Cardiff Fire are delighted to announce the return of the long-standing affiliation with the Cardiff Junior Devils ice hockey academy.
Cardiff Fire are committed to ensuring a progressive pathway for individuals who wish to pursue hockey on a senior stage, with the return of mentoring and close ties with the junior coaches.
Head Coach Elis Sheppard said on the exciting news:
I am pleased that the opportunity for the affiliation has presented itself again. It’s good to re-establish the previous long-standing relationship with the Cardiff Junior Devils. This will enable talented juniors to experience senior hockey and continue their playing careers. It was imperative to ensure future foundations were laid for the long-term success for hockey in Cardiff.
The first player to benefit from this reunion is 17 year-old Sulley Taylor. Sulley’s hard work in junior hockey has resulted in him becoming an established player in the Bristol Pitbulls NIHL2 team and his impressive performances have been rewarded with a call up to the Fire.
Director of Hockey Mark Cuddihy had this to say:
I am really pleased that we have the link back with Cardiff Junior Devils. The NIHL team in Cardiff has a proud history of working with young players, and up until now, this would have been our first year without a junior involved from the Cardiff academy. The link was removed at the start of this season due to factors outside of our control. A great number of junior players practised and played with the Fire team during last season and our now full-time Fire players developing very well. We as coaches and management within Cardiff Fire have the development of youth players in our DNA. It’s something we pride ourselves on and all of us stand proud when a young player steps up and does well at this level.
Adding Sulley to our roster now is fantastic. He will go into the line-up this weekend and we will all be behind him hoping he does well and, most of all, enjoys his experience.
There will be more news to come after the season with our link with Cardiff juniors and we are delighted with the plans we are putting together to progress the development of Cardiff hockey.
Welcome to the Fire Family, Sulley!
Photos: Cardiff Junior Devils
