The Commonwealth Games has just finished on the Gold Coast, and a very successful hockey tournament has just finished as well, but now the real battle starts its a battle between the Traditionalist who want little or know change to hockey in Australia and the Modernist who understand that if the game is to remain relevant in Australia and to start growing again, then the time for change has come.
As everyone in the hockey community across Australia knows, Hockey Australia is in the throws of creating a new format and design for the old Australian Hockey League, and this is the first front in the battle between these two factions. The traditionalist don't want things to change they want the AHL to stay the same as its always been a contest between the states and territories at one time and in one place. The modernists on the other hand realise that in order to get more money into the game to help with development and growth, this needs to change to a franchise format on a limited home and away basis.
The sticking points however seem to be over what format the actual hockey takes, the traditionalist want it to remain the traditional game with zero rule changes, where as the modernist are prepared to try new rules and ideas in order to make the game more attractive to a new fan base. The traditionalist say that this will kill hockey, see thats the problem hockey was and is all ready dying to a degree and has been for sometime, it needs to attract new fans. So I say why not meet half way on this how about the following-
- 11 players a side remains
- Franchise based teams but licenses are instead granted to state bodies and perhaps even a couple of teams in New Zealand for those bodies to sell on to groups or consortiums to bring money into hockey in those states for the purposes of development and growing the game.
- There are some rule changes put in place but the overall integrity of the game remains as it is today.
- The new competition is on a home an away limited basis similar to the way the AHL use to be in the late 90's early 2000's period.
- This new comp doesn't take the place of the AHL rather it compliments it, and the old AHL remains it just reverts back to being called the Australian National Hockey Championships (Open Age).
Now I think that is a fair compromise, which works out for the betterment of Australian hockey as a hole and it keep the traditionalist happy and also gives a nod to the modernist and shows a path to building and growing the game of hockey in Australia again.
Remember at the end of the day everyone involved in hockey today in Australia is a temporary custodian of the game, they don't own the game, they need to be passing the game on to the next generation and the generation after that in good shape.
