Professor Bill Harris has been single-handedly responsible for maintaining, developing, coordinating and delivering the ice hockey programme in Cambridge for over a quarter of a century. In recognition of his services towards Cambridge ice hockey, Bill was named as one of the 4 inductees for 2023 into the UK Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hockey Hall of Fame has been part of UK ice hockey since 1948, celebrating individuals who have rendered outstanding service to British ice hockey. It was an honour to invite Ian Cooper and Stewart Roberts from the UK Ice Hockey Hall of Fame to formally induct Bill at our Varsity Matches on 9th of March 2024.
When Bill came to Cambridge in 1997, he was surprised to discover that, despite the university having an ice hockey club that had been established over a century earlier in 1885, and having a distinguished playing record, it had never had a rink to call its own. He led a 22-year-long fund-raising campaign, turning the initial million pounds, bequeathed by former Blues Captain David Gattiker, into £5.5 million. Impressively, he managed to even get the university to donate £2.5 million. Despite the many obstacles, thanks to Bill’s hard work and dedication, the dream eventually became a reality.
The 1,000 person-capacity Cambridge Ice Arena – known locally as the Gattiker Ice Rink – was completed and opened in August 2019. It now hosts seven teams and is proving to be highly popular with the next generation of hockey players in Cambridgeshire.
Nationally, Bill has provided support and advice in establishing the British Universities Ice Hockey Association in the early 2000s. And At Cambridge University, he is head coach of the Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club. To date, Bill has guided the men’s Light Blues through 28 annual Varsity Matches against their great adversaries, University of Oxford. He was also instrumental in bringing together, under one umbrella, the University’s men’s and women’s teams, and helped to set up the Huskies, the entry point for newcomers to Cambridge University ice hockey.
While doing all of this, Prof Harris is also a highly accomplished neuro-scientist, who has received international recognition for his academic prowess. He is Professor Emeritus of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and a Fellow of the Royal Society in London. For his exceptional work in his field, he has been awarded numerous prizes, most notably the Waddington Medal in 2017 by the British Society for Developmental Biology for his work on the development of the visual system.
We, as a team, want to pay tribute to a player, coach and mentor whose skill, passion, and dedication have left an indelible mark on the sport of hockey. Throughout his illustrious career, Bill Harris was more than just a player. He was a leader, a role model, and a source of inspiration for generations of hockey players. To commemorate everything Bill has done for Cambridge Ice Hockey and CUIHC, we will be retiring Bill’s Jersey, number 27, as well as introducing an award in his name, the ‘Bill Harris Award’ - for the CUIHC player who has made the biggest positive difference to the club on or off the ice.
