LUKAS SMITAL insists he will fight on with Bracknell Bees despite increasing concerns over British ice hockey.
Smital’s charges saw their play-off hopes officially ended last week and the Bees they also suffered back-to-back defeats this weekend against MK Lightning and Sheffield Steeldogs.
But the Czech player-coach says his concerns run far deeper than Bracknell’s failure to seal a top eight finish.
“Everything needs to improve in this country,” an honest Smital told The Wokingham Paper.
“You can see what’s happening. There’s no teams around and everyone’s folding.
“It’s just walking in circles, there’s no improvement.
“It needs to be sorted and hopefully it’s going to be beneficial for everyone – for our children and their children and just the overall picture and it starts today. That’s the worrying part.”
Manchester Phoenix were the latest club to pull out of the Elite Premier Ice Hockey League during this current season with all their results having to be expunged, following Slough Jets in 2014 following increasing financial pressure.
But a defiant Smital says he will not give up on trying to turn things around just yet.
“I’ve been here 12 years and I always thought I could make the difference,” he said.
“I took over the juniors and as a head coach I took the club here in Bracknell and was very enthusiastic about things.
“Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of talent in this country, but there’s always beating around bushes. The key in ice hockey is to have the right attitude in all areas and that’s what we’re missing here, that attitude.
He continued: “It starts with the little ones and finishes with GB – it should be one goal.
“If more people buy into it, I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel but it cannot be one or two people believing, it needs to be many more than that.
“But am I losing faith? No. No I’m not.
“As long as hockey is here, I’m still going to be fighting and doing my mission.
“Up until it’s over, and it’s not over yet, I keep doing what I’m doing and my job is, in my opinion, to help young players become better.
“That’s what I’m going to stick with as long as I’m coaching.”
As for matters on the ice, Bracknell now only have one match to play when they host Hull Pirates on Saturday.
PART ONE: Smital discusses missing out of the play-offs
And despite Bees being set for a bottom-placed finish in the new nine-team league, Smital could not hide his pride at how his players fought until the closing stages of the campaign.
“I said before the season that the key for us was to rebuild,” he said.
“To have a team on the ice, rebuild it, work with a next to nothing budget, play youth and be competitive.
“I thought in the majority of the season, we were a competitive team.
“We put a lot of teams under big pressure. We scared them, they had to fight for their results.
“If I look at the season overall, I thought we have made massive strides, great progression and we were fighting up until last weekend for that final play-off spot.
“You wouldn’t have thought that in April or May last year and I think that’s a great credit to all the guys who, for the majority of the season were great.
“You have to move on and build on it year on year, keep plugging away and keep believing that you can be better and bring the success to Bracknell.”
