Getting hockey noticed - Skill And Nominate.

As an advanced warning, this post may become more of a rant, but I'm just going to go with the flow...

Roughly 9 months ago, in fact, around the time when Neck Nominations were flooding our Facebook news-feeds, I experienced a rare eureka moment. I thought to myself, this is such a great idea, why not apply the nomination-based concept to hockey in some way? After all, hockey struggles to get a word in on social media amongst all the other major sports, so something like this could be a step in the right direction for getting our sport noticed. I spent a lot of time dabbling with the idea and finally thought, let's just have a stab at it and see if it goes anywhere.

As a result, and some of you may have heard, Hockey Issues has very recently set up a Facebook page to host an interactive challenge named 'Skill And Nominate.' If you haven't you should check it out at: www.facebook.com/HockeyIssuesSkillAndNominate... it's going to be great fun. Don't worry if you're not especially skilful, this challenge is for anyone who enjoys hockey so get involved!

I spent a couple of days drumming up interest prior to the launch of the page, messaging clubs of all shapes and sizes. A number of clubs, universities, and international players have expressed their desire to help get the ball rolling which is amazing and the support is much appreciated. Unfortunately, in an attempt to gain more exposure, I approached the FIH (International Hockey Federation) explained the concept, the aim (being to promote hockey), and merely asked them to share the link to the page on their timeline so more hockey players could be made aware. Here is the reply I received:

Maybe I've interpreted this message incorrectly, but I think what's happening here is the FIH are stealing the concept for themselves. Does anyone else think it's "kind of funny and strange" that they're conveniently waiting another month to run with the idea? Perhaps it is a complete coincidence, however I very much doubt it. The confirmation of their thievery came when I replied asking if they fancied collaborating on the basis 'Skill And Nominate' was already live, and funnily enough, wasn't graced with a reply. I suppose they've got what they want now so why bother wasting time acknowledging my follow-up message? Then again, at least they had the decency to reply in the first place, unlike England Hockey, who held true to form in being as responsive as an insurance company the minute you try to make a claim. Has anyone else tried on several occasions to get hold of England Hockey and been given the cold shoulder? 

Anyway to get back on topic, 'Skill And Nominate' is for the benefit of hockey, not Hockey Issues, but for everyone who likes the sport to take part in and have a laugh. If the FIH end up doing their own thing, then they are undermining the whole point by forming a divide. Who knows what 'Skill And Nominate' could spiral into, it has the potential to become huge. What I do know is there needs to be a concerted effort, therefore Sam Ward and Ellie Watton using the concept to run #skills4scan on a separate medium is not good for hockey. Furthermore, a joint campaign would hopefully increase donations towards the fantastic cause they are raising money for!

Before I sign off from this far too serious post/rant, I just want to make clear why I'm giving the FIH and England Hockey a bit of stick. I want hockey to be given the credit it deserves, for there to be large turn-outs at national league games and for hockey to feature regularly on television. This isn't going to happen if the governing bodies don't support positive initiatives, or if members of the hockey community turn their noses up at clubs like Holcombe, who hopefully have kick-started the move towards hockey becoming a professional sport. Cricket's progressed massively in this respect over recent years, so why can't hockey? Pull your fingers out people, unless you're happy allowing the sport to stagnate, and letting international hockey get bumped to the red-button by replays of the darts from 2005. In which case, jump on the England Hockey bandwagon and ignore me.

Rant over. Next time it'll be significantly more amusing, I promise!

Charlie

3 rules to training after a bad day...

We all love game days regardless of the time or weather, but what about training? Let me paint the picture. You get home after a rubbish day at work/school, feeling like the world's against you, and then you realise it's hockey training tonight. Bollocks.You unwillingly march upstairs and throw your kit on, whilst looking out the window at the relentless rain beating down. You're praying that your captain will ring to say that training is off tonight, as running around in the rain for an hour and a half might just be the final straw, not to mention that bloody sock you just can't find anywhere! But of course it's not cancelled, it's an 'all-weather sport' remember?! Unfortunately 'all-weather' only encapsulates rain but that's besides the point. If you ever experience one of the evenings illustrated above, then here are three suggestions on how to make training at least bearable:

1. Arrive late - This way you miss the dreaded warm-up led by the person in the team who possesses next to no hockey ability, but instead gets into the team on the basis that they're fit. You can also get just as warm by cranking up the fan in your car to the hottest setting, and this way you stay dry for longer too.

2. Avoid ball collections - Yep you guessed it... When everyone else disperses to the corners of the pitch to collect balls, stand where the coach wants them congregated and form an orderly pile. You won't be popular, but someone has to do it. Shotgun rules apply.

3. Always assume involvement in short-corners - When the time comes for those involved in short-corners to go off and practice whilst the rest partake in a fitness test, always assume you're involved. When you've had a bad day what would you rather do, shuttles, or practice your 'backing-up'?

I'm not saying you take these three suggestions and execute them perfectly every training session, because before long you'll have no friends and be playing in the 6th team. However if you've had a particularly shocking day and need to attend training in order to be selected at the weekend, these might just ease the pain.

Cheers,
Charlie.