As you may be aware, the APL Solihull Barons were awarded the “Organisation of the Year” award this season. This was awarded by the other teams in the league based on the following criteria:
– reception and welcome provided by the rink
– friendliness of the club
– facilities of the rink
– opposition fans
In a series of articles over the summer, we will be going around some of our off-ice volunteers and sponsors and thanking them for all that they have done.
Second up on the list is Miles Wandby
You will all know Miles as the APL Solihull Barons scorer who has been on the bench for the last 12 years – doesn’t that make you feel old? What does the scorer do? Well, basically they complete the official game sheet for the game which then gets loaded onto the web after every period by the man himself.
Of course, when Miles started out in hockey the game-sheet was being done on papyrus and not on a tablet. Miles actually started his hockey career back in 1983 when he was a linesman in his first game…..but his memory stretches back even further to his first Barons game in 1978 when the Barons beat Oxford 4-3
Miles hung up his referee skates in 2004 after 21 years having worked with the best referee around at the time – the Yank Ken Taggart who is now the chair of the English Ice Hockey Association. His memory of his best match that he officiated in was the Norwich Union cup final that was shown live on the BBC between Nottingham and Fife.
It was the following season – in 2005 – that Miles started as a scorer and he is still doing a great job today. It cannot be over-estimated the benefit to the Barons in having such a well-respected referee on the bench and how this works to the advantage of the team on match night.
Now that you all know Miles better, please take the time to thank him for all the hard work that he puts in next time you see him.
By the way…..the best Barons team in Miles’ opinion was the one from the early 1980s that featured Chuck Taylor; Barry Skrudland and Mark Budz. Start the discussion now!