Wild U15s show fighting spirit and great enthusiasm in debut match
THE Widnes Wild Academy U15 team played their first-ever competitive home league game at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday, losing 14-0 to a highly-organised and experienced Nottingham U15 side.
This is the first season that the Wild Academy have entered teams into the league and it is quite a steep learning curve for players who have never played a competitive match before this September to come up against teams full of players who have already been playing together for some six or seven years.
However, what they lacked in experience and, indeed, numbers (the Nottingham side brought a full roster of 22 players, with four full lines to ● call on while the Wild Academy had one netminder and just 10 skaters) they certainly made up for with enthusiasm and the Wild players battled hard and tried to play positive hockey throughout the game. team play their first-ever competitive home game this Saturday when they entertain the Blackburn U13 team at Planet Ice Widnes. The game faces-off at 6.50pm and admission is free.
This season is the first that the Widnes Wild Academy have entered the competitive EIHA leagues and they are running teams at U9, U13 and U15 level – but they are always keen to attract new players. Planet Ice Widnes has a very well-organised and structured “learn to play ice hockey” scheme in place to suit potential players of all ages – with or without prior hockey experience – boys and girls.
Anybody interested in joining the Wild Academy can contact the rink on 0151-420 7930 and speak to the junior development officer and academy manager Mikey Gilbert.
Alternatively, interested parties are very welcome to go down to the rink this Saturday and watch the U13 home game against Blackburn.
Academy and rink staff will be on hand to explain how everything works and what the various possibilities are for beginners or, indeed, any experienced players, who might want to get involved with ice hockey at the rink at some level.
There are also separate courses for adult beginners who want to learn to play, several recreational teams who take on players of different abilities and a women’s league team as well, so there is something to suit every age group.