As the ENL closes, we thank you

LONDON, UK – Anyone who has visited the busy Covent Garden market in London will know the drill. The large crowd swells around a sweating street performer as he builds up to his final act. His efforts of attracting the crowd through cheering and clapping have worked well, and the praise of his warm up routine has ensured a decent pay day.

 
As he stands ready to exhibit the pinnacle of his act, he will pause and ask for quiet. He knows that once his act is finished the crowd will disperse, so he takes this opportunity to make himself heard, to plead for his audience to fill his cap with cash at the end of the routine.
 
Now before any one logs off, I can assure you I am not asking for money. Nor will I get a pay day from your viewing. My motives for writing this season are purely through enjoyment, but before everyone logs off for the summer, I just want to thank some individuals for their efforts this season.
 
I have covered ENL hockey every week since the start of the season for Prohockeynews. It has been a diary of sorts, mixed with some interviews, previews and reviews. I have tried to be as balanced as possible despite my allegiances to the Streatham Redskins on and off the ice. There has never been a better time to cover the ENL and I have been really lucky to have had the assistance and expertise of many people across the league. Mostly a pleasure but sometimes a chore, writing about the ENL can be challenging. Some people are happy to help and others less so, nonetheless for all the ups and downs we got there in the end.
 
The readership has grown and grown but this has not solely been down to me. The weekly round-ups and articles have truly been a team effort; I can only be in one place every weekend so I have relied on some people who I hope won’t mind being named on here.
 
Up in Peterborough I have been lucky enough to interview the interesting and articulate duo of Simon Wren and Steve Maile. Both of these players are an asset to the ENL and I hope they feature again next season. Rob McGregor has provided useful information and plugged the column on the Islanders website.
 
In Milton Keynes I am indebted to the safe hands of Nefra Germain who has provided post match scorers (and expletives), when she hasn’t been busy on the bench as the Thunder’s physio. Coaches Lewis Clifford and Darryl Morvan have been really helpful with both information and quotes, and Jamie Holland provided an interesting read at the end of the year. Claire Stanton has yet again provided excellent photographs of the Thunder in action.
 
My old club Oxford have been great. Simon Anderson, Richard Wojciack and Ken Forshee were very honest and approachable with interviews/quotes and manager Gary Dent did a sterling job with statistics and further information. Despite personal adversity, Leigh Williams was, as ever literally a star and Peter Magnuson provided great action pictures as did Ken Barker.
 
Invicta Dynamos had their fair share of coverage and rightly so. The league champions featured in a number of features and thanks go to Grant Baxter, Karl Lennon, Anthony Lennon, Joe Johnston, Nolan Boike and physio Jess Osborn for their contributions and information. The part time Medway Madness players and ace photographers Warren Cook and David Trevallion handed me some memorable shots to use over the season.
 
In Berkshire, the Bracknell Hornets have featured across the season and my thanks go to Gareth Cox, Blair Dubyk, Ben Duggan and Alan Lack for their assistance. The lovely Alison Corker has been a star providing match details and the excellent photography of Lewis Cleveland and Chris Callaghan has been invaluable.
 
Cardiff have had a good year, and their coverage has only been made possible by the sterling enthusiasm of Alan Armour and Mark Cuddihy. Captain David James and defence man Gareth Dixon have also helped with quotes. The real star of the show however has been photographer Tim Bowers who has been brilliant throughout the year and without him, most of the articles would have been lifeless at the start of the year.   The amount of players that use his pictures as their Facebook profile shot shows just how valuable he is.
 
Haringey may have had a bad year on the ice but they have helped us where possible. Nick Rothwell has been open and provided quotes, as has Lee Mercer, Dave Richards and Scott Beeson. Ben Waterhouse has provided invaluable post match information, especially when the Greyhounds website went offline for most of the season.
 
Play-off finalists Wightlink have been a real help. Jeremy Cornish has been open and honest in his interviews and quotations, as was defenceman Damon Larter. Photographer Nikki Craft provided some excellent shots of the Raiders in the play-offs.
 
Division Two champions Bristol Pitbulls will be in the league next season but have already featured twice this year. Thanks to Richie Hargreaves for his insightful comments and also to photographer Graham Goodman for some excellent shots of the team winning the trophy.
 
Thanks go to our friends in the North at Whitley (Andrew Tindale, Richie Thornton, David Hall, Colin Edwards and Adam Reynolds), Solihull (Phil Lee, Mike Hooper, Keith Davies and Gary Rogers) and Nottingham (Richard Blount and Chris Colegate). I would have loved to cover more Northern hockey but sadly it has not been possible this year. Hopefully next season this will be improved but will only work if the clubs want it too.
 
Lastly, my team Streatham Redskins. The whole team have kept the mickey taking to the minimum for which I am grateful. It is obviously hard writing about a league in which you play in, but the lads have been supportive and when I have needed quotes, Barry Spours and Louis Lockwood have helped out. The fans have also been great but a special mention goes to Graham D’Anger as he has helped with information and contacts through the season. Most Redskins photos have come from Dave West who does an excellent job despite supporting Leeds United.
 
To the many fans, players and volunteers that have contacted me over the year, thank you for your kind words, grief and corrections. Just from reading the list above you can see just how many people give up their time to help keep ENL hockey going. The statisticians deserve a mention as well. Malcolm Preen and Laurie Wilcock have the unenviable task of crunching the numbers each week at EIHA Towers and for this we are grateful. Whilst their decisions have not been popular, at least the EIHA have been swift in their decision making this season. Some of the issues have been the fault of the clubs and admin staff rather than the governing body however they have been culpable on occasions too. The league would not be operating without them however and this must be remembered.
 
Finally, the biggest thanks go to my editor and support Pete Lewis along with site owner Lou Lafrado. Pete has sat up late many a night editing my typos and keeping me straight, so that the articles come online quickly and fairly accurately. He may be a Chelmsford Chieftains fan but despite this, he puts in the time and effort to ensure the facts are right and the articles are seen. We may take the mick out of each other and our respective teams, but I couldn’t have gone through the whole season without him. I am always nagging him to look at my stuff as soon as I write it so I am sure I have driven him up the wall at times, but I do appreciate it.
 
The mysterious Lou is based in New Mexico, but emails words of encouragement when needed. He is committed to UK hockey and has provided us with a platform.   I looked up his office on Google maps and it looks a lot more pleasurable than my sofa. Let’s hope I can do a Ken Taggart and cover UK hockey from the United States in a plush office next season.
 
Thank you all again for reading and keep checking over the summer for player announcements and news.
 
Carrsy
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com