BY his own admission, former Knights forward Adam Woolnough isn't much of a skater.
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However, as the recently appointed general manager of Ice Hockey Australia, he still wanted to test himself inside the rink.
The new experience even gave Woolnough, who played 155 NRL games between 2002 and 2011, a greater appreciation for those competing at high levels and more understanding about the interest in winter sports.
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"I tried it out a couple of weeks ago and it was my first experience. I didn't fall over and make a fool of myself, but I certainly felt all the different muscles I'd never used before," Woolnough told the Newcastle Herald while back in the region as part of his latest role.
"They are impressive athletes and they grow up doing this, so the sooner you can get on the ice the better.
"It's also what gave me great hope, coming into Hunter Ice Skating Stadium [HISS] during this period. The number of people interested in participating is phenomenal.
"HISS have clearly done a wonderful job growing the sport and they [punters] may not all want to be ice hockey pros or figure skaters or whatever else, but there's interest in ice sports."
Woolnough, born in Taree and now aged 40, arrives at the top of Ice Hockey Australia via post-footy stints in a coal mine, the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
"It's a new sport for me, but there's so many parallels between sports," he said.
"I've had the benefit of being across so many programs at the QAS and AIS ... plus I played myself. Of course there's nuances [in different codes], but what I've learnt already is there's a passionate community of ice hockey followers and supporters. Harnessing that and trying to sing from the same hymn sheet can be really powerful."
One of his first assignments was travelling to Newcastle in January and helping oversee national training camps, which included an excursion to Knights headquarters with visiting US coaches Dan Jablonic and Steve Thompson.
An expanded Australian Ice Hockey League is scheduled to get underway on April 15-16 with the Newcastle Northstars, last season's grand finalists, away to Melbourne for a double header against the Mustangs and Ice.
Meanwhile, Northstars rookie Ryan Duchemin was on Thursday named in the Australian squad to contest the men's under-18 World Championships (division two) in Bulgaria from March 27 to April 2.
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Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
