President’s Blog March 2021
I’ll start with some sad news. By now you will have all seen that Simply Skate in Rotherham won’t be re-opening after the lockdown. This is a real blow to the ball hockey clubs who train there (as well as the roller hockey clubs). It also comes as a huge blow to BHUK as a much-used venue over the years for many of our events.
This was the scene of the first ever BHUK competition in 2009 and the first nationals the following year. I’m sure many of our players will have lots of memories from this place and I’m sure you’ll join with me in wishing everyone involved in Simply Skate at Rotherham the best for the future. British Inline Puck Hockey Association (BIPHA) have put together a GoFundMe page to buy the rink elements from the building. I’d urge you all to take a look at this and make a contribution if you are able. https://uk.gofundme.com/f/help-rebuild-our-rink
As we start to see the lockdowns around the country ease, we can now start to turn our attention to hopefully returning to action. First order of business is what happens to our various GB teams that are due to compete this summer. ISBHF will shortly make an announcement on this.
Then we’ll turn our attention to the domestic schedule. We are close to being able to announce our intentions here. Launching back into a full and meaningful schedule that culminates in National Championships is something that I’m sure everyone wants. This said, it is important we that temper this with a hope not to have another season start and not reach its conclusion. Without pre-empting the conversation, our approach will be to start competition in a way that can be unpicked if the journey out of Covid-19 restrictions stalls or goes backwards, moving onto the Road to the Nationals as our confidence grows. More on this in the coming weeks.
A key piece of work that we have committed to recently is recognition by UK Sport (and all of the relevant bodies within the component countries of the UK). This work will take some time as we seek to meet all of the requirements, but we are committed to this. An early task is to get all clubs to complete a registration form in order that we have up to date information. If you haven’t completed this yet, please do so ASAP. https://www.ballhockeyuk.com/registration-forms
We have a big announcement coming this weekend and over the ensuing days. Stay tuned to all of our social media channels and our website for more on this, and all of the issues mentioned in this blog.