AROUND 40 youngsters ranged from eight to 18 turned out for the first day camp of the year at Bradford Ice Arena.
Split into two groups, the 9s, 11s and a select number of 13s took to the ice first, swapping for some off-ice activities while the older players – a mixture of 13s, 15s and 18s – took their turn out in the middle.
Both groups then had a second on-ice session in the afternoon.
Head over to our Facebook page to watch a video recap on how the day went HERE
BACK AT IT: Bradford Bulldogs’ junior teams are back on the ice at Bradford Ice Arena this week after the end of the second UK lockdown.
THANKFULLY it wasn’t as long as the first lockdown and, hopefully, there won’t be any more interruptions between now and the end of the 2020-21 season.
Tuesday night saw our Bulldogs Under-18s take to the ice for their first extra session and Wednesday evening sees our other age groups get back at it with their regular training sessions.
Head coach Andy Brown has also scheduled a number of additional training sessions given the extra ice that is currently available at Bradford Ice Arena, due to the Tier 3 restrictions currently in place.
Thursday gives our Under-15s the chance to get some extra ice time from 7pm-8.30pm, while Friday night brings non-stop action for our teams.
First up will be the Under-9s and Under-11s, who hit the ice between 6pm-7.30pm, followed by the Under-13s who are on from 8pm-9.30pm. The Under-18s return to their regular Friday night slot after a month or so off from 10pm onwards.
On Sundays, the youngsters will get the chance to add a bit of welcome competition to their training with some in-house games.
First up will be the Under-9s and Under-11s who will battle it out from 11am-12.30pm, followed by the 13s, 15s and 18s who start their match at 1pm.
NOW HEAR THIS: Bulldogs’ youngsters take instruction from their coaches at a training session back in September.
“It will be great to get the youngsters back on the ice,” said coach Brown. “It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve managed to get things sorted and get the rink open.
“With the restrictions that are still in place because of Bradford being classed as a Tier 3 area, it means that we currently have extra ice available for the various age group teams.
“It would be great if as many of our kids as possible took the opportunity to get down as often as they can in the next few weeks for these extra sessions. All being well, if the EIHA’s Return to Play policy progresses as planned and hoped, we can get some games into these kids at some point next year.
BRING IT BACK: Youngsters are able to return to what they love doing this week at Bradford Ice Arena.
“I know it has been an exceptionally frustrating time for all of us these past few months – obviously it has been a terrible time for everybody – but, from a hockey sense, it is now about trying to make up for lost time and make these next few months really count.”