| The
Guildford Junior Ice Hockey Club
was formed in the 1993 when the
Guildford Spectrum first opened.
It currently has around 140 registered
players.
It's Home Arena is the Guildford
Spectrum, Guildford Surrey.
The club has seven separate sides
competing at all levels and age
groups.
From humble beginings the club has
become one of the most successful
in the region, winning bothi regional
and national championships.
A number of its players have gone
on to compete for both Regional
and National representative sides.
History
The roots of Guildford Junior Ice
Hockey Club go back to the opening
of the Spectrum in February 1993.
A turn up and skate policy existed
from the very start. Scrimmage sessions
on Tuesday afternoons and Sunday
mornings. The skaters ranged from
4 year olds, with Spectrum helmets
and blue wellies to 20 year old
GB players. The session was run
by a mixture of Spectrum stewards
and Flames. Andy Sparks and Danny
OHanlon are two names, which spring
to mind.
The more discerning
observer would have noticed a stocky
bearded man wearing shorts, yes
even in February, and carrying a
battered small brown attachi case,
much in the style of that used by
Mr Bean. This was the man who was
to play a major part in the formation
of the club. Paul Ager is still
with us. The shorts tend to be restricted
to the warmer months and the case
has been replaced by something much
more modern. Even more observant
visitors would have caught a glimpse
of a tall slim Canadian wearing
a suit. Mike Urquhart is still tall
but the suit doesnt fit any more.
These sessions continued
until September when Guildford Junior
Ice Hockey Club was officially formed.
Teams were entered in the Under
12, Under 14 and Under 16 leagues.
Membership hovered around 70. The
Tuesdays sessions continued under
the supervision of Ryan Campbell,
Paul Thompson and Rob Friesen, but
these were now restricted to members
of the new club. Each team had its
own coach for the Sunday sessions,
games. John Hepburn has memories
of being introduced to his U12 team
on a Sunday morning and being told
their first game was that very afternoon,
away against Bracknell, at that
time very much the top U12 team
in the south of England. We lost
but Bracknell came nowhere near
their predicted 20 goals and fell
short of reaching double figures.
The contributions,
by the club, to the future of Hockey
in Guildford were somewhat unusual.
We were responsible in some way
for the introduction of two of the
Flames longstanding images. The
first was the now well-known G logo,
which was worn by the Junior Club
for a season before the Flames adopted
it. The second was John Hepburn
who as a club coach had the foresight
to finance and support the Flames
at the end of their second season.
At the end of that
first season the three teams all
finished in mid league positions.
The U14s went beyond this, in the
Play-offs, and made the national
semi finals. The Ladies team, which
at that time was run as a separate
organisation, by Laura Urquhart,
was entered in Division One South.
The team, which was able to ice
six GB Internationals, won the division
championships and the Gold medal
at the play-off Championships. The
team were promoted to the premiere
league where they compete to this
day.
Guildford Spectrum
Parkway
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 1UP
General Enqueries:
info@gjihc.org.uk
www.gjihc.org.uk
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