Life begins as a limited company for Irish Hockey on July 1, 2013 following an emphatic vote at the IHA’s AGM on Saturday but clubs rejected a proposed 233 euro levy for the next two years.
Those were the key decisions taken at the meeting though the state of the association’s finances was to the fore throughout the three-hour meeting in Bewley’s Hotel, Leopardstown.
Of the move to a limited company – Irish Hockey Limited – the vote saw 53 for the move with two against with the new structure offering protection to clubs and the board in the case of dissolution of the association, limiting liability to 1 euro.
Debate centered mainly on elements contained in the new byelaws rather than the overall concept. To this end, chief executive Mike Heskin said that this should be seen as a new beginning that will be tweaked over the coming years.
“The document on incorporation is a starting point; it may not be a perfect document but we can improve on it.”
The motion to levy clubs, however, was defeated by 24 yes votes to 32 no. The IHA had proposed the levy to pay off the current 60,000 euro deficit remaining on the books.
While the motion was defeated, later debate suggested that while many agreed with the idea of a levy, it was perhaps pitched badly and at the wrong time which made it hard to stomach.
The single price regardless of size of club was one particular bone of contention. Among those to express their view, Helen Lynch suggested that clubs like Cork C of I found it difficult to support a further levy when they already felt they were not receiving much for their affiliation fee and their decision can be seen as something of a “backlash”.
At a time when no Irish senior men’s training camps were being held in the province among other issues, there was a feeling of being disenfranchised and disconnected in Munster – something backed up by Cork Harlequins’ representative John Hobbs.
Indeed, finances were central of most debate at the event. Specifically, there are fears that the current sponsorship deal between Electric Ireland and women’s national team could come to an end in the autumn.
Chief Executive Mike Heskin said that nothing has been decided as yet but, in the current climate, it is a major worry. Three proposals have been pitched to the company while two meeting have ensured but “as yet, we have had no indication one way or the other.
“They are a sizeable income, bringing over 100,000 euro into the organisation. To lose that would be a major issue for us.”
He added that the IHA are not alone in feeling the pinch in this arena.
“It’s an on-going issue and there are no simple solutions. If you read the papers, you see organisations much bigger than our struggling to get sponsorship.
[pullquote]“They are a sizeable income, bringing over 100,000 euro into the organisation. To lose that would be a major issue for us.” – IHA chief executive Mike Heskin on Electric Ireland’s sponsorship of the senior women’s team[/pullquote]
“The German team that won Olympic gold, lost their sponsor directly after the Olympics. They may have a new one now but that shows you how precarious things can be. “
The IHA have also presented to three other companies but have received a firm no from all three.
Indoor hockey also came under scrutiny with calls for the National Indoor Trophy to be scrapped. The IHA took over the running of the competition in recent years from the Leinster indoor committee but have incurred big losses in the two years accounted for to date.
In 2011, it cost the association a net of 11,000 euro and, in 2012, a 4,000 euro loss was incurred.
From the floor, Corinthian representative Ronan Pelow said: “We shouldn’t undertake activities which cost us money. We’d love indoor to be important but there’s a very small participation level and I’d suggest we cease indoor level at a national level. The finances don’t justify it.”
Finance officer Julie Beamish concurred, saying: “The point is well made. In fairness to the Indoor working group, they have put an awful lot of effort to something which isn’t well supported [by the clubs]. While it would be a shame to see it go, the facts are there.
IHA chairman of the board Dennis Millar, however, pointed out that “the two new national coaches are in favour of indoor hockey as preparation for outdoor hockey”.
Ards representative Norma Gartside, meanwhile, expressed her concern that should the IHA decide against running an indoor tournament next year, it could have a big impact on her club.
They had been intending on putting in a bid to host their EuroHockey Club Indoor Champions Challenge next February in their bid for promotion but should the tournament be pulled, this could change those plans.
Corinthian’s Lisa Carey also suggested there was a poor financial return on hosting events in the 2012 compared to 2011. The latter accrued a 14 percent profit, primarily due to the women’s Champions Challenge I.
In 2012, though, that equivalent competition made a €6,000 loss – which offset to some extent the 37,000 euro profit turned by the men’s Olympic qualifier to end the year with just a five percent margin for all events.
The loss on the women’s tournament, though, was likely to be less than if Ireland had been forced to travel elsewhere for that particular tournament.
The IHA accepted that, while attendances were superb throughout the OQT, more could have been done – including bringing in outside professional help – to attract advertising and sponsors to help boost revenues.
Finally on the financial side, Julie Beamish made an impassioned speech, saying that the increase in rigour in the IHA compared to five years ago is almost incomparable.
“While we learned lessons in 2012, we do have strong financial controls in the IHA. Going back to the 2007/08 debacle when a grant was recognised twice in the accounts and spent in both those years, I don’t think anyone on the board now was involved then.
The fact is we had an issue last year which we began to talk about as a financial issue in April 2012; started to talk about it with concern in August 2012, and you all know how it was then addressed after that. Bad and all as it was addressed, it was addressed.
“For me, the faith is in the fact we addressed it during the year. Maybe not how people wanted us to do it but had we stuck our heads in the sand and not had the information to hand to tell us we were in trouble, we would be staring at a 60,000 or 70,000 euro deficit.
“There are a massive amount of critics out there but those in the office, Mike Heskin and Angus Kirkland before him, do a massive amount of work to control expenditure. It’s not easy; it’s a 2.2m euro outlay.
“How many of you manage a business as big? Perhaps the critics should sit down and let the people do their jobs, which they do exceptionally. You may not like it but I don’t see many of you nominating names to sit on the board. Credit needs to go to the staff and board for recoginising there is a problem.
Chairman Denis Millar added: “With funding being severely cut and sponsorship being hard to come by, difficult financial decisions will have to be made to ensure the viability of the IHA in future years.”
The importance of a Strategic Plan was stressed by Ronan Pelow and Tom O’Donoghue, suggesting that the lack of one for the past couple of years had left the IHA going from year to year “like a boat without a rudder”.
Mike Heskin assured that a plan would be produced by the third quarter of this year.
In the Matters Arising from the Special General Meeting minutes, a clarification over former High Performance Director Dave Passmore’s status was given. As of last November, he was employed in a coach education role for 22 hours a week.
Currently, those hours have been reduced to eight a week, primarily “writing syllabus for coaching courses, giving tutoring hours at a high-end level” in tandem with his job as a full-time lecturer in DCU on sports science.
**Please note: the font on the new SFRH site does not support Euro signs, hence having to write it out every time. Hoping to get this fixed soon!
The motion to levy clubs, however, was defeated by 24 yes votes to 32 no. The IHA had proposed the levy to pay off the current 60,000 euro deficit remaining on the books.
While the motion was defeated, later debate suggested that while many agreed with the idea of a levy, it was perhaps pitched badly and at the wrong time which made it hard to stomach.
The single price regardless of size of club was one particular bone of contention. Among those to express their view, Helen Lynch suggested that clubs like Cork C of I found it difficult to support a further levy when they already felt they were not receiving much for their affiliation fee and their decision can be seen as something of a “backlash”.
At a time when no Irish senior men’s training camps were being held in the province among other issues, there was a feeling of being disenfranchised and disconnected in Munster – something backed up by Cork Harlequins’ representative John Hobbs.
Indeed, finances were central of most debate at the event. Specifically, there are fears that the current sponsorship deal between Electric Ireland and women’s national team could come to an end in the autumn.
Chief Executive Mike Heskin said that nothing has been decided as yet but, in the current climate, it is a major worry. Three proposals have been pitched to the company while two meeting have ensured but “as yet, we have had no indication one way or the other.
“They are a sizeable income, bringing over 100,000 euro into the organisation. To lose that would be a major issue for us.”
He added that the IHA are not alone in feeling the pinch in this arena.
“It’s an on-going issue and there are no simple solutions. If you read the papers, you see organisations much bigger than our struggling to get sponsorship.
[pullquote]“They are a sizeable income, bringing over 100,000 euro into the organisation. To lose that would be a major issue for us.” – IHA chief executive Mike Heskin on Electric Ireland’s sponsorship of the senior women’s team[/pullquote]
“The German team that won Olympic gold, lost their sponsor directly after the Olympics. They may have a new one now but that shows you how precarious things can be. “
The IHA have also presented to three other companies but have received a firm no from all three.
Indoor hockey also came under scrutiny with calls for the National Indoor Trophy to be scrapped. The IHA took over the running of the competition in recent years from the Leinster indoor committee but have incurred big losses in the two years accounted for to date.
In 2011, it cost the association a net of 11,000 euro and, in 2012, a 4,000 euro loss was incurred.
From the floor, Corinthian representative Ronan Pelow said: “We shouldn’t undertake activities which cost us money. We’d love indoor to be important but there’s a very small participation level and I’d suggest we cease indoor level at a national level. The finances don’t justify it.”
Finance officer Julie Beamish concurred, saying: “The point is well made. In fairness to the Indoor working group, they have put an awful lot of effort to something which isn’t well supported [by the clubs]. While it would be a shame to see it go, the facts are there.
IHA chairman of the board Dennis Millar, however, pointed out that “the two new national coaches are in favour of indoor hockey as preparation for outdoor hockey”.
Ards representative Norma Gartside, meanwhile, expressed her concern that should the IHA decide against running an indoor tournament next year, it could have a big impact on her club.
They had been intending on putting in a bid to host their EuroHockey Club Indoor Champions Challenge next February in their bid for promotion but should the tournament be pulled, this could change those plans.
Corinthian’s Lisa Carey also suggested there was a poor financial return on hosting events in the 2012 compared to 2011. The latter accrued a 14 percent profit, primarily due to the women’s Champions Challenge I.
In 2012, though, that equivalent competition made a €6,000 loss – which offset to some extent the 37,000 euro profit turned by the men’s Olympic qualifier to end the year with just a five percent margin for all events.
The loss on the women’s tournament, though, was likely to be less than if Ireland had been forced to travel elsewhere for that particular tournament.
The IHA accepted that, while attendances were superb throughout the OQT, more could have been done – including bringing in outside professional help – to attract advertising and sponsors to help boost revenues.
Finally on the financial side, Julie Beamish made an impassioned speech, saying that the increase in rigour in the IHA compared to five years ago is almost incomparable.
“While we learned lessons in 2012, we do have strong financial controls in the IHA. Going back to the 2007/08 debacle when a grant was recognised twice in the accounts and spent in both those years, I don’t think anyone on the board now was involved then.
The fact is we had an issue last year which we began to talk about as a financial issue in April 2012; started to talk about it with concern in August 2012, and you all know how it was then addressed after that. Bad and all as it was addressed, it was addressed.
“For me, the faith is in the fact we addressed it during the year. Maybe not how people wanted us to do it but had we stuck our heads in the sand and not had the information to hand to tell us we were in trouble, we would be staring at a 60,000 or 70,000 euro deficit.
“There are a massive amount of critics out there but those in the office, Mike Heskin and Angus Kirkland before him, do a massive amount of work to control expenditure. It’s not easy; it’s a 2.2m euro outlay.
“How many of you manage a business as big? Perhaps the critics should sit down and let the people do their jobs, which they do exceptionally. You may not like it but I don’t see many of you nominating names to sit on the board. Credit needs to go to the staff and board for recoginising there is a problem.
Chairman Denis Millar added: “With funding being severely cut and sponsorship being hard to come by, difficult financial decisions will have to be made to ensure the viability of the IHA in future years.”
The importance of a Strategic Plan was stressed by Ronan Pelow and Tom O’Donoghue, suggesting that the lack of one for the past couple of years had left the IHA going from year to year “like a boat without a rudder”.
Mike Heskin assured that a plan would be produced by the third quarter of this year.
In the Matters Arising from the Special General Meeting minutes, a clarification over former High Performance Director Dave Passmore’s status was given. As of last November, he was employed in a coach education role for 22 hours a week.
Currently, those hours have been reduced to eight a week, primarily “writing syllabus for coaching courses, giving tutoring hours at a high-end level” in tandem with his job as a full-time lecturer in DCU on sports science.
**Please note: the font on the new SFRH site does not support Euro signs, hence having to write it out every time. Hoping to get this fixed soon!
In regards to the indoor situation, the biggest problem is as always that the competition is aimed just at Division 1 clubs. As usual the IHA focus on Division 1 which omits all the other teams that compete in the leagues across Ireland. In Leinster alone there are 14 ladies divisions and 8 mens, surely there is space to widen the competition out? Whilst there are a handful of ladies teams that are not in Div 1 competing in the Indoor Trophy it seems that they are not hugely welcomed by the IHA. The umpires are poor and bend the rules to allow International and Division 1 players get away with certain techniques that are not meant to be allowed in indoor, and finally the weekends they chose to host the tournament are a joke causing difficulty for teams to commit to playing as well as training. This year in particular the ladies league was a mess and incredibly frustrating and disappointing to compete in. The indoor committee need to look at totally restructuring the tournament, and make it more competitive and open to more teams or all levels. They also need to look at how they run the event, when they run it and where they run it.