D2 Dragons Confirm Coaches For New Season

Deeside D2 Dragons
Head Coach Gary Shaw
(Photo by Paul Breeze

The Deeside D2 Dragons Laidler Division team have confirmed that Head Coach Gary Shaw will be back at the helm for the forthcoming 2026/27 Laidler Division season, with Simon Hughes and James Parsons also returning as assistant coaches.

The Division 2 development side – known as the Ducks for their first season – was formed in 2024 to offer a stepping stone between the Deeside junior programme and the main Dragons Moralee Division team, giving promising younger players the opportunity to benefit from playing regular competitive hockey to help with their development.

In the past two seasons, the Ducks / D2 Dragons set up has given NIHL debuts to 27 such players and a number of them have also had opportunities to play up with the senior Dragons team.

After finishing in 9^th place out of 9 teams in their first season, the D2 Dragons showed a great improvement this time around, finishing 6^th in the final league table and going on to surprise a lot of people by beating higher ranked opposition in both the quarter-final and semi-final of the playoffs to win through to the final, only to lose out to league champions Sutton Sting.

Gary Shaw has a decades-long connection with Deeside and is a former player with both the Deeside Dragons and Flintshire Freeze. He has also served as Assistant Coach and Head Coach with the Deeside Dragons, Head Coach of the Deeside Dragons U18 programme, and most recently leading both the Deeside Ducks and D2 Dragons.

Simon Hughes brings valuable hockey experience, having played senior hockey with both the Deeside Dragons and Trafford Metros and was an Assistant Coach under Gary Shaw with the Deeside Demons second team back in the late 1980s. His knowledge of the game, calm approach, and dedication to player development make him a key member of the coaching staff.

James Parsons is another long-time Deeside favourite with over 20 years’ experience playing for the senior Dragons. He made a great impression with the development side last season both as coach and also as a player where he scored 17 goals and 13 assists in 26 games.