Dear Sledge Hockey Clubs, Players, Officials, Volunteers and Partners.
As you may know on Saturday 6th October the BSHA hosted a meeting to discuss the league structure for 2013 to which all current and potential clubs were invited. The meeting was attended by representatives from current clubs, emerging clubs, the current GB coach, directors of the BSHA and our friends from Cadbury.
The meeting was positive and enabled us to set a direction which we believe will benefit all involved in our sport.
The following approach to the 2013 league programme was agreed following a full discussion of the practicalities facing the sport and particularly with a view to increasing involvement and providing the best environment for development of the sport. It is accepted that there remains a number of areas where detailed work is still required.
The principles agreed were the following :
The structure for the league should be in the form of 2 divisions, with each division having 3 teams.
The first division will feature the Kingston Kestrels, the Manchester Phoenix and the Peterborough Phantoms whilst the second division will feature the Coventry Honey Badgers, a club based in Milton Keynes (name to be confirmed) and the Cardiff Huskies. This allows us to have balanced competition within each division whilst recognising the different needs and skill levels of the emerging clubs.
It was agreed to keep the existing mini-tournament structure with each league having 3 mini-tournaments as it seems to have been generally accepted that this provides the best game time versus cost equation.
It was also agreed that we would hold a play-off event at the end of the league programme.
At the play-offs the top two of league one will play each other, the bottom of league one will play the top team of league two and then the second and third teams of league 2 will play each other. The idea was discussed that the game between the bottom league 1 team and the top league two game could be utilized as a promotion game however a decision on this has been deferred but will be made prior to commencement of the league.
It was agreed that the BSHA would arrange the league games dates in consultation with the venues involved and the host clubs.
It was thought that there is a need to produce a set of guidelines and a best practice paper on how to run a league tournament and the BSHA has undertaken to do that. The BSHA will also produce generic marketing materials that clubs can use. Clubs accepted that it was their responsibility to run the event and to recruit and support the relevant volunteers.
Additionally there are a number of teams that it was felt weren’t developed sufficiently to compete in a league structure for the forthcoming season but who should be supported and encouraged in playing friendly games. These teams are expected to be the SPICE (Slough) Jets, Swindon Wildcats, the Battle Back Bisons, the Basingstoke Bison, a team in Telford (name to be confirmed) and the Grimsby Stormers.
It was agreed that for all BSHA sanctioned games (including the league) officials would be provided from the English Ice Hockey Association through the BSHA Senior Referee, Andy Newbold. All communication with on-ice officials to be through the BSHA for these events. Andy can be contacted on [email protected]. At present , the fee for a sledge hockey official is £10 per official per game plus travel expenses. Last season (2012) we endeavoured to provide three officials per game however it has been agreed that going forward it would be acceptable to have two officials per game.
Additionally it was agreed that Portland Trophies would remain as the official trophy supplier to the BSHA.
A number of other topics were raised and discussed during the day and more information about those matters will be provided in later communications.
Going forward it was agreed to have a meeting in November to focus on ways we can develop our sport outside the league and to combine it with the AGM. As well as looking at how we can support and develop clubs we also need to review aspects of the governance.
You may be aware we are currently undergoing the Sport England Recognition process and part of this process was becoming a limited company by guarantee which required the introduction of a new constitution to meet legal and governance requirements. This wasn’t easy given that prior to 2009 there was no evidence of an AGM and the only legally acceptable constitution was the one held by the British Wheelchair Sports Association which was introduced when the BSHA was originally formed. Part of the meeting in November will be to form a working party to review our governance documents with a view to introducing changes (if any are required) at our 2013 AGM. As you may be aware the BSHA are signed up to the Voluntary Code of Good Governance introduced by the Sport and Recreation Alliance and this will be a useful tool for the review.
In terms of the GB programme the BSHA met with the BPA in May to begin the planning process for Sochi 2014 and are meeting with the BPA again in November to progress. The relationship with the BPA has developed positively over the past three years and they remain an important partner in the development of our sport. It is great to see a number of our elite athletes gain access to TASS funding and it was a honour for our sport that we were invited to participate in the Paralympic Inspiration Programme.
Next year promises to be an exciting year full of opportunity. When you consider that in January 2009 we had one team, the Kingston Kestrels, training on a regular basis and about 15 players scattered throughout the country it is great to see potential becoming a reality. If 2012 was the year of the summer Paralympic sports let’s make sure that 2013 is the year when winter sport starts to make itself known.
Kindest regards
Matt Lloyd
Chair – British Sledge Hockey Association
