Having let the dust settle on the first game night of the Wild Ball Hockey League, where the Dastardly Does took the lead after winning both their games, we caught up with the captains to get their feedback.
After leading her team to victory, Nat Chaplin-Smith had the following to say: "Playing in the wild ball hockey league has really brought all of us ladies together. It really made me happy knowing that every lady who played enjoyed themselves and can’t wait for the next set of games. I cannot thank everyone enough, especially Rob, Sam and all the volunteers on the night making it such a special event to be a part of. Bring on June!"
The Menacing Minx won their game against the Killer Flamingos and this is what captain Hazel Taylor had to say about the ladies performance. "It was a great start to the wild ball hockey league last Friday. There was some awesome hockey and some close hard fought games. I loved playing for the Menacing Minx and the team came together really well. We had a lot of fun and can't wait for the next one in June."
Finally, the Killer Flamingos captain Helen Moss said the following: "It was great to see so many girls, of all different abilities at the first wild tournament. Everyone was really excited to be there and I know they are all looking forward to the next time."
The night was a great exhibition of how far the ladies development of ball hockey has come and there is no better person to explain this the Nottingham Wolves Chairman, BHUK Tournament Coordinator and ex GB player Rob Clayton.
"We’re really proud to get the Wild league off the ground. Myself and Sam have kicked the idea around for a while, but we finally felt we had the numbers to make it work. To have such a great response from players outside of Notts has been a real boost, and we can’t thank them enough. The idea for the league really came from the one off competitions Steph Towns ran in the north east, with teams arranged on where players were from in the region. We just changed it up a little to a league format with a player draft at the start.
The first league meeting was a real success, with great numbers in attendance.
This is all about putting our female players at the forefront. They have been key contributors for lots of teams in the senior competition structure nationally, mixing in with the male players. Now though, along with the advent of ladies’ qualifiers and nationals, this is their chance to take centre stage and show how much the game has grown.
We can’t wait to see how this first season develops!"
The next game night is scheduled for the 22nd June. If you are interested in taking part please contact Samantha Tomlinson or register your interest on the Facebook group: -https://www.facebook.com/groups/1753631658028324/
