Although disappointed, head coach Aaron Nell remains positive about the Link Centre flooding despite the damage being worse than originally thought.
GLL released a statement last week saying the damage to the Link Centre is far “worse than they initially thought,” with the ice rink not expected to reopen until the new year.
The GLL also issued a statement saying “We are working as hard as we can to reopen the Link Centre as soon as possible.”
The Swindon Wildcats 2 team have had to withdraw from their league as they are not able to financially afford to carry on playing without a home rink
Director of the club Steve Nell and head coach Aaron Nell hosted a Q&A at the Delta Hotels Swindon where they expressed their positivity about the first team despite the flooding.
“We will do everything we can to try to get our rink back before the New Year and working hard behind the scenes to rearrange fixtures with other teams.”
The Wildcats have only managed to play their away games so far this season and are limited to how much they can train throughout the week.
However, with help from the Cardiff Devils and the Bristol Pitbulls, they have managed to have training sessions here and there to prepare for the away games at the weekend.
Director, Nell said “We can still have a good season but it is going to cost us a lot of money.
“We’re going to keep on going and survive one way or another, it’s going to be a difficult time but we will do the best we can on and off the ice.”
We spoke to former Basingstoke Bison player and current Bees IHC player Liam Morris who knows what it feels like to not have a rink with the Basingstoke Bison forced to pull out of the league this summer due to rink problems.
“Losing one team in the space of a year is bad, but losing two teams, I don’t want to say the word catastrophic but it wouldn’t help any team at all,” said Morris.
“Losing teams helps nobody, losing a team doesn’t just affect them it affects everyone else as they lose gate revenue from their fans.”
The Wildcats have two long away trips this weekend starting with a game against the Leeds Knights in Yorkshire on Saturday and then a trip to Peterborough on Sunday.
