Leeds Knights determined to forge right pathway for talented youngsters to realise their ambitions

When Leeds Knights announced their Player Development Partnership with Widnes Wild at the weekend, it marked what both organisations hope will be the beginning of a ‘beautiful friendship’, so to speak.

The goaltending pair stand to benefit a great deal from the agreement, continuing their training at Elland Road Ice Arena under the watchful eye of Knights’ goalie coach Davey Lawrence and alongside No 1 netminder Sam Gospel, while also gaining more game-time one level below with the Wild.

The fact the Wild are led by player-coach Joey Coulter - a former Knights’ forward and one of the original Leeds Chiefs’ players from back in 2019 - should ensure a smooth transition in both directions.

One reason Aldridge was so keen to make the project work was because of his former charge Coulter, who played underneath him at Leeds for half a season before moving on in the summer of 2022.

Initially moving down to NIHL North One with the Wild as a player, it was no surprise when he was chosen to succeed Richie Haggar as player-coach in Cheshire, once the Hull-born forward headed home to East Yorkshire to rejoin hometown team Hull Jets in North Two.

Coulter already had a wealth of coaching experience banked, first in Scotland at Solway Sharks and then as another pair of eyes and ears for Sam Zajac once the Chiefs was up and running in the summer of 2019.

A regular helping hand at hockey camps up and down the UK in recent years has also offered him another window from which to view emerging talent.

Crucially, for Aldridge, he shares the same ideals in terms of helping players progress through the ranks, eventually moving on to bigger and better things.

As Walker and Tessadri make their own progress both coaches will be working together to ensure the conveyor belt of talented youngsters in the north will continue to thrive between their two organisations.

“Widnes are a club who probably have similar beliefs to us,” explained Aldridge, whose players return to the ice this week for the start of their pre-season training.

“Joey is the only coach in that league who has advertised players to me this year - he wants to put players on a pathway to move up and give them the chance if he feels they deserve it.

“With Joey and Widnes, they have the right mindset and are an organisation we want to work closely with.”

An understandable aim is for youngsters coming through the Leeds Junior Knights programme to one day go on and play for the senior team.

But Aldridge also has his net cast further afield across the north, much like when he held an open training session in May last year ahead of his first full season behind the Knights’ bench.

“We know what we want to build here in Leeds,” added Aldridge. “We know we need to develop our own players and the junior development is doing that and I need to play a bigger role in that.

“But we’re keen to dig out talent from across the whole of the north of England - we obviously don’t want to close our doors to any local players.

“I’ve never hidden the fact that I like working with young, talented British players - hopefully, we can help give them the pathway their talent deserves.”