Club Forum - Planning for the Future
July 02, 2021
The last eighteen months have been tough on our sport and we are all eager to get back on the pitch and playing the game we love. Over the last couple of months the Leinster Hockey Board and the numerous Committees have been reviewing our existing structures and looking at how to help clubs and ensure that our sport is best positioned going forward.
To that end, a survey was conducted earlier this year and the Board was delighted with the engagement with 44/47 clubs taking part. The information from the survey - coupled with input from various stakeholders - will help the Board and Committees in the seasons ahead.
In May, the Board convened a Working Group to look at some of the outputs from the survey in respect of Competitions. This group comprised of members of the Development, Men's, Women's & Youth Committees. Over the last six weeks the group has looked at a number of key areas identified in the survey and they have decided on a number of proposals that they would like to receive input from clubs in order to set the direction going forward. To that end, we will be holding a Club Forum on Monday 12th July at 7.30pm to present their proposals and look for feedback from clubs. This forum, due to Covid, will take place via Zoom. In addition to the meeting we have also set up a "Feedback/Comment" page on google where clubs can record their comments in respect of the proposals - this will be open for one week after the Forum.
We are asking all clubs to register a maximum of two delegates for the Club Forum and invitations will be sent to all Club Secretaries. Below is the information that will be discussed and a link to the feedback page.
| Club Survey - Full document | CLICK HERE |
| Club Survey - Competitions/Club Development (out takes) | CLICK HERE |
| Proposals from Competitions Working Group | CLICK HERE |
| Submit Comments regarding proposals | CLICK HERE |
| Invitation to Club Forum | Sent to all Club Secretaries |
There will be follow up in respect of other areas of the survey. The Leinster Hockey Children's Officer Panel are currently reviewing the information received in respect of Safeguarding and are hoping to get in touch with Club Children's Officers & Designated Persons soon. The Development Committee are also liaising with Hockey Ireland in respect of the Club Governance aspect of the information returned and believe that with the re-launch of the Clubmark Programme will greatly assist clubs in this regard.
In respect of umpiring - the LHA is liaising with the Leinster and Irish Hockey Umpiring Associations in the lead out of a number of programmes that have been developed over the last twelve months including the new Young Umpires Programme, Online Rules Test and Fundamentals of Umpiring Courses.
We are delighted to see that Hockey Ireland have also announced a number of Fundamentals and Level One Coaching Courses that will take place over the summer. We are frustrated that there will not be a Level Two course held this year in the Leinster region - despite our requests. However we are hopeful that additional manpower within Hockey Ireland, who deliver these courses, will see a significant upswing in the number of coaching courses and assessments taking place going forward.
Changes to the Interprovincial structures and Development Pathways for players have already been communicated to clubs (including a recent forum).
Updated 02nd July 2021
