Special report by Paul Agnew

WESLEY Fawthrop probably doesn't realise it yet - but the very future of ice hockey in Lancashire could well rest at his feet.

The puck stops with 14-year-old netminder Wesley, along, of course, with the other emerging starlets down at Blackburn Arena.

That simple fact comes as the direct result of a season of under-achievement by the local Hawks, not to mention a general state of uncertainty within the British game as a whole.

And the Arena powers-that-be are ready to call HALT - not to the sport, or to the team, but to the way the whole business is run and financed. Quite frankly, ice hockey may well be a thrilling spectacle and great entertainment but, seven years on, it still doesn't attract enough cash at the door.

A couple of seasons back when Ryan Kummu put together arguably the best Hawks side ever, the average number of paying punters at an Arena home date numbered just 800. Multiply that by an admission price of around £5 for around 25 fixtures and the shortfall between gate income and the season's running cost of some £300,00 is clearly evident.

Cloth has been slashed rather than cut since then, but there is still more to be done, lots more. The days of expensive overseas players are all but over. "We appreciate the loyalty of our hard core support," says an Arena spokesman.

"But we now need to address the situation, take a long hard look at our product and find a way to ensure the sport's survival in this region. It will require hard decisions on our part and a test of patience and commitment for the supporters. This season has highlighted many things and we intend to learn from what's happened."

Although the very structure of ice hockey in Britain will again come under heavy scrutiny once the action is over in a month or so, there seems little doubt that Hawks will take measures in order to protect the sport in the county.

It may involve playing the senior side in a different perhaps more regionalised standard. It will certainly involved producing more and more in the way of home-grown talent.

Enter Master Fawthrop. The diminutive figure of young Wesley caused quite a stir - not to mention the biggest cheer of the night - when he "iced" in the latter stages of last Sunday's Northern League home game with Fife, and again against Paisley on Tuesday night.

It's all come as a bit of a shock to the young netminder, who has been plunged straight from the Blackburn Eagle's, the Arena's under-16's outfit, into the professional set up - not least having to sign countless autographs after the game. "It was great, although I must admit I was shaking before I went on" says Wesley.

"Even though I was only on for a few minutes I'd love to do it again. I thought they were joking when they asked if I'd like to appear in the squad, but it was a great atmosphere compared to the Eagles and easily the highlight in my hockey career so far." Wesley actually hails from Bradford, and makes the journey into Blackburn with his dad Tony, who manages Slapshot hockey shop on Darwen Street. He spent three seasons with the youth set-up there, but he soon realised that he wasn't getting anywhere at the West Yorkshire club.

And things have snowballed ever since.

"The set-up at Blackburn is much more professional and much better organised than at Bradford. I'm playing more matches for a start - at my old club I often wasn't picked to get on the ice, whereas Blackburn help me get all the ice time I can."

Wesley's dad couldn't agree more.

"He's come on in leaps and bounds since we moved over to the Arena. There's more scope to develop the youngsters here, and it's a good set-up. It costs us more these days because we're travelling in from Bradford, and sometimes don't get back until the early hours, but Wesley is getting much more experience, and that's what you need to progress."

Not half. There aren't many clubs who would risk one of their brightest young things in a senior game, even for a few minutes at the tail-end.

But then Wesley, along with several other future stars from the set-up, is already making waves.

He is a squad member in the under-16s Northern Conference side, which skims the cream of young talent every year. And along with Wayne Slater and twins Andy and Dave Sheffield, Wesley makes up a quartet of squad members from the Eagles on the Northern Conference side. Already he's travelled halfway round the world in the name of ice hockey.

"I went to Canada with the Northern Conference last year which was a terrific experience," he explains.

"It's a far more physical game over there, and although we were getting knocked around at the start of the week, we'd learned to start fighting back by the end."

Wesley hopes to go pro one day, with one eye already on the GB National team.

And he's already a shrewd operator - despite the heavy Canadian influence on the national side, he's all too aware that they tend to stick with British goalies.

And there's no reason why he shouldn't make it. Watch this space.

BLACKBURN Kestrels Under 14s Ice Hockey team maintained their 100 per cent record last Sunday to make it 10 wins in 10 games, and become Northern B League Champions.

The Kestrels are the first junior club from the Blackburn youth development scheme to win the league.

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