U20s Press Release

The Solihull Barons have announced today, Wednesday 6th May, that they will be entering an U20s team in the new EIHA U20s League that starts next season. The team will be the farm team for the double league and play-off champions and will bridge the gap between the junior teams at Solihull and the senior team.

John Butler, Chair of the Barons, said “The U20s will give the Barons the opportunity to develop the raw talent in the Midlands and bring them up to the standard to play for the senior team. They will have the opportunity to train with the Barons; wear the same shirts with their own squad numbers; train the same hockey systems and have the coaching assistance of the senior team. Ex Solihull Baron and Telford NIHL coach, Rob Blakemore, will be head coach and is relishing the prospect.

The U20s will be run financially separately to the senior team to ensure transparency, but apart from that will be run using the same winning formula.”

The Barons are also demonstrating their commitment to developing young talent by being part of the NIHL North working group that is investigating ways to truly make the league a development league. Andy Gordon, vice chair of the Barons, attended a recent League meeting and explained: “The NIHL has always claimed to be a development league and now is the time to truly make this happen. An NIHL working party has been setup, with the Barons input, to ensure that more young talent is developed and brought into the NIHL North. There is nothing better than seeing youngsters like Jack McKay on the ice and we need more of these future stars in the league and at Solihull”.

For those U20s that aspire to play for the Solihull Barons and are interested in attending the U20s trial on 30th May, 6:00pm- 7:45pm, please contact
solihullbarons@gmail.com