British Sledge Hockey League Nets New Sponsor

The British Sledge Hockey Association is proud to announce that Planet Ice, the UK’s largest ice leisure provider, will be sponsoring the 2011 Planet Ice British Sledge Hockey (BSHL) League.

The BSHL will showcase the competitive, inclusive sport of Ice Sledge Hockey and feature the top Sledge Hockey teams in the UK; Battle Back Bison, Cardiff Huskies, Kingston Kestrels and Peterborough Phantoms. The Planet Ice BSHL will provide an exciting, full contact, high energy summer of sport culminating in the league playoffs to be hosted at Coventry Skydome in August.

Sledge Hockey is a variant of ice hockey and can be played on and off ice, using sledges to allow participants to move about the rink at high speeds hitting a puck travelling at speeds of up to 100kph. Players sit in sledges, propelling themselves with sticks adapted to allow propulsion in a manner similar to skiing. As players are strapped to a sledge all players have the same restrictions, regardless of whether or not the player has a disability.

Matt Lloyd, Chairman of the BSHA said: “The British Sledge Hockey league is going to provide a great summer of sport and the league will hopefully attract interest from people who are getting excited about next year’s London 2012 Paralympic Games and the ice hockey fans who are looking for a hockey fix over the summer. We are also really fortunate to have Planet Ice as our league sponsor as they bring ice hockey and event management experience as well as an enthusiasm to provide an audience friendly sport.”

John Neville, Managing Director of Planet Ice, said: “Sledge Hockey is amazing as it provides a fast, full contact, high adrenalin sport which can be played by anybody and where everybody is equal. By supporting the league we hope we can help attract a wider audience to the sport and assist the BSHA in developing Sledge Hockey and increasing participation.”

Games in the BSHL will be played within a series of tournaments taking place throughout the summer months and each team will play each other within each tournament. The tournaments will be hosted at each team’s home rink and will be free for fans to watch. The dates and venues for the tournaments are;

· Cardiff – Saturday 28th May 2011

· Hull – Sunday 26th June 2011

· Basingstoke – Saturday 9th July 2011

· Peterborough – Saturday 6th August 2011

· Coventry (Final) – T.B.C.