The country’s hockey clubs will be asked to foot the ball for the Irish Hockey Association’s deficit if a controversial motion is passed at the national body’s AGM tomorrow.
The proposal, tabled by the IHA board, suggests that each club in Ireland would pay 233 euros per annum over two years to help clear a deficit of over 60,000 euros.
Opponents of the motion are likely to complain that single-team, single-gender clubs will be asked to pay the same amount as larger clubs with over a dozen teams who might have greater access to funds to cover the charge.
Explaining the background to the decision to ask clubs to contribute, the board explained: “Since 2009 the IHA have had to address the accumulated deficit of 189,260 euros by contributing annually over a five-year period to gradually eliminate the deficit.
“This has meant that each year approximately 40,000 euros of funds for that year have been used to address the deficit. This has meant that funds available for activity have been reduced.
“With this being the beginning of the new Olympic cycle, at a time of significantly reduced funding, the IHA board consider that all available funds must be invested in activity and not used to address a historic deficit.”
The association has had some well-documented financial troubles in the past 12 months, most notably when withdrawing the senior men’s national team from the Champions Challenge I tournament in Argentina last October.
Following a huge backlash from players and supporters alike, a frenzied fundraising effort from the sport’s grassroots saw 60,000 accrued in just four days and the team was reinstated; Ireland went on to claim bronze at the tournament, finishing well above their seeding.
In December, Irish hockey chiefs claimed former senior men’s coach Paul Revington and his management team were responsible for a 37,000 overspend that left the national body facing a potential financial “crisis year” in 2013.
A second key motion which will be put to delegates at tomorrow’s AGM in the Bewley’s Hotel, Leopardstown is “that the meeting agrees to transfer all activities, financial, operational and functional of the IHA to Irish Hockey Limited from July 1, 2013”.
An IHA spokesman explained the background to this motion to SFH this week: “The IHA have been encouraged by both the ISC and Sport NI to go down this road as it is regarded as best practice for sport bodies.
“Up to now IHA have been operating as both a company and an association which meant we had all of the extra regulations of a Company but none of the protection.
“Moving forward the membership will have the full protection of limited liability given under company law and at the same time the reassurance that the company is now obliged to meet the statuary requirement required by company law.”
“With this being the beginning of the new Olympic cycle, at a time of significantly reduced funding, the IHA board consider that all available funds must be invested in activity and not used to address a historic deficit.”
The association has had some well-documented financial troubles in the past 12 months, most notably when withdrawing the senior men’s national team from the Champions Challenge I tournament in Argentina last October.
Following a huge backlash from players and supporters alike, a frenzied fundraising effort from the sport’s grassroots saw 60,000 accrued in just four days and the team was reinstated; Ireland went on to claim bronze at the tournament, finishing well above their seeding.
In December, Irish hockey chiefs claimed former senior men’s coach Paul Revington and his management team were responsible for a 37,000 overspend that left the national body facing a potential financial “crisis year” in 2013.
A second key motion which will be put to delegates at tomorrow’s AGM in the Bewley’s Hotel, Leopardstown is “that the meeting agrees to transfer all activities, financial, operational and functional of the IHA to Irish Hockey Limited from July 1, 2013”.
An IHA spokesman explained the background to this motion to SFH this week: “The IHA have been encouraged by both the ISC and Sport NI to go down this road as it is regarded as best practice for sport bodies.
“Up to now IHA have been operating as both a company and an association which meant we had all of the extra regulations of a Company but none of the protection.
“Moving forward the membership will have the full protection of limited liability given under company law and at the same time the reassurance that the company is now obliged to meet the statuary requirement required by company law.”