Ice hockey club’s new goals help kids aim high

YOU could say ice hockey is in the blood for Kerry Kolisek’s family. 

Kerry’s children play, her husband Pavel coaches the sport and she is chair and fundraiser at their club, Solihull Junior Barons. 

Squad goals … players travel far and wide to practise

The kids get their talent from their dad, says Kerry, though she definitely shares their passion.

“I can’t even skate!” laughs Kerry, “but my husband played in the Czech Republic, where he’s from, then played when he came over here, and we met and got married – he’s now the club’s head coach. 

All four of the Koliseks’ children – Lucy, 9, Joey, 11, Tommy, 13 and Danny, 15 – play.

Once your children are hooked there’s no turning back, says Kerry: “We’re all ice hockey mums – once you’ve got children involved, it takes over and you’re in it for life, you can’t get out of it!”

The club, which has 110 players aged five to 18, is extremely popular and well respected, with children travelling across the Midlands from as far as Nuneaton, Telford, Nottingham and Sheffield to the Planet Ice Solihull rink to train. 

It holds trials each year where hopeful players can try out for the team, with a focus on character building and quality coaching.

But if a child wants to take up ice hockey and has no experience, there is a Learn To Play programme where under-10s can pick up the basics and see how they take to it.

“We usually get new members when they’re under 10. The earlier you start, the better if you want to progress,” says Kerry.

Ice hockey is a very physical sport and it keeps children active and off their screens, as well as being a great social outlet. 

“We’re a family. All our team members are very close. 

“We train, play and socialise. We’ve just had our end-of-year presentation evening, where we had 250 people come along. 

“We had trophies, food and even an ice cream van.”

To celebrate this awesome summer of sport, Tesco has teamed up with The Sun’s Activity for All campaign to offer grants to holiday and sports clubs providing children with healthy activities and food over the school holidays.

Since 2016 Tesco, in partnership with Groundwork, has awarded more than £100million to over 50,000 local projects through its grant programmes. 

Last July Tesco launched Stronger Starts, which commits £5million to schools and children’s groups to fund healthy food and activities every year. 

Ice hockey equipment isn’t cheap and Kerry jumped at the chance to apply for a Tesco Stronger Starts grant towards new goals. 

After applying and being selected for the blue token scheme – where Tesco customers support projects and charities through an in-store voting system – Solihull Junior Barons were delighted to receive the highest award of £1,500, enabling them to cover most of the cost of two £800 goals.

“We try to do as much fundraising as we possibly can to keep the subs down for parents and to buy more equipment for the players. There’s a lot of travelling involved and costs can mount up,” Kerry says.

“We all have to buy our own kit. Skates are expensive, sticks are expensive and we have to cover our eyes.

On target … the under-12s became league champions in April

“So the Tesco grant seemed the perfect opportunity for us – everybody got on board by telling people to vote: players, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

“Players were going round stores, checking out the tokens and saying, ‘I think we’re winning in this one. We’ve got to keep going.’”

Having two new goals means more players can get on the ice and learn how to be netminders (that’s ice hockey-speak for goalkeepers).

“When the goals arrived the children were so pleased,” adds Kerry.  

“We’ve been promoting it on all our social media platforms and by word of mouth, so it was great when they arrived just in time for the new season.

“We’ve grown in numbers and the new nets enable us to get more kids on the ice at one time, doing drills with the coaches. 

“The nets we were using were on their last legs.”

Two of the Kolisek children have recently started representing England in their age categories

“Our middle son Tommy, who’s 13, started first,” Kerry says.  

“He started playing at the age of five. He’s actually over in the Czech Republic now, doing an ice hockey camp. 

“He’s played for England since he was an under-12. 

Hitting big … Tommy Kolisek plays for England

“Our youngest son played for his country for the first time this year in Slovakia. 

“Then our eldest is a netminder. And our daughter, who’s an under-10, started when she was about five or six.”

Kerry would recommend any sports club to look at applying for a Tesco Stronger Starts grant. “It’s a great way to find funds for clubs. We couldn’t be more pleased with our new nets.”

Schools and groups can find out more and apply for a Stronger Starts grant at tescoplc.com/strongerstarts. Pick up a blue token in store to help children thrive in your area