Paisley Pirates Head Coach Ian Turley had the opportunity at the beginning of December to participate in an activity which in recent times has been something of a novelty to him-coaching!
Since the introduction of restrictions arising from the COVID 19 pandemic way back in March of this year, like so many other players and coaching colleagues in ice hockey, he’d been obliged to put his skates and coaching manuals into cold storage, but he was quick to dig them out and ready himself for action when Scottish Ice Hockey announced they were holding coaching sessions to help kids throughout December, as part of an ongoing programme which has been disrupted during the difficult times of 2020.
Ian is part of the GB national coaching squad and he admitted how delighted he was to be back on the ice again working with the talented junior kids Scotland has to offer. He said, “I didn’t realise just how much I had been missing the involvement with the sport in general and the kids in particular, and it felt great getting back onto the ice and getting into it all again. Of course, the governing body ensured at all times we were complying completely with all the conditions which require to be met in terms of the pandemic. Overall Scottish Ice Hockey were able to deliver a great day of participation for the kids who were only too pleased for a chance to don skates and training gear and get back to doing what they love the most-playing ice hockey!”
It is hoped more training sessions will be held in the early part of 2021, subject of course to prevailing pandemic conditions.