lookupsport

Following the solid and improved performance of the men who finished 5th in the Hockey World Cup, its good to see the ladies get off to a flying start too, beating China 3-2, although sterner tests lay ahead with Netherlands, Germany and India in the same group.  Let’s hope that this signals a resurgence in British Hockey following the decline over the last few years, and the debacle which saw the HA almost dissolve.

Hockey really needs to get its house in order though in order to be ready for the 2012 Olympics.  The current system of only picking International Players from the Premiership Clubs, means that it is stifling growth from within the sport.  In order to get noticed budding internationals must travel to one of 10 clubs in the UK and play on a waterbased pitch.  This means that many young players (and their parents) have to travel miles each week.  It also means that the smaller clubs lose good players early on in their careers, which lessens their own chance of attaining premiership status.  It also means that clubs are being forced to convert their pitches to waterbased  even though they may have years left in them, and will potentially lose revenue from football, which many clubs depend on for survival. (Waterbased pitches are not good for football).  Lets hope the HA sees sense and reverts to the old system whereby players were picked for their county, then if good enough for their region and then from the regional championships selected for international trials.