I am immensely pleased that I have you all thinking though a little disturbed that you are thinking more about whom I might be then what I am saying. At the end of the day I do not matter, Underwater Hockey or what ever you want to call it, is supposed to be the focus here.

My entry into this forum is to highlight that nobody is standing up and doing anything about the real issues…I have read pages and pages dedicated to a name change…I have to agree that the name is important as the right name will make a huge difference to how we ultimately feel about the sport – this is the image reference…imagine saying to your mates “I’m off to play Indoor snorkel battle extreme” without feeling like a knob! (I know it’s a joke Liam and I’m sorry Carl if this is considered offensive-I have a door knob at home and it as innocent as can be ) Of course the name is important, but Alexandra is very right when she says that it is the least of our worries at the minute. The game as we have known it is set to change dramatically and I have read nothing that indicates any of you have thought about this. How do you feel about the competition being cut in half? How do envision this will impact on hockey? I don’t want to get into why this has happened and begin blaming people…I just want to have you all consider what this means to you as players….and in response consider what you might be able to do to ensure you maintain the best competition going….you might decide that you can do nothing…at least that is a considered response….you might decide that you have enough influence to inspire somebody else..who inspires somebody else who inspires somebody else and so forth.


In response to personal references Liam, and I refer to you by name because you have signed off on it so often, if you hadn’t I would have referred to you as ‘Atapene’ because that is who you are to me, I am unclear as to why you believe my entry as the most negative????; (Belle you should be included in this also)

Since when was the uwh commission ever elected? amc32 22/03/07

Really makes me wonder about this -- too much secrecy going on to say we would be better off with the new Org than the lame one we currently have… Duck 24/03/07

Yes, now that Doug mentioned it - I haven't heard about any of this through "official channels" either until the podcast with the WTD (if not official, at least from the horses mouth) on this Forum. I am on the committee of the Australian Underwater Hockey Association and have not received any communication regarding this. Lena10 24/03/07

All concerns answered???? This STILL has all been done in the cone of silence. And it is a "done deal"????? How can you not be concerned? From an email saying we'll talk about it later? Duck 29/03/07

I have only urged people to think!!! There is underlying sediment on this forum that the underwater hockey commission is some sort of secret organisation trying to work us all over…personally, I don’t think so. I don’t know, I am not privy to what happens in their meetings, but it is apparent to me that these individuals have been personally attacked, so if it is glory they have sought, they have certainly chosen the wrong battle field. If I was going to work people over I would be ensuring there was a heap of money for me at the end of it. This certainly isn’t the case. What do these people stand to gain?? At the end of the day you only need to ask what can we do to ensure that the sport still enjoys the best competition available? Is competing at Bari the right thing to do? Should we all be standing now, united as a new sporting body? Are we weakening our position by having useless arguments about nothing much really?

Liam you state that most people on this forum have contributed to the cause…but how?? Playing the game well is one thing, but have you personally contacted your federation and expressed how you feel about CMAS and the outcome of the Jersey verdict? Have you sent emails to CMAS to express how well you thought the world championships were run? Have you openly shown any support of your governing body during their time of need? Have you sent letters of support to the world commission confirming your support? These are political issues and I can infer from your entries on this forum as to how you personally feel in relation to the issue….have you made them publicly known through your federation or personally via email? I don’t mean to pick on you personally…well maybe I do, you had a go at me first

It is the cynic in me, but I question people’s motives when they start making noise so long after the first punches have been thrown. From what I have read, most information has been made available long ago; it has kept me informed as to what has been happening. I have stated before that I have not become involved until now because I personally do not have the time or energy to do anything about it….I am merely fed up with those being extremely vocal after the fact, when it matters least! Sorry if that is negative to you Liam…but if it ultimately inspires you personally to take action then I am happy I spoke up.

I have recently been reading the BOA message board (British Octopush Association http://www.gbuwh.co.uk/ - go to the message board) and they are raising some interesting issues you may like to consider.