The Motor Nation Solihull Barons are delighted to announce the return of exciting young forwards Jake Larkin and Dave Rogers for the 2013-14 season.

Both players were consistent points scorers last season and will be eager to continue to add to the tally when the new season opens in September.

Having played as a youngster at Solihull, Larkin had been playing the last few seasons in the Coventry junior and NL teams but made the jump back to Solihull early last season, where he pulled in an impressive 30 league points.

Speaking about his re-signing for 13-14 Larkin was buoyant.

"I knew i wanted to come back to Solihull when all the lads were treating me like I never even left and encouraged me on & off the ice. My highlight for last season would've been me scoring my first hat-trick for the Barons and throwing up in the car park as we got home !"

Outside hockey Jake mixes engineering studies at college with working in his father's Samson forklift and HGV concern but is keeping up the road and gym work to ensure he is still sharp when training resumes in August.

Asked about his views on the Nottingham Lions opting to remain in Division 2, the 18 year old forward was unfazed, "Nottingham's just another team in a different shirt who were gonna show how to play next season !" (see below for details on the Lions.)

Joining Jake on the Motor Nation Barons forward lines will be another teenager in the form of Dave Rogers, who mixed his hockey last season between the Barons and the Under-18 Knights.

Roger's hockey profile follows a similar pattern to Larkin's having also spent previous seasons at Coventry.

"I started as a junior at Solihull, left for 3 seasons to Coventry juniors, but came back for final year of juniors and Barons 2012/13."

A plasterer by trade, Dave is keeping his hand in by playing in a Summer league but is desperate for the season to start again.

"2013/14 will be my first season as a fully fledged senior and I can't wait to be part of the team. Above all else the fan base at Solihull is amazing and probably the best in the league."

"Scoring for the Barons against my old team Coventry ENL Blaze in the charity game at the beginning of the season was probably the highlight of last year. For next season I will be aiming to get my game to progress even more and will hope that with the recent good signings for the team we bond well and have a really good season."

Rogers was philosophical about the prospect of facing Nottingham again next season.

"I can see where Nottingham are coming from wanting to remain in Div 2. Costs are a major issue for all teams and trips to Solway, Billingham and Whitley are a major burden especially for us Midlands teams."

Stay tuned for more exciting Barons signings over the next few weeks !

The Nottingham Lions, winners of the 2012-13 EIHA North 2 title have chosen not to make the step up to Division 1 for 2013-14.

A quirk of fortune has seen three of the strongest and most Northerly teams in either division, Solway, Billingham and Whitley being in division 1.

For Nottingham, the costs and logistics involved in facing these sides has influenced their decision to stay in the slightly more centrally based teams in division 2.

Nottingham Lions Head coach Matt Bradbury stated “It is a bit of divide – you’ve got the top four, top five clubs in Division One and realistically we would be a bottom four, bottom three team next season and do we want to take that gamble where we are set to lose a considerable amount of money with the travel and it also wouldn’t give us the opportunity to blood our younger players.”