What is the EIHA and what does it do?
The English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) is English Ice Hockey’s current ‘governing body’.
A sport’s governing body will look after all the administration required within a sport from the very highest ‘elite’ level, right down to the grass roots. The governing body is responsible for (amongst other things), organising and promoting the leagues and their structure, and determining rules and disciplinary procedures. It will also seek funds from a variety of sources to distribute amongst teams and fund things like payment of officials and help in times of difficulty (think Covid-19). One final key thing that most players will have been aware of, if the EIHA provides a national insurance for all registered players, for injury during training or playing and game and for teams.
So let’s be clear, all the frankly boring (but vitally important) things are usually covered by the sport’s national governing body.
One final point from us, is that particularly in minority sports in the UK is that the more professional your governing body is (and seems), the better chance it has of standing out from the crowd and attracting funding from the government and independent businesses.
To unify or not unify….
So what’s all the drama about?
Well, the EIHA has proposed (and has been doing so for some time) to amalgamate and form a national governing body (i.e. covering all of the UK rather than just England). This would require joining forces with the previous Scottish governing body and and an organisation called IHUK (Ice Hockey UK). The vote is being held on 12 December 2020.
So what’s the reason behind this. Well you might have guessed it, but MONEY! We’ve stressed in previous articles the importance of money! More money helps the sport grow. As alluded to above, a national governing body that not only looks more professional but has more resources can attract more external investment (think sponsorship) and also has more infrastructure. This will help potentially with complying with often stringent requirements from the government, making it easier to secure government funding.
The counter-argument to this might be why can’t the current EIHA just amend its structure to comply with for example the government’s requirements. The EIHA has not done very well at answering this question so far, but reading between the lines, it would appear that some requirements can only be complied with via a national (i.e. UK wide) governing body.
The elephant(!) in the EIHA room…
English Ice Hockey Community (EIHC)
Enterrrr the contender…..
The problem with the EIHA has been that Ice Hockey is a young sport in the UK (the EIHA having been formed in 1999). As such, it is still very much in its infant stage. The EIHA is no different and the people forming the EIHA were simply people who had the time, funds and often the ‘celebrity’ within the sport to do so. There was (and to some extent remains) such a small pool to draw from and often a significant lack of the correct skills or experience.
One of the biggest criticisms of the EIHA over the years, is that as the sport has grown and more people have developed a desire to assist in its governance, the EIHA has remain closed off. Its communication with the those it serves has been poor and a large amount of distrust has grown as a result of unpopular decisions.
As a result of the unification proposal, a breakout group called EIHC has set up a website and appears to be trying to take control from EIHA (its like a shit game of thrones isn’t it)!
Here at Manchester Ice Hockey, we find it hard to take seriously a contender, when they have not published their names on their website, which is arguably the biggest criticism of the EIHA over the years! Ironic or what! Most importantly, we would expect to see the qualifications and experience of those proposing a new governing body!
So what’s the best way forward?
Here at Manchester Ice Hockey, we want to #growthegame. You know by now that we want to get as many people involved in the game as possible that will ultimately benefits us all.
The EIHA have not been perfect in the past (by any stretch of the imagination) but we also realise that ultimately that volunteers with limited time and a lack of skills, have been trying to do their best. You should assess this decision (unify or not) based on the current facts of the matter (and not the EIHA’s previous mistakes)!
Ultimately, a unified governing body will provide better opportunity for funding and as a result of more money, benefits all in the sport.
Leave us a comment if you agree/disagree!
#growthegame
Yak