MILDENHALL Fen Tigers’ chairman Kevin Jolly has declared himself “very happy” after this year’s National League Annual Conference which took place on Tuesday.

MILDENHALL Fen Tigers’ chairman Kevin Jolly has declared himself “very happy” after this year’s National League Annual Conference which took place on Tuesday.

“It was a very positive meeting with all the clubs looking forward to the new season and everyone pledging to work together to make it a successful 2013 for the National League,” he said.

The Fen Tigers will open their season with a defence of the National Trophy. The other three clubs taking part this year are Stoke, the Isle of Wight and new boys Kent.

“We decided to keep the Trophy going, but to run it at the start of the season rather than the end,” Jolly explained. “It’s an ideal opportunity for the boys to get back into the swing of things, such as Nathan (Stoneman) who is coming back from serious injury. Hopefully they’ll be able to get set-ups sorted out and get mentally dialled in before we get down to defending our league title, the Fours, the Pairs and trying to win the Knock Out Cup for the third year in a row.”

The draw for the KO Cup will be made in the next few weeks, with all eight teams in the League taking part this season.

Mildenhall will again host the NL Best Pairs, after last year’s highly successful staging that saw Lewis Blackbird and Cameron Heeps lift the title. The final fixture list for 2013 is being drawn up at the moment, although an opening date at West Row still has to be decided.

“We’ll be sorting things out with stadium owner, Dave Coventry, in the next few days and, at the moment, we are hoping to start in mid-April,” Jolly concluded, “It promises to be a fantastic season and, like everyone else, I can’t wait to get started.”