England Ice Hockey are sad to announce the departure of Steve Merry.

Steve was a part of the core team set up to manage our NIHL events for the five divisions.

Before the EIH Events team, Steve ran the National League Final Four event in Coventry for many years, managing everything from the IHUK Officials, off-ice officials and the army of volunteers needed and the laminating of many passes!

In September 2020, the events team was formed, including Steve, to run all five NIHL finals weekends. The team successfully ran the first Covid-secure event held in June 2021, allowing the return of fans rink side.

This was a logistical challenge in partnership with Sheffield Council and Public Health England alongside Ice Sheffield. Steve played a pivotal role in this, and has also gone on to successfully run events in many rinks up and down the country, including Alexandra Palace, Widnes and Milton Keynes.

On behalf of England Ice Hockey, we would like to put on record our thanks for everything Steve has done for the association, and we wish him well in the future.

Following the recent departure of Steve, the EIH Events team has restructured. Danny Perchard has taken over the lead role and is now the general manager of events.

He will be supported by Lucy Spalton and Michelle Leigh, stepping into event manager positions alongside their current EIH roles. We are pleased to have recently appointed two event assistants, Bethanie Jacobs and Rachel Gilvear, to join the team and continue developing our events within the sport so they become the season highlight for clubs at all levels.

Bethanie has been a part of the sport from a young age. By day, Bethanie works for RNN Group, one of the largest single providers of education to school leavers in the South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire area.

Within the sport, Bethanie is the British Universities Ice Hockey Association’s sports development officer. She is also the Sheffield Scimitars team and social media manager.

Rachel Gilvear, by day, is a senior sister for the NHS in Cardiff and has also been involved in ice hockey for many years, both on and off the ice. Rachel is currently managing recently-promoted WNIHL South 1 side Cardiff Comets.

Both are no strangers to events, having both volunteered their time alongside Danny, Michelle and Lucy in previous seasons, impressing with their knowledge and professionalism.

They are sure to be great additions to the team, and we are all looking forward to hosting all the EIH events across England Ice Hockey during the upcoming 2024/25 season.

To send us your latest club news, please click here!