So, this is officially the 200th post here on The Pyre. Whoo Hoo!
Anyways, enough celebrating. So, I go away on my hols for a week, and all kinds of stuff happens. Biggest news is probably Tony Hand stepping down from the Team GB coaching spot. Which, from a Phoenix perspective is brilliant news. Coaching Team GB was one hell of a big distraction for Coach Hand over the past couple of seasons, especially last season with the Olympic qualifiers, and to my mind certainly affected his work with the Phoenix. Now he has freed himself from the burden (and all the behind the scenes bullshit that goes hand in hand with working alongside IHUK), we should see the benefits of a 100% committed to the cause Coach Hand once more. And I’m pretty sure that after the hatchet job that his ‘friend’ Dave Simms did on his ability and suitability after the World Championships he won’t be sad to put that behind him. It will be bloody interesting to see which coach takes on the job next. Rumour has it that Corey Neilson is interested. I guess we have to wait and see on that one.
The other biggie is the latest update on Altair. At one time we were going to get a shiny new 2,500-3,000 seat state of the art rink (I personally saw at least 3 different designs for this) within the leisure/retail hub. Now we are going to get our current semi permanent barn upgraded for a longer lifespan (it supposedly is good for 15 years or so. I reckon its lifespan can be taken beyond that for a relatively modest outlay, compared to the cost of a full new rink). Obviously this isn’t the best news in the world ever, but c’est la vie. Now we have to make the best of the situation.
Some folks over on the forum would have you believe that this is somehow only going to be bad for the club. I say bollocks! We now have the clearest picture we have ever had about our medium term future. Whilst it isn’t the best rink, or the easiest location to sell to prospective new fans, there is still plenty of room to grow our club. We can increase attendances on a more regular basis, we can increase participation by juniors, we just need to work even harder than we already do. I know that seems to be an easy thing to say, but if everyone put as much effort into promoting the club as they seem to put into the negativity that often infests the forum, then there should be effort and talent to spare. New season, New start.