Chelmsford Chieftains off-ice official Karen Bloomfield unexpectedly passed away yesterday 14th May 2008.

On behalf of all at the Chelmsford Chieftains we would like to offer our condolences to the Bloomfield family on this very sad occasion.
Karen was a lovely lady, who not only loved her family very much but also had a passion for ice hockey. Karen was always willing to help the Chieftains in any way she could. Karen was currently one of our goal judges. We would like to express our gratitude for all Karen's help over the years.

The thoughts and prayers of everybody connected with the Chieftains are with the Bloomfield family at this sad time and if there is anything that any of us can do please do not hesitate to ask.

Chelmsford Chieftains Management

Release: Steve Goode

The Chelmsford Chieftains are pleased to announce that Dean Birrell is the new coach of the Chelmsford Chieftains. As I am sure you are aware, "Deano" had agreed to become the new coach of the Chelmsford Warriors. Following the amalgamation of the Chieftains with the Junior setup and the disappearance of the Warriors, it was a natural move for the management to ask "Deano" to take on the role of coach for the Chieftains.

"Deano" has served time with the Chieftains in the past as a player and also as a coach during the 2003/2004 season when we qualified for the play-offs. Dean then moved up the road to Romford who qualified for the play-offs and successfully lifted the EPL cup before moving on to Streatham Redskins.  At Streatham, Dean took them to the runners up position in the league in the 2006/2007 season. Dean is a Level 3 coach, one of only a few in the country, and his experience combined with his local knowledge of hockey in Chelmsford, will hopefully prove to be a winning combination.

Dean said "It's really good to be back at Chelmsford. There are a lot of good youngsters here and I will be looking to continue their development and to bring them through into the senior team. I am in talks with some of the players from last season and I am also actively pursuing a couple of imports that I feel will be right for the team. The imports must have the right mindset to aid the development of the up and coming youngsters. I know that the Chieftains have taken the decision to drop down a league into the ENL and some people will be a little disappointed with that decision, however, I believe that we are entering an exciting time for the Chieftains as we begin to build for the future and I hope all of the fans enjoy the journey with us."

Nolan said ""It is great to have a coach on board with extensive experience at EPL and ENL level. Having worked with "Deano" in the past, I know the value that he places on developing youngsters and with our amalgamation with the Junior setup that only bodes well for the future."

Release: Steve Goode

Following the need to secure the future of the chieftains and numerous meetings with interested parties, unfortunately, there has been no commitment of serious or financial input into the team to allow the chieftains to remain an EPL team and run at a serious level. There has however been considerable goodwill and effort from many people to keep this route alive. I would like to personally thank on behalf of all supporters those people that have listened and sought a resolution to the difficulties. Over the past month a number of external factors have arisen, that have resulted in this course of action. These are best summarised as; 

• The wage demands at EPL level continue to spiral and without serious investment a playoff team cannot be placed on the ice.
• There is a significant hole in the budget, that to date just cannot be filled.
• The state of the economy and the events in the credit crunch has seen numerous potential sponsors pull back any potential investment into the team 
• There has been a real understanding by potential directors that investment into an ice hockey at EPL level is not actually an investment as it has no return.
• The ENL warrior team have stated their intent to be increasingly competitive in the ENL league
• The ENL league is potentially being restructured to increase its competiveness
• The future of other teams in the EPL is unclear
• The potential additional games at ENL level and the need to squeeze in the most amount of Sunday hockey for an EPL team are in direct competition. As a result both the Chieftains may be forced to play additional Saturdays or midweek games which further increase the financial input required.
• Following very positive discussions with Riverside, it is clear that there is a demand for a competitive team and a continuation of the Chieftains brand

The biggest issue is that without considerable financial input into the chieftains at EPL level the chieftains cannot be competitive, and will be in direct competition with an ENL warrior team who will be increasingly competitive. Two senior teams at roughly the same level cannot co-exist in Chelmsford due to the premium on ice time. Therefore it would seem that the only viable financial option is to play at ENL level for the foreseeable future. I opened up discussions with Derek Bartlett (responsible for running the Warrior team) who in turn has involved the Chelmsford Ice Hockey Club junior committee. A proposal has been made to unify ice hockey in Chelmsford and bring both clubs under the one banner. Although this decision will come as a blow to many supporters as it will be a disappointment not to be able to play at EPL level, the proposal has a huge amount of positive benefits to it.

These include the following;

• Ice Hockey will at last be unified in Chelmsford - this has long been an issue and has stunted and prevented long term thought and progression.
• The Junior and 'Chieftains' will greatly benefit from the proposal
• It has been agreed that any money made at the end of the year will be split equally between the junior committee and a 'Chieftains EPL' fighting fund - this will go a long way to ensure that if Chieftains decide to play EPL once more, that there is a sound financial platform
• The fighting fund will be there for whoever wishes to fund an EPL Chieftains team
• There are potential financial economies of scale
• There are potential economies of scale with ice time bookings and PR campaigns
• The strong local talent will be utilised - which should re-base player costs
• The proposal is to play a largely locally based team in the future new rink at EPL level
• A potential competitive situation between two senior teams will be avoided
• Extensive ice time clashes will be avoided

Above all for the progression of the sport in the town, there is an unprecedented level of excitement, that both organisations will merge. 

It is still early days and indications show that Riverside are very much in favour of the proposal, due to the premium on ice time and a desire to field a competitive team. The EIHA have been approached, and the proposal has received a warm welcome, as it has long been an issue running separate organisations from one town. There are some hurdles to overcome and as with any merge, the detail needs to be resolved. At this stage the proposal has not gone into the next level of detail, however personally I see this as actually a very positive step. We need investment , but we also need longevity.

Nolan.

The season has been closed now for around two weeks. There has been frenetic activity behind the scenes in all areas to consider this coming seasons Chieftains team. Our position in ninth place, as we have always indicated, reflected our financial clout in the market. We did the best job we could with the money available. It has been no secret that events during the past season placed added pressure on our personal and financial situation. Our current financial position reflects the events of the season, and over the past few weeks have been reviewing our position, along with all options available to the Chelmsford Chieftains.

We remain absolutely committed to the future of the Chieftains and ice hockey in Chelmsford, but are unable to maintain the level of financial support and risk involved in running a team in the modern EPL, which is effectively the old BNL , together with all the associated costs.

We have confirmed that for the coming season we will offer significant financial support to the Chieftains as the major sponsor, together with a continuation of elements of our roles from the season past.

With this in mind, we pulled together a strategic paper for the immediate future of the team. This paper was shared with a number of interested potential directors/owners. Unfortunately, in many cases, the risks were deemed to be too great. Ice hockey is not, and never has been a good business proposition, but is a labour of love.

In the past fortnight, we have held more than six meetings to explain and discuss the options and potential approaches for the Chieftains. All offers and commitments of money have been very well received, but a benefactor of significant substance is proving almost impossible to find. In addition to this, there are a number of external factors that will most definitely effect the operation of the Chieftains for the coming season. For one reason or another, at this point in time we are not able to comment on a number of these external factors.

The one thing that we have been at pains to stress throughout all of our discussions is that in order to improve upon last seasons position, there needs to be a major injection of money into the team. The supporters that we have met with would testify that the support required by the Chieftains is indeed significant.

Therefore, if anybody is able to provide the club with a contact or other related information in this area, it would be well received. It is important to note, however, that timescales are tight for generating the strategy for the coming season. Given these constraints, we are prepared to consider and discuss all other options available to us, especially if they can bring long term benefits to the Chelmsford Chieftains.

We wish to make it clear that we are not trying to take on the decision-making process for the future of the Chieftains, however, in the absence of a benefactor, we are happy to continue to consult and advise the supporters of the current state of play.

Nolan and Donna

Ice Media Productions are currently putting together the Playoff Weekend DVD. The package is likely to be bigger than last year with the introduction of the ENL final as well. Heath Rhodes, MD of IMP said “Last year we had to turn the two semi’s and the ENL final into highlight games to fit it onto the scheduled 2 discs set. Obviously wherever possible fans want to see all the games so we are hoping to add more discs to the set to ensure all the games are cut to the minimum.” 

Ice Media Productions are also responsible for the creation of the Elite League Playoff Weekend DVD this year too. “We are really pleased with sales of the Elite DVD to date. Creating good quality DVD packages take time and we currently have two playoff DVD’s in edit which will obviously take a while to get out to the fans – we just ask them to be patient.” 

Ice Media Productions will also be showing the Elite Final online at there Internet based TV channel headsup.tv which can be found at www.ukview.tv/414. The internet channel offers full screen display of some of the best games of the last Elite season and are very reasonably priced. They are not all with commentary and graphics but great viewing from as little as £1 a game.

Copyright Chelmsford Chieftains 2007