St Andrean picked for Team GBR

Having been skating since the age of two and playing ice hockey since he was five, he credits his mum, a keen figure skater, for first introducing him to the rink.

“I wasn’t about to put on tights and I’d probably watched too much of ‘The Mighty Ducks’ so hockey caught my eye.”

This is the first time that Ollie will be pulling on the Great Britain Jersey, although he has represented Scotland at age group levels.

Ollie rejected figure skating in favour of the more adrenaline fuelled sport of ice hockey

“It’s an exciting time,” he says, “I was very surprised [to be picked], particularly given that I had to miss the final selection camp so I’d basically counted myself out.”

It’s not been an easy ride for Ollie, however, who has to try to juggle his passion for ice hockey with his academic studies.

“I had to sort out academic flexibility right away so that I could accept the spot. At first it was all a bit stressful but once I’d put everything in place and knew I was able to go it felt really great. I owe a lot to Debby Sargent for helping me become academically flexible and to the Athletic Union for helping with funding.

“Being selected means a great deal to me personally because after returning from Toronto in order to study, I thought that hockey would take a back seat and I wouldn’t compete on an international level again. The chance has appeared once more, I’m very thankful.”

This will be the first time Ollie can don the GBR jersey

Gathering players from universities up and down Great Britain is a logistical challenge; Ollie has already had to travel to Sheffield and Nottingham for training camps. Despite the sparse training opportunities, Ollie remains confident that the team will step up to the plate when it matters.

“Given the fact that I am only on the ice once a week currently with the Typhoons, our University team here, and some of the Russians for example are practising twice daily, I think that the stamina side of things will be the most difficult. All round its bound to be a challenge; our group is GBR, Russia, Slovakia and Czech Republic – three nations known for their success in this competition. This said I think everyone finds an extra gear when they are representing their country.”

Asked about his future in ice hockey after the competition, Ollie is unsure what the future holds.

“I have ambitions outside of hockey to get my degree and probably move to London, so I think it really depends whether there will be teams nearby the places I end up. I’d say this is most likely some kind of a pinnacle though, yes. There’s always the Jonny Wookey Memorial Varsity next April, that’s incredibly special for me, winning with the ‘Phoons always feels infinitely more important than it is in actuality.”

Ice hockey is not the sport that most would associate with St Andrews; I asked Ollie if it was as popular as one might expect for a Scottish University.

“The Typhoons have around 20 guys regularly show up to practices with up to 30 paying members each year. I think that considering we are in Scotland it’s more popular than you would expect. In terms of support from those who don’t play, I was shocked and thankful that over 500 people came to the Wookey game last year which I think shows that it’s an interesting sport for British people to watch, even as a bit of a novelty experience.”

Asked if there was an imbalance between British and foreign players in the club, Ollie explained that the team is primarily composed of North Americans and Scandinavians. He thinks that the main problem is encouraging people to start skating in the first place.

“The only reason I got so into it is because I learned to skate when I was so young and it comes naturally to me now, I think it’s hard to encourage teenagers to start the sport because of the extra effort required to learn how to skate before you can even join a team. Running is natural so starting other sports tends to be a lot easier.”

Conversation gradually moved towards the dangers of the sport, and Ollie revelled in divulging the list of injuries he has sustained playing the sport.

“I’ve cracked all my ribs, had concussions and dislocated by shoulder but nothing as bad as a friend I witnessed having a couple of fingers sliced off which is about as bad as it gets.”

No kidding, Ollie! No doubt that put him off for life?

“He still plays for the Edinburgh Capitals. The gloves we use make it easier than other sports to keep playing.”

Now that is commitment.

Interested in seeing what the Typhoons are made of? The Jonny Wookey Memorial Varsity Match is on April 8th; details will be released closer to the time. 

The 26th Winter Universiade will be covered by FISU.tv and Eurosport

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