As said the only thing professional about hockey in this country is that some people get paid. The standard of all things UK hockey based is so woefully short of the mark and while the present chairman, secretaries and owners are involved nothing will change. The problem appears to be these guys have been in the sport so long they can't differentiate anymore and their thinking is one track and short sighted.
Put in place a proper unified youth development system that runs all the way to the top giving a clear paths for juniors to follow. Age limit the ENL to under 25s apart from three seniors allowed. Past this point you had your shot. Rec for you. Giving a constant turnover of youth moving through the system. The best will get picked off to move up the leagues but the youth will not stagnate as they are always elevating levels.
Make the EIHL use a minimum bench strength of 20 per game with a minimum of 3 players being under 25 year bracket. Ensuring numbers and exposure to high tier hockey and late bloomers still get the chance to shine.
Wage cap the senior leagues to advance parity across the leagues and promote the game as a whole across the UK not just in three specific cities where success is purchased rather than worked for by the owners. Give the Brits across the league a chance to earn a decent wage not just the select few and so encouraging them to stay in the sport and promote competition within the GB set up.
All these measures are organisational not finance dependent but are small steps to advance the set up to promote growth of the sport which begins not with imports earning cash and then disappearing from the game whilst an arena stands with 5000 cheering fans but with a solid development of British players to produce the highest possible national team that can be put on the ice. That would increase the interest in the sport and in turn more sponsorship is generated and you get a net gain for everyone.
P.s GB camps should be undertaken midweek throughout the year with attendance then making selection to national team possible. You would only need say a two hour ice time every few weeks to see a difference and at a cost of say £350 that isn't to challenging.
Put in place a proper unified youth development system that runs all the way to the top giving a clear paths for juniors to follow. Age limit the ENL to under 25s apart from three seniors allowed. Past this point you had your shot. Rec for you. Giving a constant turnover of youth moving through the system. The best will get picked off to move up the leagues but the youth will not stagnate as they are always elevating levels.
Make the EIHL use a minimum bench strength of 20 per game with a minimum of 3 players being under 25 year bracket. Ensuring numbers and exposure to high tier hockey and late bloomers still get the chance to shine.
Wage cap the senior leagues to advance parity across the leagues and promote the game as a whole across the UK not just in three specific cities where success is purchased rather than worked for by the owners. Give the Brits across the league a chance to earn a decent wage not just the select few and so encouraging them to stay in the sport and promote competition within the GB set up.
All these measures are organisational not finance dependent but are small steps to advance the set up to promote growth of the sport which begins not with imports earning cash and then disappearing from the game whilst an arena stands with 5000 cheering fans but with a solid development of British players to produce the highest possible national team that can be put on the ice. That would increase the interest in the sport and in turn more sponsorship is generated and you get a net gain for everyone.
P.s GB camps should be undertaken midweek throughout the year with attendance then making selection to national team possible. You would only need say a two hour ice time every few weeks to see a difference and at a cost of say £350 that isn't to challenging.
