There was a lot of interest in signing up to the club both from people with plenty of experience right down to total beginners, and the club has a team for everyone. We compete in the BUIHA Cup Competition which has three divisions (1, 2, and 3). Division 1 is the highest standard for people that have been playing the sport for years and includes semi-professional players across the league. Division 2 is also a very competitive league for players with experience. Division 3 is specially designed for beginners and allows new players a chance to get into the sport and compete in a division with teams of the same standard. We also enter several teams into the BUIHA National Championships, held at Ice Sheffield over three weekends in April.
Important Dates
Trials – Sunday 2nd October – 8:15-10:15PM
For those of you with experience in playing the sport we would like to invite you down to our trials – please arrive at IceSheffield for 7PM so we can get the necessary paper-work filled out first.
After the trials the teams will be posted on the Sheffield Bears forum within 48 hours and then you should attend the training for the team you have been allocated to. Team training dates will be available on the forum/website.
For those with no experience, attending the trials is not necessary, but you can still play for the Bears this year. A good start would be attend the Give it a Go session or turn up to the first C Team training once the training schedule is published on the forum/google calender/website.
NOTE: FULL KIT IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND TRIALS.
Give It a Go – Wednesday 5th October – 2-4PM
For those of you who have never played the sport and would like to try it before you join up this would be a great chance to give it a try.
Tickets are available from the University of Sheffield box office and are priced at £7. (Please note that tickets will go on sale on 29th September – apologies to those who’ve already tried to buy theirs!) Tickets should also be available to buy online from the University of Sheffield Union website, for those of you who don’t attend the University of Sheffield.
The meeting point is outside Bar One on Glossop Road at 1PM. ( See http://g.co/maps/kvbfc)
All kit is provided, and you will have two hours of ice time with coaching from the Bears coaching staff who will run through the basics of skating, stick handling, passing, shooting.
Freshers Social – Thursday 6th October – Walkabout 8PM
The first social of the year! Freshers initiation! – Everyone come to Walkabout at 8PM wearing a white tshirt (about £2 at primark!) and bring along your marker pens. Mark your shirt up with “BEARS” on the front and your name on the back.
Each freshers will be ‘assigned’ to a ‘veteran’ by being taped to them either by leg or arm. Plenty of drinks and games. Visit a few more bars on West St and then hit Plug to end the night.
Information on tickets for Plug will be available on the website.
DONT FORGET: Walkabout Boomerang cards are available FREE to Sheffield Bears members for 20% off food and drink & huge deals on Thursdays, tell them you’re with the Bears when you show your card and the club gets 10% of your sale back! This all helps to reduce the cost to our members.
Rental Kits
Many new guys have asked us about renting kits – This is possible but we have limited numbers. We currently have 6 kits for rent, and last year we had a list of about 20 people requesting one of these kits. Obviously it is not possible for everyone to get one. From the Give It A Go on Wednesday 5th October we will start taking names of those who would like a kit. On Friday 7th October we will draw names out of a hat to allocate the kits (this seems to fairest way to do it).
To rent a kit it will cost £60 for the season. This includes a £10 deposit that will be returned to you at the end of the year when you return your kit to the club.
Once again – Full kit is required to participate in training and matches for safety and insurance reasons. Puck Stop (the store at the rink) did an offer last year where you could get a full set of kit for around £150 (excluding stick and skates).
DON’T FORGET ALL BEARS GET 10% DISCOUNT AT PUCKSTOP!
Fees
This year the fees for the upcoming season will be as follows:
- League registration: £TBC (approx. £50)
- Training fees (Semester 1): £TBC (approx. £100)
There will be a second batch of training fees due after Christmas, this is usually in the same figure as Semester 1 but sometimes a little cheaper.
There will also be additional costs for things such as team jerseys (approx. £40) and journeys to away games (depends on distance).
Hopefully this has covered everything that you need to know. If anyone has any other questions then please email them to us at: info@sheffieldbears.com and we will do our best to answer them.
Thankyou for signing up and we hope to see you soon at trials/give it a go and training!
Sheffield Bears Committee 2011/12