OXFORD, UK – This time last summer Oxford City Stars were preparing for their return to British hockey’s third tier with an air of trepidation. A year on, they are back for their second season in NIHL1 with a revamped coaching set up and two new imports.
Happy Stars (Paul Foster)
The final weekend of last season was a nervy affair for Oxford. Just two points above the bottom of the league, a number of Oxford fans made their way down to East London accompanied by a BBC Oxford radio commentary team.
London Raiders were the hosts but the opposition were bottom placed Cardiff and the visitors needed to win to send Oxford back down into the relegation spot. With the Welsh side leading 3-1 at one stage Oxford hearts sank, but a late comeback completed by former Cardiff player Ricky Deacon tied up the game sending the radio commentary team into an inaudible frenzy.
Oxford were safe and more importantly, the enthusiasm in which the team and its followers had embraced the challenge was rewarded.
“It was definitely as tough as I imagined it would be” said Coach Simon Anderson, when asked to reflect on the campaign.
“Our roster was very young and inexperienced and I think it took the guys until Christmas to really get to grips of what was required to compete in this league”
“It’s a massive step up from NIHL2 and I think the guys found it difficult adjusting from winning most weeks in that league and then going to losing streaks in the league above”
After two years of almost constant success, Oxford players and fans had got used to the winning feeling. The club had turned down promotion the season prior, believing that it still needed time to rebuild following a disastrous 2011/12 season when they were expelled midway through the season after personnel issues.
Mr Oxford Darren Elliott
Playing in NIHL 2 gave the club momentum but NIHL 1 would prove to be a fresh challenge. Anderson was brought in last summer to bring his experience to the club, and despite coaching at this level and higher with Swindon and Wightlink, he was also tested.
“The biggest thing I learned was I had to change my coaching philosophy in respect that, I knew we would find it tough every single game and I just had to be positive in my approach and just try to keep morale high, rather than expecting too much and heaping more pressure on the guys”.
“Also I realised pretty quick that we would need to recruit strongly in the summer so that we would not have another relegation scrap on our hands”
“I think the players learned a lot too because they had to play more structured hockey and stick to game plans to even stand a chance of winning games”
“In the league below sometimes you can play a more open game and if you have a couple of guys that can score 20/30 goals over the campaign you should win most games”
Last season Anderson combined the coaching duties with local legend Darren Elliott, who had been player coach of the team during the previous two seasons. Elliott offered Anderson the Head Coach role as soon as it was decided that the club would make the step up last summer, but Anderson reveals that he initially refused.
“I turned him (Elliott) down because I felt he deserved to coach at NIHL1 level, as he had really earned his coaching stripes winning the NIHL2 title twice and the cup” explained the 44 year old.
“I came in just to run the bench and give Darren some ideas and help the guys as the season progressed. I think it was about Christmas time and we knew that we would be in a relegation battle. So Darren just spoke to me and said he wanted me to get more involved with practice and how the team played system wise”
Tough season (Paul Foster)
“Darren has a young family and is self-employed away from the rink and I think the time required to coach a team properly at this level takes up a big chunk of your spare time”
“He was obviously one of our key guys on the ice too and I think it was a lot to balance. I think from that moment I kind of took things over and we became probably more of a coaching team than we had previously”
“Prior to that I really stood back to begin with and let Darren do his thing because it had worked in previous seasons without me there”
“At the end of the season we obviously knew that we would be in this league again and Darren intimated that he wanted to concentrate on playing and would I be happy to take the team on. I quickly agreed because it’s not every day that you get to coach at a great club like this with a special set of players.”
One of Anderson’s first tasks was to sign two imports for the team after American Evan Mackintosh departed at the end of last season and Romanian Zsolt Mastaleriu was released in the dying embers of the campaign.
The Stars pulled off a relative coup persuading Andrew Magee to move north after an impressive debut season with rivals Solent Devils, and then also brought in another North American in forward Andrew Bates, who last year captained Worcester State University in the States.
Magee on target
“Magee is a great guy and I had the pleasure of talking to him last season when we played Solent” admitted Anderson.
“He shares the same agent as me, Daniel Allen at Advance Sports Management, so I was introduced to him through that”
“I also watched a few of Solent’s games and I liked the way he plays the game. He is not flashy and goes about his business quietly putting up decent numbers but also takes pride in the defensive side of the game along with a team first mentality”
“Bates is someone who we are willing to take a gamble on. I wanted North American imports for this year especially after the way Evan played for us last season”
“North American guys with EU passports are hard to find especially with our budget, but Bates was probably the best resume we got sent for this type of player and his references all checked out pretty good. If he turns out to be half as good as Evan was then we should have a pretty decent signing on our hands.”
Oxford have recruited players from all over the world in recent seasons with imports from South Africa, New Zealand, Canada and Europe all donning the City Stars jersey. Given the wide range of nationalities living in the city, and of course the world famous university, the city, on paper at least should be quite an attraction for any potential recruits. Anderson however believes that for the city’s hockey team, the global recognition does not really give them any advantage in recruitment.
Oxford’s Tourist Board Official Archive
“I try very hard when recruiting imports to sell Oxford as a city” he explains.
“It has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s an historic city and most of the guys I have spoken to have heard of it, but I wouldn’t say that is a big selling point as most of the time the players just want to know what you can give them and how far London is away”
“I think from a team point of view bringing imports in and housing them in Oxford is very expensive as being a university city, rents are very high”
“We have been lucky so far that we have owners and management that have backed us to the hilt to provide the funds for this to happen though”
Imports are of course important but in truth, any team that wants to be successful needs to have a good Brit pack and Stars fans were heartened when, after already landing proven goalscorer Steven Osman from Bristol, former players Alan Green and Andy Cox decided to return from Slough in the summer.
Both now wiser and more experienced, the pair offer quality and bring depth, something that was lacking last season.
“We had Steamy and Coxy on a two way deal for a couple of games last year and we were a different team when they played for us” explained Anderson.
“It was a no brainer to try and sign them for this season. They fit in easily because they know the guys from past season, so when I approached them in the summer it was pretty straight forward getting them back on board, which I am obviously delighted about.”
The good news of the return of the local pair, along with the likes of the Oliver brothers and Dax Hedges, was tempered by the departure of long term goalie James Skaife.
Skaife departs
Skaife had once again stepped up to the plate for the team last season, especially when his competitor for the number 1 jersey Ryan Bainborough departed almost as soon as he had arrived.
NIHL 1 starting goalies are not always available but Anderson has managed to bring in two new faces in Shannon Long from Wightlink and Connor Ranby from Coventry.
“This was probably my hardest part of my recruitment trying to find a replacement for Skaifey” he admitted.
“It’s a huge position that you have to get right. We do not have a big budget so going for a top NIHL goalie with experience I knew would be out of our price range”
“I wanted to go young and give a couple of hungry guys a chance to fight for a number one spot and that’s what I have. Ranby was recommended to me and I looked at him, got a few references and just thought, I would like to give him a chance”
“Shannon was a little different, he obviously played in this league last year and I watched him a couple of times when he played in the cup for Wightlink and I thought he looked decent”
“When he became available I spoke to him and we got things done pretty quickly and as with Connor, I am delighted to have him on board and have every confidence in his ability to be an adequate replacement for Skaifey”
The standard of the league is far away from just under a decade ago when Oxford often challenged Invicta and Streatham at the top of the league. The likes of London Raiders, Wightlink Raiders and Chelmsford Chieftains have constantly edged the bar higher at the top, but last year the league was more open than in previous years.
Anderson knows the challenges ahead and is looking forward to that first puck dropping.
“I think the NIHL is a fantastic league” he says.
“It’s really competitive, any team can beat any team on any given night and the standard has certainly improved since I last coached in it in 2009”
“Players are dropping down all the time from the EPL as guys know it’s a decent standard and they can maybe still pick up a bit of money and play a reduced schedule in comparison to the higher league”
“I’m excited to see the likes of Nicky Chinn and Chris Wiggins dropping down and it’s great for the younger guys in the league to be able to play or play against players of this calibre.”
And now on BBC Oxford…
Away from the ice Oxford have been building impressively over recent years. The fact BBC Oxford are attending games the team aren’t even playing in just shows how far they have come. Last year they managed to keep the fans coming through the door, boosted their commercial side with sponsorship deals with gaming giant Sega and even released a cookbook!
“Off the ice the club are in a fantastic position and very professionally run” says Anderson.
“Our sponsors are key to our success on and off the ice and we cannot thank them enough for their support”
“Success for the Stars for this season is obviously to be in a more comfortable league position and not like last year where we had to rely on other teams”
“Play-Offs are our goal and with the roster we have put together I feel if we finish in the top 5 or 6, that would be a very successful season”
Oxford fans can also celebrate the return of popular fanzine 482 days, which is now making a comeback online and producing great exposure for both the Stars and NIHL1. You can visit it by clicking HERE
Following the publishing of the article,Oxford snapped up defenseman Shane Moore from Swindon Wildcats.
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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