Are you aged 5-17 and interested in playing ice hockey?

• Can you ice skate?
• Do you go to power skating and/or stick and puck?
• Do you play street/skater or roller hockey?
• Do you like fast and exciting team sports?

If you answered yes to all or any of the above and are not sure what the next step is – then the Oxford City Ice Hockey Club can help.

Our teams are called the Oxford City Stars and we have members aged from 5-17 of different abilities. We have mixed teams in U10/12/14/16/18 and a new girls U16 team.

The club also has a senior men’s team called the Oxford City Stars and a ladies team called the Oxford Midnight Stars playing out of Oxford Ice Rink.

If your child is interested in trying out we offer a 2 week free trial. If you attend stick and puck sessions on Sundays please speak to the coaches about this as they can advise you on when to come for your trial. Alternatively please email admin@oxfordstars.com for information.

Other sessions include Beginners Session, Stick and Puck on Sundays, 4:30-5:10pm (equipment supplied).

Power Skating, Thursdays, 7:30-8:00pm.

Protection/Kit

Your child will need to wear special kit which protects them when they are on the ice.

Kit can be borrowed from our club (providing we have hire kit available in the correct size) to enable the child to get on the ice with our junior members during their Wednesday night training sessions. Please ask for advice before purchasing your own kit.

We have second hand kit for sale including a limited supply of skates.

Kit is available to purchase at many ice rinks that have an ice hockey section in their shop. Many people get kit online now but you need to be careful of the different sizes abroad.

You can also get hockey kit from a supplier called: ULTRAWORLD LTD

Unit 1, Orpwoods Farm, Thames Road, Great Milton, Oxfordshire, OX44 7JD. Telephone: 01844 279961. Its open to the public on Friday afternoons from 2-5pm.

Joining the Club

How to Join:

Annual registration with the EIHA costs £38, U18’s cost £50. (Payable by cheque to OCIHC) This enables the player to be insured and licensed to play ice hockey.

• U10s Monthly Fees are £25
• U12s Monthly Fees are £30
• U14s/U16s and U18s monthly fees are £48 (there is a family rate if you have more than one child in these age groups).

Monthly subscriptions are payable by Standing Order. The monthly subscription entitles you to train every week with your own age group, attend the skills sessions and take part in any additional training sessions the club arranges for your age group. If selected you will also be able to play in matches for club teams and train with other age group teams at no additional cost. We expect to give all players the chance to play in games, if necessary special challenge games will be arranged to give a chance to players who are not yet ready to play regularly in league games.

Team shirts are required. They are purchased by the player and you need one home and one away shirt. The shirts have players name and number printed on them and cost approx £55 for the two team shirts. We order the shirts and the parent/carer will ring the company and pay for them. The shirts are then sent to the Registration Secretary, who will give them to the player to keep. The player is responsible for remembering to bring both of their team shirts and socks to every game.

Black socks are worn with both shirts and cost approx £10 per pair. The socks are available to purchase at the rink from the Registration Secretary.

Scholarships

We do have a scholarship scheme in connection with the charity KOTS (conditions apply).

Training/Games

We train all year. The season for games is from September – May but challenge games and tournaments may take place in other months. We play home and away games on Saturdays and Sundays. Most games last for an hour and a half. You are expected to turn up at the rink one hour before the face off time. The home games are run by the home team. All parents are expected to help out at home games. Training will be given for the more difficult jobs. If we work on a rota basis then each family may only have to help out at 2 games.

We sell programmes and raffle tickets at home games. Each family is asked to donate 2 prizes per season. We like to fundraise as there are extra costs for the club to cover every year including the Annual Awards Evening in June when every member of the club gets a participating trophy. We also have special awards which are chosen by coaches and the players. The club is a non profit-making organisation run by unpaid volunteers so successful fundraising means that the club can offer more to its members and can also keep costs down for those same members.

The away travel will depend on which teams are in each age group teams league. In the past junior teams have played away at Bristol, Bracknell, Basingstoke, Cardiff, Guildford, Haringey (Alexandra Palace), Invicta (Gillingham), Isle of Wight (Ryde), Lee Valley (North London), Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Romford, Slough, Gosport (by Portsmouth), Streatham & Swindon.

It is your responsibility to get your child to games. The child loves their parents/families to attend and to support them in their favourite sport. Directions to the rinks can be found on the Stars website. Most rinks have free car parks. You do have to pay at Oxford, Bristol, & for the Isle of Wight. There are also the ferry costs to get to the IOW. It is advisable to wear warm clothing to ice rinks, especially Gosport, Bristol and Isle of Wight. Most rinks have a café, bar and shop but Oxford does not so you may want to bring snacks and drinks to training and games. Managers or Coaches cannot supply lifts to players because of child protection issues.

Playing Ethos

The younger age groups U10/12/14 play as development teams. We still want to win (as do the kids) but we will not go all out to win if that would mean some players not getting the chance to play.

The U16’s & U18’s teams play to win which means that in close games some players may not get much icetime. We will attempt to make up for this by giving those individuals more chances to play in the less close games.

Child Protection

The club has a Child Protection Officer and complies with national standards and the English Ice Hockey Association’s child protection policy and programme. All coaches and officials directly involved with our age group teams undergo CRB checks as part of their registration process. All coaches are registered with the EIHA’s coaching programme.

Further Information

We hope we have covered most things here but should you have any other questions the following websites may have the answers.

Oxford Stars www.oxfordstars.com

English Ice Hockey Association www.eiha.co.uk

You can also email questions to admin@oxfordstars.com