a fund called “Sportivate” that we have utilised on occasions for a small amount of funding for equipment, goals, balls and sticks. It helps out with what we are trying to do and also gets the club name known by the Council. They were really helpful with putting together the applications and actively encouraged us to apply, which was really good.
Where are the World Championships held?
The next junior tournament will be in Bratislava in Slovakia. The next senior one will be held in Zug, Switzerland. And the last one was in Canada. Because these nations have got a more established set-up and funding, a lot of the world events are held there. I’ve played in the Czech Republic in 2009 and Slovakia in 2011 and they were very well financed events. Because it’s quite a small sport here, the kids think this is not a real sport, but when any of them get out there, they realise that it’s a big deal and they go from playing in small sports halls to 7,000 seat arenas, like the NIC. They tend to be mainly empty, though, apart from the girls team came to watch us play, and we went to watch them!
Nippy. image: Sally Utton
So how do you afford to attend the World Championships?
At the moment, it’s largely self-funded. One thing you can do is fill team shirts with personal sponsors. The good thing about hockey shirts is, because they are long-sleeved, like Panthers shirts, that you can get sponsors names everywhere!
It sounds like a minority sport. What are you doing to raise the profile?
Social media has helped raise the profile a lot. We have a Facebook page, Twitter account and are developing our own team website. We try to be collaborative, spread the word and think about the future of the game. We put together a programme last year where we went out to a couple of the Arnold schools, Redhill and Arnold Hill, and ran a couple of sessions in each, then ran a competition between the two. That worked really well and we got quite a few new players from the events. Overall, we want to get more people playing and the best avenue for them to do that is to come along to our sessions. It would be nice to get some inter-schools events going on a regular basis, but we need ongoing support from the schools too. We need to create sustainable growth at an ongoing level that the clubs can manage, which are relatively small at present.
Given the similarities with ice hockey, have you made any attempt to recruit players from the Panthers fanbase?
Not actively, and we don’t have links with Panthers, but we do benefit from word of mouth. Panthers’ fans tend to play recreational ice hockey, so we get natural interest. We have never actually targeted the Panthers but in the coming years, we would like to start a brand new team from scratch and, if so, we would probably target Panthers’ fans as part of that.
End of Nottingham Wolves training session. image: Sally Utton
Perhaps you could put on an exhibition match in Market Square. I guess it’s the perfect venue…
Definitely. Last summer, we had an Open Day at Southglade Leisure Centre and we also attended the Riverside Festival on the Embankment in West Bridgford. We are keen to get out there and do anything to promote the sport.
How do people get in touch if they are interested in playing or willing to provide sponsorship?
We have a Facebook page at the moment. We need a website and that is something we are looking at developing in the near future. Our email address is [email protected]. All contact is welcome.
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