| Cmas 2009?
Naturally, the comments below assume that UWH is still part of CMAS in 2009...!
I'm sure those that were at Bari, or have read the other thread ("Bari - the good the bad and the ugly") will understand why I've started a new one to focus on the possiblity of the 2009 event.
I have heard that CMAS has already nominated the person who will be in charge of organizing the 2009 event (possible hosts at the moment are – Hungary, Morocco, Tunisia or Dubai). From what I understand he is a Chilean who lives six months of the year in France and who has already requested a spec sheet for underwater hockey.
Following on from what Fred said, I think that it would be a great idea if representatives of all the teams who will be "obliged" to attend the 2009 CMAS championships work together to provide a detailed list of everything that should be provided in order for the event to be of the quality that the players deserve and are used to.
It would be a shame if these teams lost interest in our sport because they can't attend WAA events (for whatever reason, be it financial or due to pressure from their federation) and the CMAS championships are a mess… It could seriously curb the international development of our sport. I think that if we want our sport to expand and to be taken seriously on a worldwide level, it has to be known throughout the world… Although they might not play as well as the "majors" the "smaller" underwater hockey countries are just as important.
Working together, presenting a united front and providing one set of specifications (the consensus of everyone's requests – on and off pitch, e.g., including communication, accommodation info, etc.) as soon as possible is surely the way to try to ensure that everyone stands a chance of getting the conditions they want and deserve… even if the experienced members at the commission refuse to get involved.
If nothing comes of it, then everyone will know that the CMAS is a waste of space. One thing for sure though - if the nations that have to attend don't try to do something proactive then it's guaranteed that the games will be a shambles and it's not fair to the players…
Those "obliged" to attend CMAS 2009 will also need to think about how the referee situation can be resolved. As Fred said, the refs sacrifice their holidays to help out and get nothing but criticism in return. How can we ensure that "decent refs and chief refs and people who could tell the scorers etc what they needed to be doing" will attend? We need to find an incentive, otherwise why would they want to give up a week of their time? If you were in their shoes, would you want to?  |