News Report

Coaches thoughts

Coach Cliff gives his thoughts on the teams superb playoff weekend!

• admin
• 09 April 2024

Hi Chieftains Fans,

Well it’s the morning after the night before, and what a night it was, in fact what a weekend it was.

The season is over and I am not going to go into too much detail about the actual hockey side of things, I will just say that a group of lads in black and gold executed and delivered exactly what was required for 120 minutes and got what they deserved at the end of it. I am so incredibly proud of each and every player on the team, the way they battled, sacrificed and put the teams goals ahead of their own all through the playoffs, and now they can all have a nice rest and spend the summer as play off champions.

When I came here I didn’t know how I would feel about coaching a team that’s not in my hometown, I didn’t know if the losses would hurt as much, and the wins would feel as good, it took me about 5 minutes of the first game to realise I care just as much about this team as any I’ve ever been a part of, and lifting a trophy with this group was just as much of a career hi-light as any I’ve been lucky enough to lift before. 

I’m sure I will get more of a chance to thank everyone who I need to thank at the end of season awards night, this stuff doesn’t happen by itself, it takes a hell of a lot of work by a lot of people who never get the glory of throwing their gloves and helmets in the air and celebrating on the ice, but they know who they are and they know how important they are in making that moment happen for this great club.

I would like to say thank you to Alex, Jock and all the boys at Solent, they were rightfully in the final after the way they played through the quarters and semis and they battled all season to come up just short, I know how that feels, but they were all very classy in defeat and acted like proper gentlemen, so thanks to them and all the best moving forward.

Finally, you guys, where do I start….. the noise coming from that block for 2 games was absolutely phenomenal, I knew when I came here that the Chieftains had a great fan base, but I didn’t know how great, every single week, home and away, and then at the finals weekend as well! Anytime there was a lull in energy or we needed a little boost over the weekend we just had to look over our shoulders and see the wall of black and gold and it pushed the boys up the hill. Thank you all so much for your support, we can’t do what we do without you doing what you do.

It’s now time for the lads to have some time off, spend weekends with the families, play golf, or whatever it is they like to do, and get away from the rink for a few months, in September we go again!

I look forward to seeing those of you who are going to the presentation evening, and everyone else in September.

Thanks again, over and out,

Cliff.