Jamie Thomson – Head Of Hockey Operations
Since conception of the new Scottish Ice Hockey board we have been looking at barriers that we consider are hold the sport back in our country and what we can do to knock as many of them down as possible.
One of those barriers was basing a players ability to safely compete at a higher (older) age group based on their date of birth. Specifically talented teenager’s not being able to play Senior Ice Hockey until the day of their 16th birthday. This is something we believe has stifled talent over the past few years and that there are far more measurable metrics to use to make sure we support out talent safely and as much as possible while developing them.
We have discussed and tested changing/removing these barriers over several months now and I’m very glad to be able to announce that we have introduced a process that will allow those players ready to get ahead and continue developing
We have put in place strict criteria and assessment processes to ensure the players safety comes first but believe this to be a ground breaking move that will really benefit players whose development would be stalling until a birthday.