A fresh start for new club

A NEW independent hockey club has risen from the ashes of the furore over the restructuring of the leagues that saw top members of Guernsey Hockey Association committee resign in protest. Earlier this year, in a bid to expand and make more competitive the Investec Men's First Division that has at most five teams during a season, former GHA president Jason Robilliard put forward a plan to combine it with the second division to create a league of 12 to 14 for one season.

In response, the Guernsey Hockey Club that represents all the clubs in the island apart from Unwantables and Independents, near-enough vetoed the idea and suggested creating their own league.

That, in turn, made Robilliard along with GHA secretary Emma Atkinson and treasurer Nathan Hodder all step down from their posts.

Now Hodder, along with Beavers' Darragh Lee and Peter Carey, have got together to form Mavericks, which will be separate to the GHC.

'We're a new, independent club, looking to break away from the GHC,' said Hodder.

'We want a fresh start to get some distance between us and the GHC because recent events have shown that they aren't looking forward.

'The GHA spent quite a lot of time looking at possible outcomes and what wasn't picked up by the GHC was that the one league was short-term for one season.'

Hodder is the new club's treasurer while Lee is president and Carey secretary.

Sponsorship has been secured from stockbrokers Brewin Dolphin and Hodder says that there has been a huge amount of interest.

With Beavers splitting up at the end of last season, the majority of the club's players have joined the new outfit.

Ex-Guernsey keeper Robilliard has signed up although island captain Andy Whalley and fellow ex-Beaver Barry Wallace have joined Mosgrove Yobbos.

Hodder says that they already have about 30 players on their books and that they are looking to form two teams, with one in the first division and one in the second.

He also says there could be a women's team in the future and that Mavericks will be looking to use the large number of juniors not involved with the Elizabeth College first or second teams.

'There's a lot of other juniors coming through and they need to be threaded into hockey and we're looking to actively develop that,' said Hodder.

'It's most definitely exciting. It's a fresh start and we look like we're attracting some good quality players and we've got a young team running it.

'What we're not trying to do is poach players from other sides. The GHA committee have been quite supportive because they want more teams and so have the GHC, to be honest.