England Hockey Restructuring Proposal
Posted by Andrew Ashenhurst on 28 January 2020
Introduction
The Committee would like all the club members to be aware of the changes that are being proposed by England Hockey (EH) to the way our game is governed and administered.
What is this proposed change?
There are two parts to the change; (1) Redesigning of the Regions into Areas and (2) Reducing the governance and administration.
- 1) Redesign of the Regions into Areas
EH looked at the number of teams in each of the regions and are proposing a new structure, moving from 5 Regions to 8 Areas (County lines will be abolished).
Current Regions: North, South, East, West and Midlands
New Areas: South Central, East, Greater London, Midlands, North East, North West, South East, South West.
This will have limited effect on the club in terms of the league structure and the club will in the South West Area but it may result in a reduction of travelling for lower teams.
- 2) Governance and administration side
EH are looking to maintain a two tier structure in England but with a reduced number of committees and organisations.
- Adult Leagues and Competitions:
· Two tiers of leagues - National Level and Area Level.
· The Mens and Ladies leagues in the Areas will be jointly administered.
- Junior Leagues and Competitions:
· Exist at Area Level but with local delegation where appropriate
· Travel will be proportionate to playing standard
· Create more levels of competition for all abilities.
- Discipline:
· Become an Area Function creating more consistency and approach
- Player Pathway:
· Be aligned to new structure with sub areas being responsible for Development Centres and Academies:
· Areas will be responsible for Performance Centres
- Umpiring and Officiating:
· Reduction in the numbers of Hockey Umpire Associations
- Policy and Governance:
· All functional bodies will have more clearly defined expectations in terms of policies such as Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Welfare and Finance.
The committee will be reviewing the document at our February meeting and will be voting on the matter along with other clubs at this year's England Hockey AGM in March.
