UK Dek Hockey Association Newsletter

Welcome!!
Welcome to the first newsletter for the new UK Dek Hockey Association. I hope to be able to bring you this approximately once a quarter, to update you on what’s happening.
Let me know what you think and feel free to ask questions.
Message from the UKDHA President – Carl Wood
Hi to all UK Dek Hockey Fans.
A brief word about our current status & things to come. As you know, or may not know, we are a member of International Street & Ball Hockey Federation. As a member of the ISBHF we are able to connect with other teams & associations around the world, this also permits us to participate in various tournaments sanctioned by the ISBHF around the world. Can you imagine competing in the Caribbean Cup? How about a trip to Hong Kong to play, of course they are mainly Canadian there, but it is still an exotic place to play. In time, with our own membership we will be able to contribute funds towards sending teams to compete in such events. Having said this we need to grow an association and have an effective membership.
Recently the ISBHF asked UKDHA if we might be interested in hosting the European Cup for men’s ball hockey, as well as the U16/U18 World Championships. We considered for a moment the possibilities of hosting such events, but realised quickly that taking on two events such as these, would require appropriate venues and a large number of volunteers to help coordinate all aspects of running a quality event of this magnitude. Hence, we declined the requests. These are definitely events for future consideration as we evolve and grow our membership. So, if you can please think forward about these possibilities and the part you can play in the organisation of such events with some of the best dek hockey players from around the world. Believe me, there are some world class hockey players out there that would love to come the UK and showcase this growing sport.
Summer is quickly approaching which will give us 1 year before the next world championships that will be hosted by Slovakia, in Bratislava. This will be the 4th world championship that Team UK will have had the pleasure of participating in. Team UK is currently looking for more players to participate in this event and hope that you might consider yourself suitable for representing your country in these world championships. Team UK has a number of representatives who participated in the last WC now taking on administrative rolls and player recruitment rolls, and will hopefully still be vibrant players on the team. As 1st Vice President and Tournament Coordinator, Rob Clayton (shown left) is a dynamic part of Team UK, and it is through his connections and efforts with a small group of players in Nottingham that regularly occuring dek hockey tournaments are happening, and gaining interest from novice and veteran players from various communities in the UK. Rob was also instrumental in bringing 65% of the players to Pilsen, Czech Republic in June of 2009 for the last WC. This number of resident UK players far surpassed the number of resident UK players in all previous WC’s combined, well done Rob. In the eyes of the ISHBF, this was the best effort by any country in meeting criteria set forth in promoting, developing and growing the sport outside of Canada EVER! Credit to Rob and all the players who participated in the 2009WC, honestly without them there never would have been a team.
Another significant member of Team UK is Tomas Svoboda (shown below right), originally born in the Czech Republic, but has lived in the UK for a number of years and has been dazzling the locals with his hockey prowess for awhile, and was a major contributor on the floor for team UK. Tom is credited to scoring one of the prettiest goals against a major competing team in the WCs (Team Italy), thanks Tom if we can find film footage of it, it should be posted on Rob's Facebook page. Tom has also taken on some duties to support the growth and development of Team UK and the UK Dek/Ball Hockey Association. He, along with Tom Wysocki, is currently our chief in player recruitment and will responsible for finding players suitable to compete at the world level, or at least players committed to becoming world level players and representing the UK. Tom is a very likable person with a great knowledge of the sport and it is with the utmost respect and confidence that I as a member of the UK Dek Hockey community have in Tomas Svoboda. He will be looking for you, I hope you are ready.

Ali Cree (shown left), another significant member of Team UK and 2nd Vice President for the UK Dek/Ball Hockey Association has also been a member of the Northeast Dekstars. Dekstars are a co-ed team, combining men and women together to form a team with a lot of future potential. Ali has mentioned he is considering the initiation of a women's team to represent the UK in the upcoming women's WCs in June 2010 also in Bratislavia, Slovakia, while possibly still competing himself with the men's UK team. I believe it’s through Ali's experience with Team Canada's women's team on the bus from the airport in Prague that has led him to consider developing the women's UK national team. I guess what happened on the bus stays on the bus. Ali also scored a significant goal, it was a result of being in the right place at the right time, something it seems Ali has a knack for. It occurred in the offensive zone when the ball was turned over and Ali happened to be the only one there, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let loose with the hardest shot he could muster and it slowly passed through the tangle of humanity and entered the opposing team’s net untouched, giving team UK one of the few goals it scored in 2009 WCs. The ensuing celebration by Ali Cree was one that his homeland of Scotland would be proud of. We love you Ali, you will be the perfect person to preside over the development of the women's national team.
The most recent member of our little UK Dek Hockey Association is Andrew Rae. Andrew is a Canadian born resident of the UK, currently living in Ealing, London, where he has a programme developing young ball & street hockey players. Street hockey as the name implies is where our sport started, it is the simplest form of Dek or ball hockey as we refer to it now. I'm sure, as a child growing up in Canada, Andrew along with myself, grew up playing hockey on winter streets, driveways, backyards or any available place a boy or girl could play with a hockey stick and ball. Of course it wasn't restricted to just a ball or even played in the winter, some places in Canada don't get snow...much anyway. Some children play with rubber, sponge or plastic pucks, tennis balls, orange hockey balls varying in hardness (ow!). Some of the prairie kids have played with frozen horse or cow manure or just chunks of ice. Basically the game can be played with the minimum of equipment at a very low cost, something very appealing to many parents of children who want to play hockey. Andrew, with his family, has taken their passion for the game and are sharing it with others within their community. It is something different for a lot of people and again rather appealing at such a low cost. Andrew has developed a program with students at a local school who participate in regular training and weekly games. Local newspapers have reported stories on the fun that all involved are having, and on what a positive impact it is having on the community. Andrew also hosts a weekly game for some of the adults around the London area, it's a low key event held but takes on all the excitement of a real WC. Street/Dek/Ball hockey is fun for all ages and no matter how big or small the gathering is we always imagine ourselves playing in those big games, being those big name players scoring the winning goal to win the Gold Medal, the Stanley Cup, and the European Cup. Thanks to Andrew's efforts in sharing his love for the game he provides the same experience for a few UK children, future UK National Dek hockey players.
Here in Canada, Street/Dek & Ball Hockey are very popular, it is almost a given that if you were born or grew up here, you play some kind of hockey. It is likely that anywhere you go you will see kids or adults playing ball or street hockey, perhaps in tennis or basket ball courts, parking lots, gymnasiums and there are a lot of ex-pats who are very much a part of Canada's hockey community who grew up this way. A number of these people have participated in past World Street & Ball Hockey Championships represented the UK quite successfully, these people deserve thanks and consideration. The last WCs saw about 35% of the players coming from Canada, it is a percentage that is shrinking as more UK resident players are showing interest in joining the team. There are many players in Canada who are from the UK, who have hockey skills comparable to those on some of the top teams around the world. It is my hope that these players can mentor and lead by example to show other players what is necessary to compete at such a high level. There will still be a need for some of these players to help with the competitiveness, and provide experience to a developing team/association such as ours. The players selected for these rolls will participate in tryouts, will have to provide appropriate paperwork to qualify, and will support the cause for the growth and development of Dek Hockey in the UK. Each player will be reviewed and interviewed prior to being accepted to Team UK, it is a team sport and the best teams play as a team. Team first a simple philosophy. I have received quite a few player applications and letters from interested players that have heard about our last tour of duty that I am currently reviewing. I will share all prospects with the members of the UK Team/Association for their review. It is an exciting time and I really enjoy being a part of this endeavour, and meeting new people and players. I thoroughly believe we can achieve many things together as an association and look forward to our future. Something to think about for the up & coming WCs is an actual team coach, any suggestions?
So, listed here are a few people who have made terrific contributions towards starting a sport and showing their passion for it, I hope it is something that we can share with you and turn the UK into another significant Dek & Street Hockey nation.
Things to consider for the future are U16/U18 teams, Boys and Girls, Women's & Men's National teams. Hosting the European Cup, U16/U18 WCs and someday hosting the Men & Women's WCs. Developing a league or various leagues throughout the UK and establishing a membership to support growth and development of the sport and the costs involved to do so.
It is imperative to maintain our membership with the ISBHF and that starts with contributions of time and money from all who are passionate or interested in this sport.
Thank-you for your interest in UK Dek Hockey, once you start you won't stop!
Upcoming Events
As you probably know, we have the CrazyKennys.com Spring Classic Tournament (many thanks to Crazy Kenny’s for their continued support) coming up on the 5th of April. There are likely to be a few sore heads at this one as it’s the day after the Elite League Playoff Finals. Apologies for this, but with a lack of suitable venues, it was the 5th of April or probably a wait until July!! I hope lots of you get out to play and/or support this event. Here’s a list of confirmed teams.
Arnold Cubs
Arnold Wolves
Fosse City Outlaws
Northeast Dekstars
Northeast Ignite
Sheffield Ice Tigers
West London

For more updates join us at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=271484926991&index=1
Also in the pipeline, but not yet confirmed are the following:
• National Championships (May/June – More on this later)
• A tournament in London (Summer)
• The 2nd Apollo Cup (17 July) in Rotherham. Get it in your diary now.
National Team (Your Country Needs You!)
Last year the UK team (pictured below) competed in the World Championships in Pilsen, finishing 15th out of 16. The team were the smallest in the competition, with a squad of 15 players (compared to the maximum 25 allowed, sported by the vast majority of squads).
For the next tournament (2011 in Bratislava) we are being urged, by the ISBHF) to ensure that at least 13 of our squad of 25 is British born and trained, but you’ll see elsewhere in this newsletter that our association president wants the home grown players to take preference over the Canadian/US based players, with the squad supplemented by overseas players only where necessary.
So what is happening to ensure that we can get at least 13 players from the UK to the next tournament?
1. This newsletter is an open invitation for you to express your interest in playing for the UK team. If you are interested, please get in touch by email clayton.rob@googlemail.com
2. Tom Wysocki and Tom Svoboda have been asked to begin scouting players at upcoming tournaments, with the possibility of putting together some training camps if there is enough interest.
Venues
If you’re reading this and you’ve ever been involved in trying to book a venue for training, games or tournaments, you’ll know that how difficult it is. The right size hall, with areas for team benches and somewhere for spectators, are all problems to overcome. Add into that the need for goals and the remote possibility of curved (instead of square) corners and you’ve just about ruled everywhere out. Ice rinks rarely melt their ice down, and roller rinks are in short supply.
What can we do about this? Well, I think there are a few things:
1.What I’ve quickly realised is that if we want to use places like Virtual Ice, we need to book way in advance as it becomes fully booked quickly. As well as the CrazyKennys.com Spring Classic, I’m talking to Virtual Ice about the next two tournaments already.
2. We need to think more creatively about venues and be flexible about whether we get all, or just most, of the desirable criteria for venues. Do we have to have the curved corners to put together an enjoyable tournament? Well, probably not. It is to this end we are looking at putting together an outdoor tournament during the summer in London.
3. When do we hold tournaments? Autumn/Winter is ice hockey season and many of our players watch their local ice hockey team religiously. Spring/Summer is when people go on holiday. I think the key here is to be as flexible as possible. If there is a tournament, try your best to get there. In addition, I’m hopeful that the amount of tournaments can increase, as can the geographical spread. If we get to the stage where there is a major tournament every 4-6 weeks somewhere in the country, then the choice becomes greater and we can relax a little about making sure each and every team/player can make it.
4. Getting our own venue. This may sound a little pie in the sky, but I’m a firm believer in ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’. Tom Svoboda, who played for Team UK last summer, has started to speak with local councils in Nottingham, and signs have been encouraging.
The Association
The association is new, we don’t yet have a proper constitution, and the people who are guiding things are not elected. This is all set to change and I hope that by the time the next World Championships roll around we’ll have all of this in place. If you want to be involved at a national level, then let us know. We really need as much help and support as we can get.
The association doesn’t currently have a bank account, or any funds for that matter (except for £20 that was left over from the CrazyKennys.com Trophy, that I have ploughed into putting into a deposit for the next tournament). In a way this is simpler at present during these fledgling months, but this will need to change if we want to grow the sport. I’ll be looking to put together a formal constitution over the coming months that will cover finances.
National Championships 2009/10 (AKA ‘The Nationals’)
As early as the World Championships last year a national championship was mooted. We are currently looking at dates in May/June to hold a tournament to decide our first ever national champion. We’ll be inviting the winners of the first two tournaments of the season (Bestwood Bruins and Arnold Wolves), the winners of the CrazyKennys.com Spring Classic, along with the next best team.
How we calculate who is the next best team may well be difficult and I’ll write out to teams in the near futurewith a view to resolving this.
Contacts
In issue 2 I’ll put together a directory of contacts, but in the meantime please funnel all queries via me at clayton.rob@googlemail.com.

jgrabham wrote:If Leafy would like to publish it on his blog it'd be gret