Chieftains off ice work starts early

CHELMSFORD,U.K-There is a famous saying “No peace for the wicked” well in the Chelmsford Chieftains management’s case its “No peace for the hard-working”. With the off-season only a few weeks old, the Chieftains are already putting plans together for next season and that mainly involves off-ice work at the moment. The main reason for the Chieftains dropping down from the English Premier League to the English National League was due to finances and lack of sponsors. Since the drop and the turnaround in fortunes many local companies and businesses have come forward to lend support to the Chieftains in a variety of forms.

For example a local printing firm, Solopress, prints all the Chieftains programmes and other printed documents in exchange for discounted advertising at the games and at the rink as well as on the shirts. Another company, Sold on Cyprus, has donated holidays to a Cypriot villa and again has discounted rates on advertising boards. Beacon Education are another company that puts in off-ice support and has their name emblazoned on shirts and rink boards. For the director of fundraising Donna Whiston it’s a very busy time; “We are always working hard to get more sponsors on board and at times it isn’t easy at all. We know that times are hard for all of us at the moment with the recession but there is still people out there wanting to and looking to spend money on worthwhile local clubs and teams,” Whiston said  “You can never have too many financial backers in sport, not only am I planning for next season and the division one campaign, I also have a wedding to plan (To fellow director Nolan Smith) as well as a young family to look after. It’s not an easy task at any time, but we will find a way through as well as keeping the sponsors we have happy and on board.” A lot of people often wonder whether what you see in a rink is only there for the hockey or whether it stays up the whole time. Whiston put the record straight “Some of the external banners outside the rink are temporary with things like ‘Merry Christmas from the Chelmsford Chieftains’ but all the boards around the rink stay up all year round, even during public skating sessions and other ice events. For what people pay and the number of users of the rink these days it’s a very reasonable price to pay,” Whiston said  “The club is viewed by around 18,000 people a season and the rink has in excess of 100,000 visitors every year. We have sponsorship packages starting from as little as £100 right up to over £5000.” This season has seen the club team up with Colchester Zoo and the ‘Chuck the Puck’ prize is usually a pair of tickets to the zoo. The zoo also sponsors the team mascot Frizzy Bear and next season the Zoo have already been signed as the main shirt sponsors for the team and they will now have their name out to over 5,000 hockey fans across the south of England and Wales, as well as everyone who sees the Chieftains shirts in the streets. Contact the author at Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com