OXFORD, UK – When Oxford City Stars announced a partnership with Japanese video games giant Sega it turned more than a few heads in British Hockey. Sega Europe Digital Distribution Director James Schall reveals why his passion for all things Oxford inspires him to stay involved in British Hockey.
Talking about hockey, James Schall right, with Andrew Self centre
If you visit an Oxford City Stars home game these days it is likely you will see a couple of guys providing radio commentary up in the stands donning headphones.
It is a rarity in British hockey to have such coverage, especially in the National Ice Hockey League, but for the co-commentator sat gazing down on to the ice, it is just one of his contributions to the game.
With a Swiss father, James Schall was always likely to put on a pair of skates and so it proved. All it took was the opening of the shiny new Oxford Ice Rink in 1984 to get him onto the ice regularly and the story began.
“My father was an ice hockey and cycling man, not football or cricket so hockey was destined to be my sport” he admits.
“Back before Oxford Ice Rink opened, hockey was either played on an old Intellivision games console or in my mind as we used to pop along to the old Richmond rink for public sessions.”
“When Oxford finally opened we were one of the first in the queue, we watched a league game played at Oxford between Southampton Vikings and I think Fife Flyers, that was the first official game at Oxpens Road I believe.”
“After that I followed the Stars passionately during their first season and signed up for the juniors.”
Like any fledgling club, Oxford’s junior system was just starting out and with a solid set of enthusiastic new recruits Schall iced in the first ever junior hockey game at Oxpens Road in the September of 1985.
“All the players were so new we were actually told if we were defenceman or forwards ten minutes before the start of the game and after two twenty minute periods we lost 28-1.” He laughs.
Early days of Oxford Stars hockey
“We then played away at Streatham, who at the time had an awesome line up of players with Graham Waghorn, Nicky Iandoli, the Lovell brothers and Chris Chard too I think.”
“They were loaded with talent back then and it was the worst game I ever played in… a 32 zip drubbing but I was sold. Hockey was my thing.”
Two years later Schall had progressed so much that he received a call up for England u-16 selection.
On one of those selection days down in Streatham, he got off the ice and headed up to Lee Valley to make his debut for the Stars senior team who had a road game in Lee Valley. In doing so he became one of the first home grown players to make it into the Oxford Senior team.
“I loved the Stars games” he smiles.
“We played at Oxpens Road with 1,500 people in there, the place rocked to its foundations and I was part of a kid’s line with the Stars that first season. My sole recognized assist according to Elite Prospects was a pass to Paul Donohoe for him to score his first Oxford senior goal.”
“However Hockey wasn’t solely about the Stars then, I captained the Stars U-21 and B-teams through the 90’s with some success but most of all I just loved playing the game.”
Hockey however was not the only game Schall enjoyed and indeed his first real job in a computer games shop in Oxford paved the way for a successful career away from the ice.
“While working in the shop I realised I had a pretty decent understanding on what made games successful and why people buy them” he explains.
“I’m passionate about video games and that passion along with the knowledge I was adding too, progressed me up the career ladder through to Amazon out in Seattle and then SEGA, initially working on Football Manager.”
This career progression away from the ice came at a cost to Schall’s on-ice ambitions, and indeed an incident during a training session with the Stars effectively pulled the plug on any thoughts of a league hockey career.
“Oxford had a big import pairing of Barry Smith and Todd Morgan, Smith was a ridiculous goal scorer, the best I’ve seen and Morgan was a big solid robust D-man.” he continues.
“During training I had the misfortune to rob Morgan of the puck on the blue line, I took control of the puck and turned facing the boards, he had a reputation of a short fuse and his fuse was obviously lit from being poke checked (it was an awesome poke check if I say so myself) by a youngster.”
Wayne Gretzky Hockey a favourite
“He then cross checked me across the back of the head, all hell broke loose, My Dad who was a ref at the time was watching training, everything went crazy and I was never picked for the senior team while those imports were there, not really my fault but that was that.”
“Swindon Wildcats approached me and I went over there and there was a desire to do a deal but I couldn’t move that way in my heart, stubborn I suppose”
As is well documented, the gaming world has moved rapidly with the times with consoles such as the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System and Nintendo 64 now firmly retro machines amongst many others.
Even in the UK, where hockey is a minority sport, the ice hockey games produced tend to go mainstream with high sales and many casual gamers buy them without any thought of checking out a live game in this country. Schall has his own thoughts on the rationale of that situation.
“The casual fan who loves ice hockey games, doesn’t know enough about the sport here in the UK, they can reel off NHL team names and watch when the Winter Olympics is on TV but they have no real awareness about the British game.”
“Now back in the 80’s and early 90’s when the BBC covered the sport and there was an actual connected league structure, which was easy for the casual fan to understand. Now, the British game is so disconnected in structure it’s hard for the casual fan to relate too.”
“We’ve seen huge success for our games here in the UK, unexpected to be frank when you look at where the UK comes in sales and compare it to “size of local hockey market.”
“I passionately believe hockey will get its place in the sun here, like cycling has, but it will involve all owners, associations and clubs to push in the same direction.”
Every gamer has their own favourite hockey game from classics such as Blades of Steel on the original Nintendo to NHL 96 on the Mega Drive and the later versions of those games.
As an expert on gaming and a massive hockey fan, Schall is well placed to give his opinion on his personal favourites.
“Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey on the Amiga was probably my favourite ever, I imported it from the USA and it was a little like the old football classic “Kick off”. I spent hours editing the teams and playing it, totally awesome.”
NHL 96 on Sega Mega Drive
“After that then the NHL series by EA and of course Eastside Hockey Manager, which I adore and am privileged to be involved with.”
Eastside Hockey Manager was of course featured in Pro Hockey News back in the summer and is available on pre-launch on Steam by clicking HERE
“Eastside has been a project of love and passion from the chap developing it, the fans love it and we’re excited by that feedback” says Schall.
“The game is moving towards being ready for full launch and as I mentioned earlier, we’re really happy with the way the game has done, not just in the countries you’d expect but also here in the UK. It’s an ice hockey game, made in the UK, I’m immensely proud of that.”
Aside from assisting with coaching and also playing for the Oxford Shooting Stars adult development team down at Oxpens Road, Schall has also been busy this season organising a partnership with Whitley Warriors of NIHL North and continuing his radio broadcasts for the Stars in NIHL South.
Fun times with Oxford Shooting Stars
Organising partnerships like this is no easy feat, even for Schall in his position but with a real passion for the sport he believes it is worth the effort.
“With our partnerships for the world famous Football Manager series that Sports Interactive create, we look at clubs that mean something to communities, clubs with history but also clubs where our partnership and assistance can help, can help awareness and help them move forward.”
“We are very proud to support both Oxford City Stars and Whitley Warriors. Both clubs have decent fans bases, both are on the way up and both have very talented coaches. Simon Anderson at Oxford and David Longstaff at the Warriors. In terms of ease sorting these things out, it’s never easy but with a bit of passion and a clear explanation on why, it becomes easier to arrange.”
Schall’s passion often comes across in his radio broadcasts that he does with experienced sports commentator Andrew Self. They broadcast live from most home games and some away games both online at Oxfordshire Sports Online and also BBC Radio Oxford.
Feedback is almost always positive from fans but Schall admits it isn’t all smooth sailing up in the gantry.
“I started calling Oxford United games with Selfy around five years ago and we jumped at the chance to cover hockey.”
The City Stars and Oxford United supporting each other
“I’m humbled when it comes to the feedback, people seem to love how we’re trying to explain the nuances of the game rather than go back to basics every match but also I’m not staying BBC neutral here either, I think people appreciate that, even if it winds them up.”
“The worst feedback came I think from Selfy himself after the notorious Oxford v London game, when he sternly reminded me to try and not climb from the commentary box into the London Raiders bench to tell off Ross Wilkinson.”
The City Stars have had a good start to the season in NIHL 1 and look more than competitive after a struggling season in 2014/15. Crowds are still decent and the club seem to be gradually improving year on year, but as Schall admits himself, the sporting clubs around the city somehow seem to bring together the non-student population of a city symbolised by its famous University.
“Oxford may not have the most numerous sports fans, but those sports fans love everything outside of what the University do.” he explains.
“It defines the population of the city away from the punting, bicycles and students along with all the local industries. Funny really, I don’t have an atom of Oxfordshire blood in me but from the point I represented the city at ice hockey I became stupidly overly proud of that and that tied into Oxford United too.”
A Japanese gaming giant and a small community ice hockey club in the UK, what better story could there be. Perhaps James Schall doing a puck drop dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog?
“Sonic is a little more nimble than I am, so it’s unlikely” he says.
And on that note we wrap up our coverage of a journey that will hopefully continue many years into the future.
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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