Dragons' Ethan Mayoh will be playing the Rob Craig Memorial game in aid of the Calm Zone mental health charity (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)
A number of Deeside players are to take part in this year’s
Rob Craig Memorial charity game, which will be played at Blackburn on 26th
April.
The game is
played every year in memory of former Blackburn recreational player Rob Craig
who took his own life in 2017 and aims to raise funds and awareness for mental
health charities.
The Deeside contingent
at this year’s game will include current D1 Dragons player Ethan Mayoh, along
with long-term Dragons favourites James Parsons - who is now player coach with
the D2 Dragons team - and Marc Lovell, who mainly coaches juniors nowadays but
also made a few guest appearances for the D1 Dragons last season.
The memorial
event is now in its 7th year, having been first staged in 2018 as a friendly
match between groups of Craig’s former team mates, and it has become bigger
every year as more people have wanted to become involved.
As the profile
of the event has grown, more companies and sponsors have come on board and the
game has been able to attract bigger player names to boost the team rosters.
Other notable players
who will be involved this year include:
- Canadian-born Manchester Storm and GB international defenceman Dallas Erhardt
- Former Manchester Storm and GB international player Cameron Critchlow
- GB women’s player CJ Ashton
- Plus Adam Barnes, Jacob Lutwyche, James Riddoch and Aaron Davies from Blackburn Hawks.
More players will be added to the line up in the run up to the event and they will be spread across two teams to ensure an entertaining and competitive game.
Marc Lovell (Photo by
Keith & Jenny Davies)
Talking about
taking part in the Rob Craig Memorial game this season, Marc Lovell sais:
“I am really
looking forward to being part of this event. There are some great names
involved and it will be fun to get out on the ice together, hopefully we will
raise a good amount of money and awareness for a very worthy cause.”
The beneficiary of the 2026 Rob Craig Memorial game will be the CALM Zone (Campaign Against Living Miserably), a suicide prevention charity on a mission to help people end their misery, not their lives.
You can find out more about the Calm Zone via their website https://www.thecalmzone.net
Advance tickets for the game on 26th April are now on sale via the Planet Ice Blackburn ticketing website at £5 for adults and £3 for Under 16s HERE – or you can pay on the door.
