Sheffield Steelers: Aaron Fox and Carter Beston-Will sign new three-year contract to remain coaches UK News

It follows the new seven-year Arena lease agreement signed between Steelers and Sheffield Council earlier this week.

The developments have given rise to a new sense of stability and planning which can now lead the club to better things on and off the ice.

Head coach Fox, 45, said he was delighted with his personal deal and said of his time in charge on the bench: “It’s been a great situation for me and my family.

“Ownership gives me the tools to put us in a competitive team every year and hopefully compete for trophies. It’s a great organization, great fan base, there’s not a lot of more than I can ask for.”

Fox said his right-hand man Beston-Will, 23, brings a lot to the table.

“He currently does our Penalty Kill meetings, does a ton of pre-scouting for me, runs the ‘D’ during games, just a lot of day-to-day stuff.

“From a video standpoint, he’ll be rounding up throughout the week and getting it to me so I can put together a game plan against each team.”

Although there is no specific three-year target for the coaching staff, the longevity of the deal should be helpful for players and management.

“We try to bring together a core group of guys that you feel you can win with and then build around those key elements.

“I feel like we have some good young talent coming through the organization right now, we were able to bring back some core guys from this 2019-20 year that we had success with,” Fox said.

This young talent includes the likes of Sam Jones, Alex Graham, Cole Shudra, Brandon Whistle and Curtis Warburton.

The team’s long-term goal from year to year would always be to lift silverware, he said.

“In 2018-19, before I arrived, we were a seventh-placed team (the team was first coached by Paul Thompson and then Tom Barrasso.)

“I don’t think they made the Play Off semi-final or the Cup semi-final,” he said.

“We put ourselves in the position where we won a trophy in the 19-20 season, obviously we lost in the Challenge Cup this year and with 10 games to go we are right there for a league title.”

Fox said his stated goal from the start was to compete for trophies.

“Hopefully we will get there this year,” he said, while acknowledging “it’s a process.”

As for his wife and daughter, the American said: “We are full time residents, we don’t go anywhere in the summer, my child goes to school (in Sheffield.)

“My family always chased me around Europe and now we’ve been here for three years, they have friends, they have a personal life… it gives them a bit of stability.”