Online Petition for Unification of the game

[daviejojo]

Admin: Also see related thread Uniting British Hockey's Governing Bodies


Okay peeps, the first real chance for everyone to get involved Smile

I know there have been a few petitions flying about of late, and it really shows how much the fans care about the game.

After my meeting with Gordon Brown last week, and the fact he will now have delivered the presentation to Richard Caborn (Sports Minister), I intend to provide him with a recent petition of caring fans before he makes his final decision on the state of the game. I promise this only takes a few seconds, and It has just gone live tonight, so please take a moment to click on the link, and do your bit.

I am hoping to get several thousand signature to back our move to bring the sport together, so send the link on to as many folks as you can.

Thanks all for your support

www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=3734

[jazza]

Done!

Good luck buddy!

[Optic]

SIGNED!

[Kev46]

done, good luck mate

[NickThePanther44]

signed!!

[Matt]

Signed

[john]

Done It!

Good Luck Mate:D

[HeartsAndKisses]

got it done mate, also sent it out to my mates

[ggggranville]

Signed

[DaveE]

Done

[mattscold]

signed

[Optic]

only 585 sigs!
get signing people lol

[daviejojo]

Just want to put a post on that I have to write for The Hockey Forum, just in case there is any confussion on here.

Hello again all,

Okay doke, this seems to have caused mayhem again, and obviously that is not my aim, in essence I was hoping to bring the game more together than put further wedges into it.

I just want to clarify a couple of things here as I believe there is maybe some unclarity around certain items.

In my original post for those who can remember it, I asked if the fans were behind a bid to unify the leagues, not with the benefit of hindsight, I chose the wording poorly, it is not the league as such I wish to unify, but have the sport run by one central governing body, this is fundamentaly different to the what I have led people to believe I was seeking to achieve. You also have to remember, I am only a fan of Ice Hockey, and this whole thing started by a simple question on my own clubs Forum,and I quickly realised that a significant number of people were fed up, and that change was needed.

Secondly, my original objective was to try and get some focus on the sport from within the government and have a minister for sports have a look at how the game is being run, in a nutshell, that was it. It was my hope that if an independant governmental review was carried out, the problems in the game are fairly obvious, and UK Sport tend to be assigned to provide recommendations to the sport (and in fact in some cases, changes are enforced if there happens to be areas that are in fact illegal).

I met Gordon Brown and I got pelters for not making it clear he was my local MP, some people felt I was trying to talk things up by failing to disclose this info. In actual fact i did mention it in my early posts around confirmation he had agreed to meet me, but if any confussion surrounds this still then I must make it clear, he is my local MP hence the meeting, I just felt it was worth pointing out who he was, as he does have a fair bit of influence. The meeting with him went very well, and he has since written to me confirming he has passed on my presentation to Richard Caborn and awaits a reply now from RC.

So really from what I set out achieve, I have completed it. I have raised awareness to those in government, and the feeling of the fans I have spoken too, including the survey carried out last year, have been forwarded to the top minister for sports.

The question now was, do I stop here, have we done enough? In short the answer IMO was no. This has a bit of focus, lets try and keep it going, hence the petition was setup, yes so far the numbers are not the best, only 600+ signatures, I would not though call that a failure as some people have suggested, this whole topic is an immotive one, and from reading some of the recent posts, people think I am trying to change the world. I must make it clear I am not. I want UK Sport to review the game in conjunction with the current bodies, and work together and improve the setup and structure, that basically is it.

I don't pretend to have the all the answers, I never have done, I felt I had the backing of enough people to go ahead and try and prompt change.

And remember this is not just fans who have backed me, over the 4 weeks or so this have been ongoing, I have spoken to League chairmen, club chairmen, club owners, the players association, players, former players, referees, former association chairmen, sports writers, media and fans (and that is probably not them all), and it is almost a unanimous feeling that change is needed, and if it doesnt happen now, it couldbe too late.

This is not a case of one Flyers fan going in the huff and sulking as has been quoted here, it is just a case of a concerned fan trying to encourage all parties in the game to talk and improve what is in place.

I hope this clears things up with folks on here, and I hope that many more will sign up for action. Remember, we can make a difference, we are not telling clubs what to do, that was never the objective, we just want certain areas of the game to admit there are problems, and work with everyone in the sport to improve the game for everyone.

[daviejojo]

Just something else I need to add today aswell after speaking to the Players Association again this morning.

It must be notes that the ongoing initial review by UK Sport and Richard Caborn is not something that was an outcome of anything we are trying to achieve as fans.

It is very important to note that it is down to the efforts of the 2 MP's acting on behalf of Paul Berrington and Marc Twaite that has got the Enquiry this far to date. Without their exceelnt work and consistent pressure to Richard Caborn/DCMS/UK Sport no such investigation would be taking place at this time. There was also an excellent document and many hours of help and assistance from the Players Association that has been a significant driver so far, and it should be noted that the document we submitted as fans, is an add on to all the excellent work done so far by many other folks. It is the hope that the outcome from RIchard Caborn will be made using all the information he has been given, and that the fans document is only really a small part of the overall review.

We are hopefull that a formal working party will be setup by RC,and that this will be the next step in driving the sport forward.

I just feel that this is something I may not have made clear in my earlier post, and wanted to make everyone aware that this is not something I am trying to drive or own, we are simply a small part in the chain.

[premakpower]

Signed up - best of luck with this campaign

[NickThePanther44]

really makes me laugh how so many people slag off the league then wont give any support to anyone trying to change things, this league is an absolute JOKE, we all know that and this last season has only further proved it.

noone to govern the sport, how many major sports are run like that?

the berrington situation

two minute minor for fighting (im a fan of the rough stuff) only league in the world to endorse such a thing, if you didnt laugh youd cry

no set rules, you couldnt be blamed for thinking there was a fella sat in an office making it up as he goes along

it took the league three years to fid a major sponsor, BMI must be wondering what theyve let themselves in for

still no tv contract, Espn programme was appalling, respect for anyone who tried to improve it but it was obvious they were given about a tenner a week to film it.

there are so many more problems that need addressing, what Daviejojo and co has tried to do, highlight the issues in our sport deserves our full support imo.

Ice Hockey is such an entertaining sport and it could be so much more but unfortnately its going downhill and pretty fast

Nick