Smith happy with Romford

ROMFORD, UK – Romford Raiders forward AJ Smith talks to Pro Hockey News about trophies, continuity, team discipline and the perils of Twitter.
 
After winning the league in 2011/12 the Romford Raiders were one of the least busy teams as far as new player recruitment was concerned during the off season.

 
Goalie Shane Kemp arrived from Streatham and defenseman Ryan Giles came in from Invicta Dynamos but other than that it was a case of sticking with a team that lifted the silverware previously and trusting them to repeat their success.
 
“I think the main reason (behind the lack of roster changes) is because so many of the lads wanted to come back to Romford because they love it here” explained Raiders talented forward AJ Smith.
 
“We won a league and cup double last year so I think it would have been silly of Marsh (Player Coach Danny Marshall) to try and change the team too much”
 
“We do have a couple of new faces in the team but you would never know as they have settled in so quickly. Shane has come in as one of our two keepers and is playing really well at the moment”
 
“I played a season with him at Invicta a few years back and knew he would be a great signing as soon as Marsh spoke to me about him in the summer. Our only other new signing is a player I’ve known and played with for years in Ryan Giles who played briefly at Romford before in the EPL”
 
“He’s had a fantastic start to the season and has formed a good partnership with Bomber (Andrius Kaminskas). There was a lot of talk by fans on the forums about whether he was an adequate replacement for Tyrone Miller who we lost to Streatham in the summer”
 
“Gilesy was well aware he had to prove a point that he was capable of replacing Miller and so far he’s been excellent”
 
“We also have a new Captain this year in Julian Smith and I think he was the perfect choice to lead the team this year, he’s a real team guy that will always put the good of the team before himself”
 
“He hurt his leg the other week against Invicta and when we turned up in Cardiff this Saturday he could barely walk, there’s no way he should of been playing but I doubt that even crossed his mind, we were short benched so he put his kit on and went out there”
 
“Even after he took a hit to the knee on his very first shift and had to limp off the ice he was still back out there for his next shift 2mins later and then played on Sunday as well, and its a testament to how good he is that I bet most fans didn’t even realise he was injured”
The new recruits and the existing Raiders have made a strong start to the season and have won all of their opening seven league fixtures. This has been enough to allay the disappointment of missing out on a South East Trophy final that will instead be contested by Wightlink and Chelmsford.
 
The only criticism of the Raiders over the last two seasons despite their success has been a hefty number of penalty minutes that the team have racked up, and has sometimes been cited as a reason why the Raiders have not dominated all competitions.
 
“It’s no secret that we can lack discipline on occasion and that its cost us games in the past but its something we are continually working on” admitted twenty five year old Smith.
 
“We play a hard and fast, physical style of hockey and its won us a lot more games than its lost us. I think the Romford style of play is a successful one that is exciting to play and to watch”
 
“I don’t think we’re dirty as some people have said we just play hard. We are a team full of players that are passionate about this club, its not full of players from all over the country that are there because they have been offered a lot of money, the boys are there because they love the club and when that’s the case sometimes when decisions don’t go our way tempers can boil over”
 
Smith himself is a Romford boy born and bred having started playing hockey at Rom Valley Way at the age of 6, thanks to influence from his parents who had been keen Raiders fans since the club were formed.
 
At the age of 13 he left his hometown club and went on to play the rest of his junior hockey in Kent with Invicta before breaking into their senior side the Dynamos in 2004/05.
 
Six consecutive league titles followed for the Mo’s with Smith a regular on the top two lines. In 2010/11 he made the move back home as the Raiders dropped down from the EPL and has been there ever since.  “This is now my third season as a Raider and I feel completely at home here” admitted Smith, whose seven league titles and various Play-Off Championships make him one of the most decorated players at this level.
 
“It’s my hometown club, I was born in Romford and lived here my whole life and I love playing for the team. It’s an amazing club and I was made welcome by the players, management and fans straight away and signing here renewed my love of hockey that I was starting to become disillusioned with at the time”
 
Smith’s new found vigour for hockey and the lifestyle it brings has made him one of the NIHL’s most prolific and high profile ‘Tweeters’ on social media site Twitter.
 
Many NIHL players and fans have taken to Twitter and Facebook as a way of interacting and this is no different to hockey players across the world who love to air their thoughts in a minimum number of characters.
 
“I love Twitter and I think players’ being able to interact with the fans is a great part of that” explained Smith, who has written thousands of Tweets so far.
 
“It’s great when you get messages after the games from the fans saying you played well and its nice to be able to write back to them and thank them for their support”
 
“The other reason I love Twitter is because sometimes you just need to get your point across or put facts out there that fans aren’t aware of, they have had their forums for years and can have their say on anything they like and its nice as players to now have our own platform to respond or to put our opinions across if we choose to, even if mine sometimes get me into trouble”
 
Back to on ice matters and Romford find themselves back to full strength now that the previously injured JJ McGrath has returned from a nasty thumb injury he sustained at the start of the season in Chelmsford.
 
“I’ve seen some pretty naughty injuries in my time as a hockey player and been on the wrong end of a few too as I’m sure all players have” admitted Smith.
 
“That’s just the nature of the game but JJ’s thumb was up there with some of the worst. I was in the changing room on the day and he was in a bad way and the thumb itself was hard to look at and the boys all wished him well in his recovery”
 
“However now he’s returned its fair to say he’s getting a bit of stick from the lads about how he did it. Hurting your thumb that badly by opening a gate is pretty comical really but he’s back now and he doesn’t look like he’s been away at all”
 
Romford will look to continue their unbeaten league start with a road trip to face Milton Keynes Thunder followed by a home fixture against Streatham Redskins on Sunday.
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com