Forrester joins Old Loughts

With the registration not showing up on the player transfers (obviously because it's not an intra-EHL transfer) section of the England Hockey website, I had forgotten about the ITK notice of David Forrester joining the East Conference in the men's national league. Forrester joins from Inverness, having played at Edinburgh during his time at university, impressing as a young goalkeeper and cementing his position through strong performances. Having starred for the Scottish national team in recently friendlies and with GB Super League experience in addition and scouting for the future, there is a chance for him to show his qualities at this level and give his new team the push to recover their league placing we have come to know. With Scotand seemingly open to changing around their goalies and giving them new opportunities, this will also give management more confidence in his aims and developmental ambitions.

Only 23, there is strong upside for the Essex based club as he could be there for quite some time as he gets used to the standard of play and expectations, just like national compatriot and competitor James Cachia has done with Sheffield Hallam. Forrester should theoretically slot straight into the squad ahead of Chris Naven (also 23) after joining, and gives them a stronger level of depth in their goalie ranks. With Stuart Hendy out of the picture (having disappeared from the hockey scene), Old Loughts were in need of a strong replacement in order to push for table successes having dropped off the mark in recent seasons; I had assumed that after Canterbury were promoted a couple of seasons back, OL's would be the ones to take advantage and secure promotion. But this hasn't been the case and with David bringing with him experience from the Scottish national leagues as well as BUCS representations, which has helped him mature and development as a player and goalkeeper, there are good signs for his success this season as he settles in to new surroundings.

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk//fl/ehl/current_teams_reg_players.asp?t=26&l=1&section=

Legg to Richmond

Having heard the rumour on the whispering vine and rumour train, it turns out this one is another reality. Jamie Legg is off to Richmond from Reading, leaving the Berkshire side with Bailey as the incumbent. Without sounding harsh, critically, Legg seemed to have the talent to perform in Brother's abscence when the Exeter alumni goalkeeper was off on international training and other duties, but didn't seem to have that extra spark to take his game as a Premier league starter although he seemed strong at interceptions and on breakways as a standout feature. Not to say he is no good (obviously, just critique, don't take my word for it!), and I think he'll be a good fit as Richmond look to shore up their goalie department and ranks after some unfortunate turnouts against their opposition.

And you can obviously see the transfers as they happen on the England hockey website:

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/fl/ehl/playermovement_m.asp?l=1

Antoni Kindler off to Canterbury

Not yet well known (but confirmed by Canterbury members, via Twitter anyway!), is Kindler's move to the English premier league division, coming overseas to play for the Kent based side. With Canterbury having four goalkeepers on their "books" at the time previous, it makes sense that the puzzle unravels as they juggle the goalkeepers on their books, with Cowling moving to look for action as a starter. I'm not sure where this puts Stubbing, but he has the opportunity to learn a lot from Antoni who has burst onto the international scene in goal at a young age himself and I'm not sure how long he's expecting to play over here for. Interesting in a strange sort of way, given that it's something I meanderingly blogged about, as I think the chance for Kindler to play in a different country and a strong league and get exposure to a different style and pace of hockey, can only help his ambitions for playing in the next Olympics (Canada only just missed out on qualifying, pipped by Argentina at the post as the saying goes), as well as the personal maturity of playing abroad etc!