A new hockey super league is to be trialled

A NEW Super League is being trialled for top-flight men hockey players in the Island.

Jersey Hockey Association president Ian Cuming said that the competition is being introduced to offer players in Division I of the Investec Men’s Hockey League something different.

He said: ‘In men’s hockey we have some very, very strong players in Division I. Because of this the number of teams who want to, or can, compete at that level has diminished.

‘It is a bit like Scottish football where you generally have Rangers and Celtic dominating the league. In hockey the teams that were getting beaten regularly weren’t enjoying it so they opted to play in Division II.

‘We now have quite a large number of teams in Division II but only four teams in Division I: Jersey Leopards, Old Victorians Convicts, Victoria College VC-I, and IFG Hautlieu.

‘They play each other three times so the idea with the Super League is to try and make it more interesting for the players. We could have increased the size of Division I but that would have diluted it for those who really want to test themselves.’

‘So what we have done is split the talented players between the Sharks, Cavaliers, Bulls, and Cheetahs to make four equal teams who will play each other once. The top two will then go into a final and the bottom two into a third place play off.’