Whitley Warriors assistant coach Dave Holland who has been part of the clubs coaching team since the 2012/13 season has been confirmed as part of the Warriors backroom set up for the coming campaign. Dave has a wealth of coaching experience to call upon as he has spent time on the bench of the Newcastle Vipers (in the Elite League) in the past before he linked up with Whitley.
Teenage forward Ben Richards is the latest player to commit himself to icing for the Whitley Warriors next season. Richards who is a GB Under 18 international played in 21 games for Warriors last term netting 7 goals and assisting on a further 8 strikes to finish the season with an impressive points tally of 15 in his first full year in senior hockey under the tutelage of Simon Leach and Dave Holland.
As well as taking to the ice for Warriors Ben still played age group hockey at under 18 level for Whitley Braves when league scheduling allowed. The young winger also had the honour of representing his country at under 18 level when he iced for GB in the World Championships in Dumfries, Scotland. Ben played in all 5 of Britain’s games in the round robin tournament and was able to contribute 1 goal and an assist as GB were able to avoid relegation from their competitive pool.
Warriors squad for the 2014/15 season is now starting to take shape as Whitley Head Coach Simon Leach and his coaching team have been able to secure the services of a total of 13 players in total with 2 netminders Richie Lawson and Mark Turnbull, 3 defencemen Paul Matthews, Josh Maddock and Dan Harris and 8 forwards Ben, Adam Reynolds, Dean Holland, Harry Harley, Jamie Tinsley, Martin Crammond, Jordan Barnes and last year’s club captain DJ Good all confirmed as part of the Whitley set up for next term.
Further Warriors related announcements are expected in the coming weeks on Warrior Wednesdays and fans are reminded to check the clubs website and the sports pages in the News Guardian to keep themselves up to date with news on the club in the close season.