{"id":8109,"date":"2024-04-14T22:17:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T21:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/?p=8109"},"modified":"2024-04-14T22:17:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T21:17:01","slug":"view-from-the-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/2024\/04\/14\/view-from-the-chair\/","title":{"rendered":"View from the Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"
A View From The Chair<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

#BIGGER BOLDER BETTER!<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Who could argue with that?<\/h5>\n

Well, what a season it has been, so near yet so far. Prior to the start of the season the Nay Sayers had predicted the Barons to be fighting for the scraps in the lower reaches of the league and given the number of experienced player who left the Barons at the end of the 2022-2023 season they may have had a point. How wrong we proved them!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Celebration time ( S Crampton )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Little did they know that Leepy had other ideas and over the season he recruited a mixture of talented youngsters and experienced players that very quickly gelled into a formidable team.<\/p>\n

The standouts for me personally of the new players had been Alex Whyte and Charlie Webb. Alex has been immense on and of the ice and had he not missed 3 months of the season I truly believe we would have won the league. When injuries and suspensions bit Charlie stepped and wasn\u2019t phased by anything that Leepy asked him to do.<\/p>\n

We should also not forget the contributions of Jacob Race, Dani Haid, Will Reed, Billy Crofts and Aaron Moody who all played their parts in building a formidable team.<\/p>\n

We should also recognise the huge contribution Ben Lee made when he stood in when Graham Laverick was banned, his performance in the game against Hull was outstanding and contributed to the Barons securing 2nd place in the league.<\/p>\n

When you combine these players with nucleus of the previous season\u2019s team we have a team to be reckoned with. Stats don\u2019t lie, Nik Ottosson is the best import in the league. Rich Crowe is one of best defenders in the league. We have a formidable first line, especially when Phil and Dan Mulcahy ice. We have had outstanding performances from Graham Laverick, Sam Chandler, Filip Byfalt, Max Soden and Bailey Challans. In truth every single player who has worn a Barons shirt has played their part.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jacob Race\u2019s goal was top quality (S Crampton)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that it has been a roller coaster ride of a season battling against injuries and suspensions. Long term injuries to Alex Whyte and Danny Mulcahy without doubt was a major reason why we did not collect any silverware. Mentioned in the same circles as Lord Voldemort how can we forget to mention DOPS? In my humble opinion we have been held to a higher account than other teams in our league. I still cannot feel more than a little aggrieved by the points deduction in our game against Blackburn at the start of the season which ultimately cost us the league. We were let down by lack of due process from our governing body and it wouldn\u2019t be the last time this would happen during the season. The timing of and inconsistency of the bans our players picked up from DOPS was also a major contributing factor affecting our seasons outcome, we are promised improvements to DOPS but I won\u2019t hold my breath.<\/p>\n

Our home form was immense, apart from forfeiting the Blackburn game we had a 100% home record in the league. Our away form was a little inconsistent at times but arguably was the same for the other teams in the league. That said we beat Billingham Stars, Whitley Bay and (if you ignore the Blackburn forfeiture) Blackburn Hawks 3 times.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Alex Whyte was immense over all parts of the ice (S Crampton)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finishing 2nd in the league was a fantastic achievement and is a massive achievement for the club and I am immensely proud of the players and coaching staff for doing this. The playoffs were always going to be tough. You only have to look at the final outcome of the semi finals and final to see that. We could not have asked anymore of the players as the team was weakened by injury, suspension and player unavailability. It\u2019s also fair to say that we did not get the rub of the green from the officials on the day, the 3 major calls in the game went against us and was a major contributing factor to the outcome but I take nothing away from Blackburn Hawks who went from strength to strength throughout the season and were worthy winners on the day before going on to lift the title.<\/p>\n

It would be remiss of me if did not take this opportunity to thank people for their contributions this season.<\/p>\n

To our sponsors, it is with your support that we can create the environment in which the team can flourish and perform, thank you:-<\/p>\n

\u2022 EDG Property
\n\u2022 Air Scaffolding
\n\u2022 Avonmead Accountants
\n\u2022 Chiel Construction Ltd
\n\u2022 Solihull Heating & Bathrooms
\n\u2022 Shakespeare Martineau
\n\u2022 Q Tooling
\n\u2022 R&D Fabrication Ltd
\n\u2022 PB Sports
\n\u2022 Willies Skate Gear
\n\u2022 Nailcote Hall<\/p>\n

We cannot run this club alone, there is a lot of hard work that goes into making the team as successful as it has been this season so we give thanks to:-<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Ice Crew\n
      \n
    • Chris Turner<\/li>\n
    • Marcus Jones<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Stewards\n
        \n
      • Sarah\u200bReed<\/li>\n
      • Justin\u200b Reddy<\/li>\n
      • Paul\u200b Jackson<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Merchandise\n
          \n
        • Pete Dologhan<\/li>\n
        • Mandy Longley<\/li>\n
        • Dawn Hayward<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • Game Day Off Ice\n
            \n
          • Paul Kennie<\/li>\n
          • Patrick Johnson<\/li>\n
          • John\u200b Freeman<\/li>\n
          • Richard Thomas<\/li>\n
          • Lyn Rogers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
          • Team Support\n
              \n
            • Nikki Goodwin<\/li>\n
            • Jo Lee<\/li>\n
            • Charlie Lee<\/li>\n
            • John Freeman<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
            • Coaching\n
                \n
              • Phil Lee<\/li>\n
              • Davey Graham<\/li>\n
              • Rob Eley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
              • Committee\n
                  \n
                • Clare Wilkinson<\/li>\n
                • John Butler<\/li>\n
                • Denise Crowe<\/li>\n
                • Gareth Thomson<\/li>\n
                • Helen Slater<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  I would like to say special thanks to the following people:-
                  \n\u2022 Phil \u2018Leepy\u2019 Lee
                  \n\u2022 Gareth Thomson
                  \n\u2022 Helen Slater<\/p>\n

                  Leepy, thank you for your dedication, passion and damned hard work this past season. It hasn\u2019t been easy, at times it has been very stressful but you have battled through which has resulted in a hugely successful season.<\/p>\n

                  To Gareth and Helen, thank you for all the years of dedication as you stand down from the Committee. Best wishes and good luck for what comes next in your lives and don\u2019t be strangers to the Barons.<\/p>\n

                  Thank you to the players for all you have given for your team mates, coaching staff and fans and congratulations to all our ward winners announced at presentation night:-<\/p>\n

                  \u2022 Supporters Player of the Year\u200b – Nik Ottosson
                  \n\u2022 Players Player of the Year\u200b\u200b – Richard Crowe
                  \n\u2022 Best Defender\u200b\u200b\u200b – Richard Crowe
                  \n\u2022 Top Scorer\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b – Nik Ottosson
                  \n\u2022 Best Team Player\u200b\u200b\u200b – Sam Chandler
                  \n\u2022 Young Player of the Year\u200b\u200b – Max Soden
                  \n\u2022 Coach’s Player of the year\u200b – \u200bAlex Whyte
                  \n\u2022 Rob Eley Award\u200b\u200b\u200b – Richard Crowe<\/p>\n

                  And finally a huge thanks to all you Barons fans for your support, the last few home games and the playoff semi final were incredible.<\/p>\n

                  Have a great summer.<\/p>\n

                  David Hayward<\/em><\/p>\n

                  EDG Solihull Barons Chairman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  A View From The Chair #BIGGER BOLDER BETTER! Who could argue with that? Well, what a season it has been, so near yet so far. Prior to the start of the season the Nay Sayers had predicted the Barons to be fighting for the scraps in the lower reaches of the league and given the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8109"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8119,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8109\/revisions\/8119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solihull-barons.net\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}