Guest Speakers
Our speakers are subject matter experts that we have worked previously during our hockey journey.
We look forward to them delivering workshops at our coaching symposium.
Darryl is a 64 year old British citizen, born in Canada and currently living in Budapest, Hungary being active in ice hockey as a professional player, coach and coaching instructor for over 40 years. Darryl was a development manager for the IIHF for 10 years. Technical & Coaching Director for Ice Hockey UK. He was also the Head Coach for GBR U18 National Team for seven years and assistant coach for the GBR Men’s team in 2001. Currently Darryl is a coaching mentor for the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation for the past 10 years.
Darryl’s core competences are versatile but could be best described as planning and delivering coaching education programs as well as operating and managing ice hockey camps and education projects.
Darryl Easson
Mike is a Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon working in the West Midlands performing general and sport trauma surgery focusing on ankle and knee injuries. He also has a sub-specialist interest in Sports Medicine and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine. He has been a doctor for the Great Britian Team at the Winter World University Games since 2013 and has been Chief Medical Officer since 2019. He is also a Team Doctor on Match Days working with the Northampton Saints RUFC.
Dr Mike Carmont
Essi, from Finland, is a driven professional working in high-performance sport in the UK. With an MSc in Sport Performance Enhancement and an MBA in Sport Management, she began establishing a career in ice hockey through studies and volunteering with the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Essi now has a variety of experience in operational and athlete support roles with sport organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation. A former player in the British Universities Ice Hockey Association (BUIHA),
Essi also helped establish Scotland's first women's university ice hockey team, the Caledonia Steel Queens, and is currently responsible for player development in the BUIHA. Essi leverages her knowledge of the game as a coach, contributing to a bronze medal at the 2020 Youth Winter Olympics 3v3 mixed nations format.
Essi Aittasalo
Growing up playing at the Sheffield junior hockey club Davey spent 15+ years in Sheffield culminating in 6 seasons with the Sheffield steelers as well as representing Telford, Basingstoke, Romford, Cardiff and Newcastle. He also represented Great Britain and England at junior level.
Upon retirement as a player and a few years out of the game he refocused himself into coaching and currently coaches at Leeds with the junior club and Leeds knights in the national league as well as heading up the ENTP goalie program, England head goalie coach and Great Britain u18 women’s goalie/video coach.
David has a BSc in nutritional therapy graduating in 2021. He has 20 years experience working as personal trainer and has a diploma in personal training and a high diploma in sport and exercise science. His main interest is nutrition for digestive health, body composition and performance, sleep hygiene and strength and conditioning.
David Menzano
Rupe is a former professional Ice Hockey player who has transitioned into a career in Strength and Conditioning (S&C). He is currently the S&C Coach for the Guildford Flames of the Elite League and S&C Lead for England Ice Hockey.
Embarking on his university education towards the end of his playing career, he now holds an MSc in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Chichester and a BSc in Sports Science (Human Performance) from University Centre Farnborough, completing both with Distinction and First Class Honours. As well as his roles with the Flames and EIH, Rupe founded Train Hockey Smart in 2022, a business designed to support British Ice Hockey players and teams with S&C advice and resources.
Rupert Quiney
Richard was a 2014 Team GB Olympian in Short Track Speed Skating. He was also a former World Record holder in the Men’s 5000m Relay and World Championship medallist.
Now focusing his energy on helping athletes pursue their dreams of excellence as the Speed Skating Performance Programme in Nottingham and the National Team Coach for British Ice Skating.
He also had the privilege of being named coach of the 2022 Team Great Britain Short Track Speed Skating Olympic team and the 2023 Team Great Britain Youth Olympic Team.
Richard Shoebridge
Andrew works as a leader in sport within the higher education sector in addition to as an on ice official within the Elite Ice Hockey League and International Ice Hockey Federation. He has also had a variety of roles in ice hockey as a player, coach, general manager, NGB board member and chairperson.
He has worked as an on ice official for 20 years starting his journey in the North East as a linesman in the NIHL and EPIHL progressing to work in the EIHL before becoming a referee. As a referee, Andrew has worked back up into the EIHL and has also had the opportunity to work IIHF games for U20 Division One and Senior Men’s events.
Andrew Miller
Lee Waters
Lee has nearly 20 years’ experience in applied sporting settings & higher education, Lee is a leader in using eye tracking to improve decision making.
With a unique skill set gained from his own experience in elite sport, education, psychology & personal training, he develops applied approaches to solve problems like no other. This is no better highlighted than leading 2 world first projects in using eye trackers with ice hockey officials during live games at both the U18 2023 Male World Championships in Switzerland and U20 2024 Male World Championships in Sweden.
He believes decision making is the most important cognitive process we go through and are a key factor in success or failure. Addressing their complex nature with a mixture of technology, reflective techniques and analytical competence Lee provides an experience that leads to no assumptions, no guessing, and no bias, which is vital for understanding performance enhancement.
