ROMFORD,U.K- Romford Raiders fans will be jubilant today after receiving the news that they will have an ice hockey team this year after all. At the beginning of May it was announced out of the blue that the Snowblades group, who have been operating all levels of hockey at Rom Valley Way from Under 10s to the senior Raiders and Spitfires teams, were having to pull out of the running and financing of the club. The reasons given by Snowblades management for this breakdown was a series of unreasonable demands written into their contract to keep running the Romford Hockey Club, by Venturecore Ltd, who run the Rom Valley Way ice rink and own the âRomford Raidersâ name.
In a recent interview with Prohockeynewsâ Pete Lewis, Venturecore director Lorna Wyrill denied this, saying that negotiations had stopped due to issues with Snowbladesâ accounts. The truth remains unknown, but Romford will at least have a team thanks to the efforts of long-time supporter, and Romford Raiders photographer, John Scott, who has lead the charge to save the team with the help of Mick and Joanne Cahill.
“From my discussions with both Phil Jinks and Lorna Wyrill it was clear that Venturecore wanted senior hockey at Rom Valley Way. That, and the absence of any other willing parties, left me with little choice but to personally attempt to continue the fantastic work that Snowblades had done over the previous three seasons. Lorna and I agreed a deal very rapidly and once the ink has dried we will start getting next season’s planning underway.â John Scott
While most EPL teams are well on the way to building their squads for the coming season, the Raiders have some catching up to do. However only Jan Krajicek from last seasonâs team has been announced as signing for a different team so far, and fans will hope that the majority can be re-signed. Jesse Hammill, who was the catalyst for Romfordâs excellent end to the 2008-09 season, has also been announced as the first returnee. A Raiders spokesman said: âJesse Hammill is a man of principle and weâve been grateful for that over the past couple of weeks. We knew Jesseâs first choice was to return to Romford but we also knew that he had been made very attractive rival offers and, with Romford senior hockey in doubt right until the last minute, there was always a chance that weâd run out of time.
âJesse promised heâd give us as much time as possible and, fortunately, with John Scottâs discussions with the rink going better than we could have hoped, once we knew we were running Jesse was on board immediately. Heâs already been set a tough task. Some of the players he wanted have understandably agreed terms elsewhere but we still expect to be able to dress a very competitive team come September. Whatever the next few weeks hold, we know that Hammer will give it 100% as always. His position as Head Coach was key to the plans for the new organisation and weâre thrilled heâs part of the team.â
John Scott concluded: “Romford had a great end to last season, putting together a stunning run of 13 unbeaten home games and with Jesse assembling his own squad, we are hopeful to start this season where we left off. The crowds are growing, the product on the ice is exciting and the public are genuinely enjoying and coming back for more,” Scott said “We also have a number of new ideas to bring to the games to improve the entertainment further in an effort to get those all important “bums on seats”. It is an important time for hockey in Romford and the team here has the energy and enthusiasm to help increase the popularity of this great sport.â Contact the author at Dave.lambert@prohockeynews.com
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