Bristol bites again

BRISTOL,U.K- After many years without senior hockey the city of Bristol has its own team back in the form of the Pitbulls. Bristol has long had junior ice hockey right up to under-19s level but did not have a senior men’s side, other than their successful recreational team the Warriors.
Senior hockey has been played in Bristol on and off since the mid 1930’s when the Bristol Bears took to the ice in exhibition games. Shortly after they became the Bristol Bombers and took part in a series of exhibition games before the German Luftwaffe destroyed their home at the famous Bristol Coliseum in November 1940.
Bristol ice hockey lay dormant for many years after the war due to a lack of suitable facilities until the leisure centre on Frogmore Street added an ice pad on the second floor of their complex and ice hockey emerged with junior ice hockey being played in abundance. In 1974 the Avon Arrows were formed by local skaters and players living in and around Bristol. The following year they won the National B League at their first attempt and became a force to be reckoned with. The team didn’t build on their success though and hovered around mid table until the early 1980s when the club folded.
The rink briefly closed its doors in August 1991 and re-opened in April 1992 under the ownership of John Nike who also owns the rink in Bracknell. A few months later the Bristol Bulldogs were ready to take to the ice in the English League. Although they Finished an impressive second in their first season, they could not continue as attendances were unsustainable and sponsorship income was almost non-existent and the club had to close down again with only one season being played.

Since the 1990s the junior sides have continued and produced some great players over the years including the Smith brothers and the Hargreaves family. Richie Hargreaves has arguably been the best product of Bristol hockey development in recent years. Appearances in the British Elite league with the London Racers, Basingstoke Bison and Cardiff Devils as well as three different tryouts in Canada have cemented Hargreaves’s place as solid player. Along with him the likes of Gregg Rockman and Matt van der Velden have all been products of the Bristol junior system.
29-year old Hargreaves has been instrumental in getting the team back on ice. Having played and coached in Oxford last season, he has returned to his hometown and set up the sponsorship, community events, ice time, player registrations and pretty much everything else in time for the 2009-10 season.
Initially offered a place in the English National League division 1 team owner and supremo Hargreaves turned down the spot citing on-ice reasons ;
“It was nice to be thought of so highly and we thank the EI HA for offering the division 1 berth to us, but this is a new chapter for ice hockey in Bristol and its important to take one step at a time. Our chance will come when we’re ready and by then hopefully we should have a stable franchise and a strong fan-base,” Richard Hargreaves said
Coming up against the usual struggles any new teams face, Hargreaves is confident that he can manage the team as successfully off the ice as he can on it. “We’re looking for about £15,000 upwards in sponsorship and that should be enough to get us through the season on top of gate money. However, if we raised more than that we would be very happy and could perhaps help us add to the squad. Other teams in the league are better off financially as they are established teams, but we will be going out extensively in the community getting the name Pitbulls out there and getting people through the doors,” Hargreaves said  “This in turn will generate more sponsorship money. It’s never easy getting a team started but I am very pleased with how things are going so far, however if more people want to put money in and back the team then we would not discourage anyone from getting in touch and being involved in the team.”
Hargreaves has so far signed the majority of his players from the Bristol and surrounding area, mainly bringing in players who had been forced to play their hockey elsewhere. One or two had stayed in Bristol with the Warriors or another local recreational side Cardiff Redhawks, but have now made the step up into league hockey. As well as that there will be a lot of juniors on the team as the junior set up continues to produce the next generation of players.
Three of Hargreaves’s signings are recent products of the Bristol Bulldogs junior team. Laurence Lawson, Jamie Chilcott and Tom Egrington have all been solid and exceptional players within the junior teams and Hargreaves will not be letting them get splinters in their behinds by sitting on the bench all the time in ENL2.
“This is the start of their professional careers here in Bristol and I’m happy to be able to offer that to them. The Pitbulls are a stepping stone into a bigger hockey world for these three, and to have players that could one day move on from Bristol and ply their trade in a higher league or represent our country will be a fantastic achievement for them and our organisation. I don’t believe in wasting people’s talents by making them sit and watch when they could be on the ice contributing,” Hargreaves said
“I want to work closely with the Bulldogs (U-19s team) and my other interest in Bristol ice hockey, which is the Bristol ice hockey Academy that I started five years ago and have been proud to see the players developing into who they are today. We need to sustain a flow of juniors coming into the senior ranks each season. Every club should be developing its own juniors and Bristol are no different.”
Hargreaves appears to be very upbeat about the forthcoming season; “I am aiming for a top two finish. We know it will be tough to reach those heights, but I don’t believe promotion is out of the question for us. If we do go up, next season will be a bigger and tougher challenge but the boys will rise to it. What the fans can expect is exciting hockey,” Hargreaves said  “Ice Hockey is a family sport that attracts a wide demographic of people for many different reasons and we’ll be looking forward to working with the public and local business, this is the secret to the club’s success, building relationships between the club the community is vital to ensuring the success of the club for years to come.”
The Pitbulls first game is on August 29th 2009 in Bristol against ENL1 side Oxford City Stars in a challenge match with the return leg the following day in Oxford. Contact the author at Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com