British Universities Ice Hockey Association

British Universities Ice Hockey Association

Abbreviation	BUIHA
Formation	2003
Legal status	Not-profit organisation
Purpose	UK university ice hockey
Location	University of Nottingham Sports Centre
Region served	UK
Membership	UK university ice hockey clubs
Chairman	A Miller
Main organ	BUIHA Executive Committee
Affiliations	British Universities and Colleges Sport
Website	BUIHA

The British Universities Ice Hockey Association was founded in spring term 2003 by a group of hockey players from the universities of Oxford, London, Nottingham and Newcastle.

History of the BUIHA

Although still a young organisation, the British Universities Ice Hockey Association, or BUIHA, was formed in response to the growing number of universities with ice hockey programmes in an effort to provide students with competitive ice hockey whilst at university, no matter what their level of play.

The notion to form the BUIHA first arose in Easter 2003. The idea was to simply form a divisional competition for the existing university teams. Development over the summer of 2003^[1] led to a committee being put in place, a schedule being set and a number of teams signed up to take part in the first ever BUIHA University Cup. The National Championships was already an existing competition. Indeed, the 2003/04 formative season finished in style at the National Championships weekend where the then 13 member teams battled it out for The Rawlinson Plate & The Hopkins Plate.

The following season, to further the BUIHA objective of progression at all levels of the sport, the BUIHA introduced Division 3. Also joining the BUIHA in its second season were a number of new university teams, a number that would be again bolstered in its 3rd season bringing the total teams for 2005-6 to 29.

The 2008/09 Season saw the Bristol Lions enter for the 1st time. The sole new enterant in the 2009/10 season were the newly formed Kent Knights, who arrived on the scene with an old friend lining up in a Knights roster. It was the time that Old Skool had ended his association with Imperial College Devils and was playing for his University for the very first time. The 2010/11 season saw the Oxford Women's Blues join their Cambridge counterparts in Division 3 South, and in 2012 we saw a team from St Andrews enter the National Championships in Tier II.

In the 2012/13 there was a change in cup competition structure, with Division 3 becoming Non-checking Division 1, and the addition of a third checking division. New teams joined the competition from UCL and University of East Anglia, and a reformed Northumbria team joined as the Kings. Unfortunately, the season started without the return of teams from Bristol and Huddersfield.

2013/14 Season saw the Birmingham Eagles finally gain recognition for their Students Guild, part of the deal saw the club rebranded as the Birmingham Lions to fall inline with the other sports clubs at the university.

The National Championships

The then secretary of the Oxford Vikings, Alexis Rawlinson, came up with the idea of organising a tournament for all the university ice hockey teams in the UK. At the time this was not such a daunting organisational prospect, given that there were only seven teams.

A few weeks later five teams (blues squads were not invited as they were above the standard of all other teams) gathered for a late night ice hockey session at Oxford Ice Rink starting at 11pm and running all the way through to the morning. The result of this was a narrow Newcastle victory by one point over the Oxford Vikings. Newcastle arranged the next two events at the National Ice Centre (NIC) in Nottingham, which saw victories for Newcastle in 2002 and London in 2003.

For 2004, to recognise the contribution of Alexis to British University Ice Hockey, the top National Championship trophy was renamed the Rawlinson Plate.

2004 also saw the introduction of a 2nd Tier of competition due to the introduction of many new teams. The BUIHA is now host of a range of new teams from England, Scotland and Wales as well as the original seven that entered the first National Championships in 2001. From 2005 onwards tier II was renamed The Hopkins Plate. From the start of the 2015 season onwards the Tier 3 national championship trophy is to be renamed the Miller Trophy to honour the ongoing work the Chairman, Andrew Miller, puts into the job.

The Cup Competition

Created in Autumn 2003 by the founding BUIHA committee the cup competition was envisioned as a league type competition available to university clubs in the UK.

Operating within the EIHA recreational section the clubs involved played a round robin format with the winner being declared at the end of the season as the team with the most points (using goal difference as a tie breaker).

Founding clubs of the initial two divisions (in alphabetical order) were:

Division 1

• Cambridge University Blues
• University of London Union Purples
• Nottingham Universities Mavericks A

Division 2

• Birmingham Eagles
• Cambridge University Eskimos
• Imperial College Devils
• Newcastle University Wildcats
• Nottingham Universities Mavericks B
• Oxford University Vikings
• University of Warwick Panthers

From the 2008/2009 season the BUIHA operated directly under the EIHA board after being awarded a section of their own and separating from the Rec section. This has led to several improvements to the way the organisation can operate.

Team Great Britain

Launched at the end of the 2004-5 season, Team Great Britain is the national university side that will compete against other national university sides, including competing at the bi-annual FISU World University Games. Mike Urquhart & Matt Bradbury have agreed to coach the team. Any person attending university anywhere in the world who is a UK & Northern Ireland citizen between the ages of 17 and 28 is able to play for the team. This disregards the level to which they have played the sport.

Winners

Checking Division 1

Checking Division 2

Checking Division 3

Non-checking Division 1 (formerly Division 3)

Non-checking Division 2

Non-checking Division 3

Member teams

BUIHA Committees 2002-2011

Executive Committee

Non-Executive Committee

External links

• British University Ice Hockey Association official web site

References

Ice hockey in the United Kingdom
Elite League	Belfast Giants Braehead Clan Cardiff Devils Coventry Blaze Dundee Stars Edinburgh Capitals Fife Flyers Manchester Storm Nottingham Panthers Sheffield Steelers
English Premier League	Basingstoke Bison Bracknell Bees Guildford Flames Hull Pirates Manchester Phoenix Milton Keynes Lightning Peterborough Phantoms Sheffield Steeldogs Swindon Wildcats Telford Tigers
National League	Altrincham Aces Basingstoke Buffalo Billingham Stars Blackburn Hawks Bracknell Hornets Bradford Bulldogs Bristol Pitbulls Cardiff Devils 1 Cardiff Devils 2 Chelmsford Chieftains Chelmsford Warriors Coventry Blaze Deeside Dragons Fylde Flyers Grimsby Red Wings Haringey Greyhounds Invicta Dynamos Invicta Mustangs Kingston Jets Lancashire Raptors Lee Valley Lions London Raiders Milton Keynes Thunder Nottingham Lions Oxford City Stars Peterborough Islanders Romford Fury Sheffield Spartans Slough Harrier Hawks Solent Devils Solihull Barons Solway Sharks Streatham Redskins Streatham Bruins Swindon Wildcats Sutton Sting Whitley Warriors Wightlink Buccaneers
Scottish National League	Aberdeen Lynx Dundee Comets Dundee Tigers Edinburgh Capitals (SNL) Kilmarnock Storm Kirkcaldy Kestrels North Ayr Wild Paisley Pirates Solway Sharks
British University Teams	Anglia Ruskin Rangers Birmingham Eagles Bradford Sabres Bristol Lions Cambridge Blues Cardiff Redhawks Durham Knights Edinburgh Eagles Huddersfield Ice Hawks Hull Ice Hogs Imperial College Devils Kent Knights Universities Of London Dragons Manchester Metros Newcastle Wildcats Northumbria Flames Nottingham Mavericks Oxford University Ice Hockey Club Sheffield Bears Southampton Spitfires St Andrews Typhoons Surrey Sharks UCL Yetis UEA Avalanche Warwick Panthers
Womens Premier League	Bracknell Queen Bees Guildford Lightning Kingston Diamonds A Milton Keynes Falcons Sheffield Shadows A Slough Phantoms Solihull Vixens Streatham Storm A Swindon TopCats A
Womens Ice Hockey League Division One	Basingstoke Bison Ladies Billingham Wildcats Blackburn Thunder Bracknell Fire Bees Cardiff Comets Chelmsford Cobras Coventry Phoenix Ivicta Dynamics Kingston Diamonds B Nottingham Vipers Oxford Stars Peterborough Penguins Sheffield Shadows B Solent and Gosport Amazons Streatham Storm B Telford Wrekin Raiders Whitley Squaws
Governing bodies	English Ice Hockey Association Ice Hockey UK Northern Ireland Ice Hockey Association Scottish Ice Hockey
Competitions	League Championship Playoff Championship Challenge Cup Knockout Cup Northern League Varsity Match
Player awards	Alan Weeks Trophy Best British Forward British Netminder of the Year Coach of the Year Trophy Ice Hockey Annual Trophy Player of the Year Trophy Vic Batchelder Memorial Award
Defunct leagues and competitions	British Ice Hockey Association Ahearne Cup Autumn Cup British Hockey League British National League (1954–1960) British National League (1996–2005) English League English League North English National League Ice Hockey Superleague Inter-City League Northern League Scottish National League Scottish Premier Hockey League Southern League
Defunct teams	Ayr Bruins Ayr Scottish Eagles Brighton Tigers Castlereagh Knights Dundee Rockets Durham Wasps Earls Court Rangers Harringay Greyhounds Harringay Racers Hull Stingrays Hull Thunder Humberside Seahawks London Canadians London Lions London Knights London Racers Medway Bears Milton Keynes Kings Murrayfield Racers Newcastle Jesters Newcastle Vipers Niagara Ice Hockey Club Oxford Blades Peterborough Pirates Princes Ice Hockey Club Richmond Flyers Sheffield Lancers Sheffield Scimitars Southampton Vikings Sunderland Chiefs Swindon TopCats B TDC Northern Stars Telford Tigers ENL Telford Titans Wembley Lions Wembley Monarchs Wightlink Raiders Wightlink Tigers
Miscellaneous	Great Britain men's national ice hockey team Great Britain women's national ice hockey team British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame Ice Hockey Journalists UK IHSAUK
Related IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup