So, over at Chasing Dragons, Paul Wheeler has picked up on the attempts to launch the ‘UKHL’ (see http://chasingthedragons.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/new-dawn-or-false-hope-the-mysterious-uk-hockey-league-assessed/ and http://chasingthedragons.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/the-uk-hockey-league-new-info-emerges-and-its-highly-intriguing/). And this got me thinking, how would I re-structure the sport in the UK to try and improve it? What follows is my thoughts on the subject (which may not always be as coherent as I would like them to be):
First up, I would take the current governing structure (IHUK>EIHA/SIH) and merge it into one single NGB. There is precious little sense in having a 2 tier system of governance currently, especially when all it does is foster personal agendas and fiefdoms. With everything under one banner organisation (player registration, insurance, ITCs, officials, etc), the sport can start to be seen as a more serious, professional set up, which in turn should lead to higher levels of investment from outside the sport (such as Sport England, etc). Hell, just by being organised enough, other sports far smaller than our own (netball, lacrosse, etc) have landed millions of pounds of funding over the past few years, whilst we have received nothing.
Anyways, once everything is under the control of one central body then we can look at the league structure. Currently we have 3 effective tiers of competition in the UK: EIHL (Pro), EPIHL (Semi-Pro), and NIHL/SIHL (Amatuer). Overall, I wouldn’t change this massively. Maintaining a top level ‘Pro’ league is important. A ‘Pro’ league is important for the media, and give players a target to achieve. Having said that, I would enforce changes to the top tier. Currently, The EIHL operates under an 11 import rule, with the remainder of the players being British. Most of these Brits are now well established ‘veteran’ players, and opportunities are limited for younger Brits to make the switch upwards. I would alter the player set up as follows:
New ‘Elite’ player regulations: 11 Non GB trained players registered at any given time. Maximum of 15 registrations per season. Of these 11, only 5 can be Non EU players. Minimum of 5 GB trained players per team. 2 of the GB trained must be aged 18-23. 1 GB trained must be a netminder.
Now that sounds fair enough to me, and isn’t too drastic a change to the current system.
At EPIHL level, I pretty much would leave things as they are player wise. At NIHL level I would also leave things untouched regarding the players.
Next up is the dreaded subject of wages. Given the rampant disregard for wage caps in the pst, I would still introduce one, in conjunction with a wage floor.
EIHL: Max of £8400 per week, Min of £6600 per week (Max £250k per season, Min of £200k based on a 30 week season)
EPIHL: Max of £3500 per week, Min of £1750 per week (Max £105k per season, Min of £60k based on 30 week season)
NIHL: No wage cap or floor.
Next, I would borrow a leaf out of the DELs handbook. If teams wish to participate in the DEL, they have to meet a number of requirements regarding entry. I would introduce this to the EIHL level of play:
Rink Capacity: Minimum of 2500 seats. (at 50% of capacity, assuming the club has no debts, this should cover wages)
Sponsorship revenue: Minimum of £75k guaranteed by contracts.
Facilities: Able to accommodate professional TV crew for game recording/broadcast. In house cameras capable of 720p HD recording by no fewer than 3 cameras. Available broadband connection for live-streaming of games via internet.
For the EPIHL level, the requirements would be lower:
Capacity: Minimum of 500 seats & 250 standing, or 750 seats.
Sponsorship: Minimum of £25k (including fees generated by Supporters Trusts)
Facilities: Minimum of 2 cameras per game, capable of recording 720p HD. Internet access sufficient to allow streaming of audio commentary.
NIHL would have no such requirements.
Thoughts so far folks?