There were no North-East junior ice hockey teams at tournaments last weekend, but they made up for it this time around. At Deeside Leisure Centre, Clwyd, the North Wales club are holding another annual Under-12 and Under-14 two-day tournament.

Both Sunderland and Whitley Bay clubs are competing at each age group. With five teams overall in each group Sunderland Cherokees and Whitley Bay Arrow join Flintshire Flyers, Solihull Kings and Telford Terrahawks in the Under-12 event.

All teams to play each other and league position will determine the semi-finals at first will play third and second play fourth. The winner will go through to the final.

The Under-14 event will also be in the same format with Solihull Sabres, Telford Venom, Sunderland Commanches and Whitley Mohawks joining hosts Flintshire.

The following weekend, July 12 and 13 Sunderland Cherokees and Billingham Pumas are at the Peterborough Under-12 tournament. Kingston, North Ayr, Telford, Milton Keynes, Chelmsford and Peterborough are competing in the eight-team tournament.

Despite the close season preparations getting under way for the 2003-2004 season which begins in late August/early September, junior teams are registering players currently for the new season and are awaiting in anticipation for the fixtures to be made.

However, the struggle at the top level of the sport is holding things up a little. Newly formed Elite ice hockey league which came from the ashes of the ice hockey superleague which went into liquidation at the end of 2002-2003 season had not been sanctioned by Ice Hockey UK, the sport's governing body in this country.

Elite league who already have issued a fixture list for an eight-team league could lose three of those sides. Belfast Giants have debts of around £1.4m, Cardiff Devils have been accepted in the Findus British National League plus Nottingham Panthers will not be allowed to play out of the National Ice Centre, Nottingham, if the new league is refused to be sanctioned by Ice Hockey UK (IHUK).

English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) met representatives of Elite ice hockey league on a number of constructive meetings. EIHA and EIHL issued a joint press release last week that EIHL has an affiliation in principal with EIHA.

IHUK are not happy with the above who announced on Monday, June 30. In a statement Stuart Robertson, chairman of IHUK, said that The directors of IHUK named the apparent decision of EIHA to accept affiliation from the Elite league as being very worrying and totally against their understanding of the stands of the EIHA from three previous IHUK board meetings.

If this is true we will be asking for an explanation from EIHA and confirmation. After voting against EIHL affiliation to IHUK, EIHA has had a compete about turn which causes IHUK much concern.

Without IHUK backing EIHL would be a renegade league and if it went ahead could not play clubs from other leagues and countries and neither recognised by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Unable in obtaining referees, work permits and none of its players being able to represent England or Great Britain at any level.

We await further updates.

Elsewhere Findus British National League have announced an eight-team league consisting of Bracknell Bees, Cardiff Devils, Dundee Stars, Edinburgh Capitals, Fife Flyers, Guildford Flames, Hull Stingrays and Newcastle KBS Vipers. It will begin with the Findus Cup qualifying rounds where teams will play each other once to determine who will go forward for the cup finals weekend.

The regular league season will commence on the weekend of October 25-26 with each team playing each other three times home and away.

Newcastle have started team building for this coming season and announce that Rob Wilson, Paul Ferone, Rob Trumbley and Simon Leach all return to the club. David Longstaff, 29, Great Britain captain, has signed a two-hear contract with Vipers and is returning to his North-East roots.

Longstaff spent a little time with Vipers last season after the demise of Manchester Storm. He completed the season for Switzerland.

Joining Newcastle will be Matt Beveridge, a former Whitley Warriors import. He played last season with English premier league side Invicta Dynamos. Beveridge began with Whitley in the season 1996-1997 and then spent a season in Germany with Dorfen.

Peterborough and Paisley were where Beveridge spent the season 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 respectively. He then moved on to play three seasons for Invicta scoring 302 points (138 goals and 164 assists) from 127 games.

Jonathan Weaver is the latest Vipers acquisition. The Sunderland-born forward was with Newcastle Cobras in the seasons 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 before moving to Manchester and Ayr. Last season Weaver began with season with Ayr before leaving the superleague. Hull Thunder and Fife Flyers were Weaver's FBNL clubs during last season.

Sunderland Chiefs and Billingham Bears are in a nine-team English National Hockey League North for season 2003-2004. Nottingham Lions having dropped down from EPL are newcomers, while Altrincham Aces and Whitley Warriors have dropped out. Altrincham due to the Altrincham ice rink being sold and Warriors having opted to play at a higher level.

There is a distinct possibility that Whitley could be in ENHL North this season. The league has its fixtures meeting on July 12. Decision time is not too far away.

Whitley Bay are one of two clubs that have made late applications this week to join FBNL. The team will be owned by EUNA Sports where owner Tom Stewart has an agreement with Francis Smith, the Hillheads rink owner, to run an FBNL side at the rink.

A spokesman for EUNA Sports has said: "We have made applications on behalf of Whitley Bay and Ayr to join the British National League. Letters have been sent to Gary Stefan, general manager, and Stan Wiltshire, secretary, on Tuesday and have spoken to them.

"In the next week or so we will be meeting the FBNL to present our plan."

Sports firm EUNA's owner is a former owner of Dundee Rockets. Tom Stewart, who won the British championship three times in the early 1980s as well as British premier league twice in the Heineken era.

Rockets were runners-up in both championship league and Scottish Cup.