England Hockey Crisis - Part 1 - The National League
Well yet again I am writing about hockey, but as explained in my past post it is a very crucial time for the survival of the sport in the UK. When I posted my views I didn't expect such an over whelming reaction of support, the engagement was fantastic and hopefully can be the start of the game changing. Anyway, on the back off that post I have decided to write 3 more in depth pieces on the topics covered and try suggest a reasonable solution.
Where better to start than the domestic structure, in particular the National leagues.
The Issues
The National League has been around since 1974 and is meant to be the pinnacle of the English club game, but in reality how many children grow up wanting to win the Premier League? Very few that is for sure. Let's compare that to the Dutch or German systems, most kids have two goals: get an international cap and win the top flight. For example, a junior playing at Kampong dreams of winning a title with their home town team, just look at what it meant to some of the J018 boys who won the Hoofdklasse this season with Amsterdam. My best memories were following Sheffield Hallam across the country in their attempts to either survive in the Premier League or push into the Premier League. I always knew I'd never be an international but my goal was to make the 1XI
The issues within the current system are simple. It's too complex, lacks any proper leadership and is poorly marketed and promoted. Why? Is it laziness? Is it cause there's no interest? Do kids not care anymore? For me it all connected, proper leadership installs a simple system, which is easier to follow and market. Market it well then the commercial deals come and in turn the money which grows the game.
My Solution
So I've moaned (something I do a lot of), but what would I do to fix the system? It's simple, we strip it back, reset and rebuild.
First of all, the National Leagues should be ran as an independent entity to England Hockey. It's one of a few leagues in England where the governing body runs the league: football, rugby, netball are all ran by separate bodies / divisions within the governing body. Doing this provides dedicated resources to run the leagues and provides more opportunities for commercial investment.
Secondly, we ban 2XI from the system, let the talent that's good enough to play there go and play at other clubs and therefore make more clubs stronger. Also, let's be real but it doesn't look great when you see a so called "elite" league structure containing reserve teams.
Thirdly, let's put some ground requirements in place for the Premier League. Nothing drastic but why not stipulate that a side must have a clubhouse and adequate spectator facilities, such as a mini stand or covered standing. Promote investment into facilities before players. You could easily have a top Premier League with these standards in place next season: EG, Holcombe, Beeston, Southgate, Reading, Surbiton already suffice. Good facilities means more people want to watch, brings more money in which in turns allows more investment into the players and the game.
Have the three tiers, 10 teams in each division, so 70 in total. Have a schedule whereby we have international breaks (like football and rugby) so that internationals can play more often, increasing the standard of the game. Then, let's introduce an indoor system over the off months, but I'll cover that in another article cause that's even bigger issue.
Having all this in place provides a good base, then we promote it. Support and mentor clubs in the use of social media. The guys at Hockey Focus do a great job for example, good social media builds the interest. We can use this to share clips of skills etc and make role models out of the players. Once you can show people there is support and a platform the commercial side will follow as a result.
It's a cycle, build the product properly, promote it properly then generate money from it. A stable product like this, which can be self funded allows for changes in the international setup, but that's the next article.
So there we go, my in depth look at the issues and a detailed proposal on how we can solve it. What are your thoughts?
Most men’s NL matches are Sundays, except where agreed by both teams to do double headers, late night Saturday games etc. You want the future of the club to be able to come and watch their 1st XI’s play, but most of the time they clash with junior fixtures (home and away) preventing this spectator engagement.
ReplyDeleteMy view on this personally, although it might be slightly controversial would be to make NL teams all play Saturday evenings unless agreed for something slightly different. And EH use some of the money they receive from clubs as affiliation fees & tournament entry fees, to reimburse clubs with suitable accommodation costs for that night, it would encourage teams to stick around at post match tea / bar venues increasing club revenue. Teams like universities can and usually afford transportation and therefore wouldn’t require overnight accommodation. But it also reinforces the amateur status of the sport, and clubs actually mingling together. There are too many occasions of teams leaving straight away to get back home when if accommodation was provided for away teams then it can promote serious good interclub bonding & revenue for teams
Most clubs are now starting to engage with social media and definitely within the last 2/3 seasons it has helped to increase popularity and help to advertise what is occurring at the clubs and on which days. However, to do the socials correctly and properly it does require clubs to have someone interested and committed to doing it, and not everyone who can do it, would give their own time for free to do it, which in turn means some clubs would not be able to afford to compensate them.
Not all clubs can afford to own pitches / club houses (for whatever reasons individual to different clubs). Many clubs have shared use of club houses with other sports, cricket, racket sports etc. Schools in the local areas to the clubs have the funding to own their own pitches, and lease them to sports clubs to use at weekends, which for many, particularly smaller clubs is the more financially stable option compared to owning pitches, utilities etc out right. So why should teams the draw from local areas and excel in developing quality players & teams and compete at the level without issue every weekend be punished for being smaller in size due to catchment area etc. Club i played for used a local 6th form pitch & facilities for match day, many of the players went to the 6th college, then the club used a local pub to provide quality match teas and boost business for what would be a quiet Sunday would bring in 30+ people for at least an hour or two. Isn’t that part of what amateur sport is…i dont see club cricketers complaining when at the end of the game the club they were playing at had no bar so everyone would have to head to the nearest pub in the village,
I’m looking forward to reading the post about indoor when it you write it, as someone who’s played EH Prem indoor, EH div 1 indoor, and in Europe for indoor, I have multiple opinions on what I think the useless EH could do to help a sport that is flourishing in Europe, Asia, southern africa and in the Americas ALONGSIDE Hockey5s. So excited to see your opinions on the indoor in England and the depressing status that EH have encompassed it with.
For me they should take the approach NL, Belgium and Germany take...whereby we have one day dedicated for adult games and another for juniors. No reason for there to be an overlap. Then have set times for 1XI games, but this only works if you have a 1XI only league like they do in NL. More Friday night games would help too as would Saturday evening derby games.
DeleteNot saying clubs should own their facilities but work in partnerships to develop top facilities. For example, cricket and hockey share a clubhouse and therefore the clubs both benefit from income. If we keep renting pitches and not putting focus on facilities there'll never be meaningful growth.