ROMFORD, UK – After just over a year in their new rink, the Everyone Active Raiders have settled back into their spiritual Romford home boasting two senior league teams and a junior system to boot.
A number of years on the road at Lee Valley raised questions of whether the mini hotbed of hockey on the Essex/London border could bounce back to the status it enjoyed just before the old Rom Valley Way rink shut its doors for the final time in 2013.
Twelve months after skating out at the brand new Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre in the town, those questions can begin to be answered and few are as qualified to do so as former Raider, and now Head of Romford Juniors Ben Pitchley.
With 385 appearances in Romford colours during a career that spanned over 15 years, Pitchley has played a key role re-building the club in its old stomping ground alongside CEO John Scott, with a particular focus on the aspects of the club that lay below the Raiders NIHL 1 team.
While many long-time Raiders fans still get misty eyed at the mere mention of the now demolished old rink, Pitchley believes the legends game that took place shortly after the new facility opened, linked history past and present perfectly.
“You are never going to replace Rom Valley Way for atmosphere, crowd participation and noise”, admitted the 45 year old, when asked for his highlights so far in the new facility.
“But the Sapphire Centre is everything the old place wasn’t. It’s clean, fresh, bright, well maintained has great sight lines and plexi. What’s been the best bit so far? I’d say without a doubt the Legends game that I was allowed to put together.
Photo by Nicola Day
“Having some of the greatest players to ever pull on a Raiders shirt, all back together, last year was just amazing. And getting Gord “Herbie” Jeffrey back into Romford to be a part of the very programme he built from nothing all those years ago was just the icing on the cake. Everyone told me I wouldn’t be able to get him over, but I did.”
The game just added to the feel good factor in a town that lived without hockey for around five years. The junior players, so often the cornerstone of South East conference teams and regularly providing talent for the national junior teams, dissipated to nearby clubs, and the senior team re-branded as the London Raiders and skated out in Leyton at the Lee Valley Ice Centre for home games.
“Romford was always a hockey town, but when the old barn shut down, I think the club lost a bit of its identity” admitted Pitchley, whose son JJ has been a star forward for the team in recent years.
“As soon as the new building started getting built, you could feel a buzz in the town, as it was going to allow people who couldn’t travel to Lee Valley to watch the game again.
“Romford is a working class town, and people graft for what they get, so to see 800 people coming into the rink and parting with their hard earned cash is a great testament to the job the owner, back room staff and volunteers have done to put hockey back on the map in town.
“We changed the logo for the return home, and this has had a big impact as it’s fresh and bold, and is now on all our merchandise, which is helping promote the ‘brand’. I work in London (hockey isn’t my full-time job) and when I was getting on the train on the winter mornings, you would see a few Raiders bobble hats and scarfs.
“When you walk around town, you see the junior players in their team hoodies, parents and Raiders supporters in the club clothing, which is all helping the club brand get exposure.”
The juniors has always been a focus of Pitchley since he moved into coaching and his playing days ended. The Raiders added a second senior team to the league structure in a move that simply highlighted the pool of players available in the area.
Pitchley not only owns the title of Head of Romford Junior Raiders Ice Hockey Operations, but also is the South East Conference Coach and the England National Team Programme Head Coach. That’s a lot of tracksuits and responsibility for any man, but it highlights the experience that’s been needed to try and attract kids back to a club they were forced to leave back in 2013.
Pitchley on bench duty (Daniel Howard)
“Obviously back in the day the junior programme was churning out plenty of players that played senior hockey and graduated from the juniors into the Raiders, and from a local club side this helped with the senior finances” explains Pitchley.
“The juniors are the future of this hockey club, so the more time we invest in them now, the better situation the whole club is in. Player development is key to the success of the club, long term, so it’s going to be a long haul, but in 10 years’ time there will be a lot of junior players looking to make the senior programme in this club.
“We must be doing something right, as we currently have 103 players in the junior club. Not bad for a seven month old hockey club.”
Those juniors have the goal of reaching the first team in NIHL 1, but now also a stepping stone of the second string, currently competing in the league below. With recent league changes this is more important than previously as the first team find themselves competing in the second tier of UK hockey. Quite a jump from u18 or u20 competitions in standard and commitment.
This was a major reason for the formation of the Raiders 2 side, who enjoy the wisdom of Pitchley behind their bench on game days.
“Our top end junior players needed somewhere to play hockey, and part of the player pathway we have in the club is to expose the top end players to the next level of hockey”, explained the former defenseman, who works for London Underground in his full-time employment.
“This works through all the junior age groups, but could have faltered at the U18s age group, as the gulf between 18s and NIHL1 is too big, so by putting an NIHL2 programme in place, this helps bridge that gap, and allows our junior players to experience a higher level of hockey than they can play at 18s.
“The average age of our roster is 21.35 years old, which is one of the youngest in the league, and when we have 16, 17 and 18 year old kids playing big minutes of hockey, in all situations, including our GB U18 women’s player, it’s only going to fast track their development.
“Obviously we have some older heads in the team, and you can see the improvement in their game as well, due to playing alongside these junior players.”
So after over a year back in Romford, hockey has regained its footing. Where it heads next is up to Messrs Scott, Pitchley and Sean Easton who will all play a big part in its future. As with everything in British hockey, time will tell.
Contact the author: carrsy2@gmail.com
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