BLADE RUNNERS!

Interview by John Fairbrother, Kevin Fairbrother, David Parsons and John Nicholson

Community police officers Alan Meadows and Doug Barnes have helped to set up the Netherton Area Street Hockey Association and are currently running sessions at the Activity Centre every Saturday.

From 10am until 11.30am, youngsters aged 10 and under are introduced to the game, which is played like ice hockey only with rollerblades and without the need of ice! From noon until 1.30pm, 11 and 12 year olds get the chance to play and from 2pm until 3.30pm, the 13 and over age group takes to the court.

With the help of a grant from the Netherton Community Action Fund, Alan and Doug were able to purchase £5000 worth of top quality street hockey equipment including helmets, which are compulsory for all sessions at the NAC and other safety equipment.

The Saturday sessions cost just £1 for each young person, which includes the hire of all equipment. At other times of the week, Alan and Doug may take the gear along to where groups of young people congregate and get them started in the game. The hope eventually is to form clubs all around Netherton with the possibility of setting up a league.

Netherton's community police officers get the lads kitted up for a game!

A similar idea in Bootle has been running for the last twelve months and Doug Barnes says it has taken off in a big way. "The advantage of street hockey is that it can be set up anywhere, on school playgrounds or car parks," he said.

"Also, boys and girls can play together," chips in Alan, "and it appeals to the people who don’t like or can’t get involved in the usual things like football and netball because this requires different skills."

Obviously not everyone will already be able to skate before they get involved with the game but that doesn’t matter because instruction and skill levels are incorporated into the sessions. And as experienced coaches and skaters becoming involved, youngsters will soon be brought up to speed.

But no matter how good you become on rollerblades, mishaps will always happen in a game like street hockey, so the safety element is something which the police officers are keen to stress.

"People seem to think that it’s uncool to wear all the safety equipment," says Alan, "but if you’ve ever seen ice hockey players - they’re not uncool. The likes of the helmets and the pads you can spray up however you want."

"During the sessions we will provide all the equipment to those that don’t have it," says Doug. "We will insist they wear the helmets, but the knee, elbow and wrist pads are up to them, though obviously they are encouraged to wear them. Once they get into the game, I’m sure they will want to get their own gear."

Further details about the Netherton Area Street Hockey Association can be obtained from Doug Barnes or Alan Meadows on (0151) 777 3140.

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