Following our AGM on 2nd June we are providing a brief summary of points that will have impact on IHI and our members over the next year.

Sport Ireland Recognition

We meet all but 1 criteria that being we aren't a legal entity. A motion was passed for Inline Hockey Ireland to become a Company Limited by Guarantee to move closer to recognition which will bring a range of benefits to the sport.

Clubs Contribution to Development

This is a structure we are looking to bring in for the 2019/20 season. It's designed to encourage ALL clubs to contribute to the development of inline hockey in Ireland. 

The basic structure is that for a club to register they will need a set number of points. A club then gets points for certain development aspects, such as, having multiple teams, having junior teams, having qualified officials, having female players, promoting the sport locally, etc. If a club is below the threshold they will then need to buy points of IHI. The end result is that it is likely cheaper for clubs to engage in the development aspects than to buy points.

We are giving clubs a year now to prepare for this and start getting plans on place to do more for development, while we at IHI continue to get relevant development structures in place.

More information regarding this will be sent out soon.

Fee Changes

With rising costs across the organisation, unfortunately there is a need to increase our fees slightly.

• Club Registration - €150 with 50% discount for junior programmes and/or ladies team(s) - a club with Junior and Ladies would pay €37.50.
• Game Fees - to be reviewed as number of teams/games is confirmed, at most it will be at 10% increase across all leagues.
• Senior Registration - increased to €40 per season.
• Junior Registration - remains at €20 per season.
• Learn to Play - only just introduced and will remain at €5 per season - only allows participation in Learn to Play sessions.
• Non-Playing Member - will remain at €15 per season. This encompasses anyone involved in the sport  in an official capacity (referee, coach, team manager, commitee member, etc.) but does not currently play.
• RSportz Admin Fee - in the past this was paid by IHI, this will now be put to the member, which is €1.50 at most and charged at registration point.

Gormanston Park Project

The project for Gormanston Park and a mobile board structure was introduced. This project would allow competitive inline hockey to be played in more locations throughout Ireland, which in turn will enable the development of the sport throughout.

Gormanston Park would also be equipped to host major international competitions, boosting Ireland's standing on the world stage.

A sub-committee is being set-up to work on this, mainly to identify sources of funding to make this a reality, if you feel you can help on this please get in contact with us.

Nets

Was announced that World Skate sized goals would be used for most IHI events moving forward. This will bring us in line with the majority of the inline hockey world.

Ladies Hockey

League to change format moving forward, to become a condensed season in the playoff/summer period when players are less involved in their normal club duties. Players will register as individuals and even teams will be created to form a 3 on 3 league. A trial run of this is taking place on Sunday 24th June in Portadown.

You can sign up for it here: http://ihi.rsportz.com/news/female_development_day_may18 

National Programme kick started with plans under way to attend tournaments in Barcelona and Scotland in the coming months. We are also looking at how best to tie in junior girls to the programme.

Junior Hockey

Leagues will remain the same for next season (U12, U14, U18) with the cut-off dates to remain the same. Was also discussed to increase the number of U12 games so they are playing more hockey each time they travel.

Reminded that female players can play down 2 years but U18 is U18.

National Programme at U18 level is going to have a change of focus toward international events with the Mens Junior Roller Games in 2019 the main priority. This does mean that an Irish passport will be required for the U18 programme.

You can sign up for the tryouts here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmUsvPkOy4rKv6Ri6JUjaCh6WcSnsGzZHbv6Z9Bq6Sm9w1Pg/viewform 

The programme will now incorporate an U14 level with the focus of that being Sparta Cup at Easter 2019. This will be open to anyone in the age bracket regardless on passport or gender. More details regarding this will be out soon.

Senior Hockey

Leagues
Minimum age for all senior ages to be changed to 14 on the 1st January the year the season starts; so date of birth of 1/1/2004 or earlier for 2018/19 season. Players aged to 14-18 will require parental/coaching permission before playing at senior level.

There was also a call for less forfeits and to encourage teams to fully consider if they have enough players to compete, if not, we would encourage them to merge with another near by club.

National Programme

Preparations are going well for the World Championships in Italy this summer. It is believed we will have even more interest from players next year, especially from the young talented players coming through.

Next year's focus will be on the Roller Games in Barcelona.