There was a superb response to the Great Britain Women’s live online video Q&A last night, hosted by the Romford Junior Raiders.
Saffron Allen, Jodie Bloom, Kim Lane and Ellie Wakeling all took part in the Zoom chat as they discussed their careers in ice hockey.
The quartet talked about their achievements, including their journey to play for GB, but also explained the tough times in their careers.
There was plenty of advice for young players and some fantastic questions submitted by all those watching online. In total, nearly 100 people viewed the live Zoom with attendees from all around the world including Canada.
Ben Pitchley, who is the head coach of the Romford Junior Raiders and organised the event, said: “The whole idea came from watching the SIHA coaching team Zoom call with Angela Taylor and Beth Scoon a couple of weeks ago. Those guys north of the border are doing a fantastic job with the Zoom calls they are putting out, keeping people engaged with the sport up there.
“I’ve coached Saffron, Kim and Ellie during my coaching career through club, conference and England – and along with knowing Jodie since she was a kid at under-11s Conference – I reached out to all four of them.
“These ladies have experienced things across their playing careers that are important for the next generation of players and coaches to hear about and I think it went pretty well. Some tough questions came in for the ladies to answer and I think they did well with their responses.
“It was great to see so many young female hockey players listening to great role models talk about the game and what it means to them, so it was a pretty successful evening.
“It was great to have lots of positive feed back from coaches, parents and players, plus with Clifton Wrottesley, Andy French and Cheryl Smith being on the call it shows how important the women’s game is to the Ice Hockey UK and GB staff.
“As a club, we are putting a few more of these Zoom calls together with an open invite for anyone to jump in on them, so watch this space.”