|
|
Summary of Discussion on Scottish Underwater Hockey.
Part of Development Day at Tulliallan on Sunday 8th November 1998
The U.H. development day included a dry session that was partly a meeting of clubs on how the game could be better organised and represented in Scotland. An Agenda had previously been prepared by Tina Godbert after discussion with clubs and she also chaired the discussion. (Orkney unfortunately could not attend due to travel and time constraints). The following summarises the discussions and their outcome.
1. Libby Porteous had been asked by the BOA if she could act as co-ordinator for Scottish players who were interested in developing their game - with a longer term view to competing with the GB squad. It is the BOA’s intention to have regional training sessions which would involve fitness measurements.
Anyone interested should contact Libby (0141 576 4475).
2. With the departure of Paul Thomson, Scottish BOA rep., a replacement needed to be found. Three proposals were made and after some discussion Tim Dale was offered and accepted the post.
3. Nick Bannister gave a brief outline of the status within the Reef Rats and indicated they would be joining the BOA. The club was reforming itself, with mainly beginners at present. He thought that the insurance offered by the BOA was worth taking up but that R.R. focus would be on building up the club scene. Nick however was happy to play in the European Championships in June even if Scotland was only a guest team, as it would only be by participation that we would gain more recognition.
4. Following on from the brief discussion on Scottish representation it was generally thought that a Scottish Underwater Hockey Association (SUHA) should be formed. Nick offered to set this up as he was currently doing something similar in setting up accounts/membership for the Reef Rats. It was suggested that clubs wishing to participate should pay a nominal sum to get the ball rolling. The intention was still to work within the BOA but SUHA would help in the representation of Scotland at national level and possibly lend weight to arguments for funding. A further point on communication within Scotland was raised and Debbie White offered to compile a contact list of players in Scotland.
5. Tim Dale gave a brief outline on the European Championships and stated that we could not participate as an official team under the current BUSA structure but it might be possible to play as a guest team. Although this was not seen as ideal there was enough support for the mens team to warrant Tim following this up.
6. Team selection in the past, at national level, has not been well defined. With this in mind proposals for the mens and ladies team selectors were put forward. Accepted for the mens were Duncan Pridice, Ben and Graeme Tough and for the ladies, Libby Porteus, Debbie White, Shona and Karen Douglas
7. The Regional Championships are due to be held at Crystal Palace on the 9th January 1999 and there was support at the meeting for a mens, womans and U21’s team. Neil Balfour agreed co-ordinate the U21’s for this event. Later in the day it was thought worthwhile to organise another training/development day prior to this event. Graeme Tough offered to contact Tulliallan regarding a booking in December.
8. The election of Team Managers and Coaches was briefly discussed but the consensus was that Scottish Hockey was not at a stage where these had to be formalised.
9 The Scottish Nationals (SNOT) for 1999 are to be organised by the Orkney club. It was hoped that a date also suitable to Aberdeen University could be accommodated (end of April start of May or June before end of term)
although this may cause problems as there is also an Orkney invitation tournament in May.
10. As a follow on to the last item Ben asked for an additional Scottish tournament, to include relative newcomers. This generally received a good response and although no firm decision was made Aberdeen University expressed an interest in organising this.
Graeme Tough
|
