worlds 2008

Since when was the uwh commission ever elected?

Graham is elected, by cmas voting members, at some big cmas soiree every 4 year years - last time was 2005.

the commission members are appointed by Graham.
that's not election, that's selection. quite different things.

makes it very easy to get things 'done' though if you have a committee of like-minded souls.

i do think french/spanish/german/czech/slovenian & turkish speaking uwh players should be canvassed for possible names - we might get a really cool sounding one.
i'm not such a francophobe as to reject their language out of hand.

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i have had a fish around amongst uwh players in NZ today.

there were many suggestions for a name, but the bottom line is that graham is right when he says there could never really be a consensus. 19 player responses in an afternoon, old and young, all hating the name aqua challenge passionately, none with a consensus... about 5-6 coming up with aqua hockey separately was the most consistent thing.

hell, i dont particularly like the name underwater hockey. its a mouthful. i hate octopush, it's just plain dweeby sounding. and so we will end up with yet another daft sounding name it seems.

to me its still burger king, its just got a hungry jacks label on it for some reason... i'll still ask for directions to burger king and order a whopper burger when i get there.


here are some of the best attempts i received today...

INDOOR SNORKLE BATTLE EXTREME

snorkel, puck, stick, game

Crazy inbred score-fest

I agree with you atapene, it's so hard to pick a good sounding name for our sport.
Although INDOOR SNORKLE BATTLE EXTREME sounds wicked I'm afraid people will mistake it for a japanese gameshow from the 80's :lol:

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Depends how you go about getting a concensus. If each country that is to become a part of the new Mothership were to submit a name with reasons for it including marketability issues we could have the player vote. Surely one or two would rise above the rest. If one does not get 50% then have another vote amoungst all those with more than 20% or take the top two or something. From that we could get a concensus for a name.

From everyone I have talked to in the US, which at this point has still been slightly limited (about 20 people), no one likes Aquachallenge.

And from Carol Rose, President USOA (US Federation), member and Secretary of the Underwater Hockey Commission, there has been no decision for a final name. There is supposed to be something at the 2008 Gathering in South Africa.

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.

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.

I also noticed that the WTD is also the Federal President (as of November last year) of the Australian Underwater Federation, which is the governing body for underwater sports and amateur diving in Australia as well as the administrative body for CMAS (!) in Australia. This seems a bit strange to me, that he would seek that position whilst at the same time pulling uwh away from CMAS. The WTD must be becoming one big pain-in-the-proverbial to CMAS! (I wonder if "hendo" has become a new french swear word). :lol:

so Duck, are you wondering about the sense of following:

the president of a commission of an organisation we are leaving - a president who was elected by votes at a cmas meeting - not an uwh one

who in turn has appointed all the members of his commission - again, not elected by uwh folks [just hand-picked by the president]

into a sport whose name has been hurriedly decided upon without the input of those who participate in the sport

which is using rules of the OLD organisation to justify imposing new rules about what gear you can/can't use [depending on which ref is poolside at the time]

yet claiming that the rules of the old organisation are so stifling we must break from them

o.k. i am using rules of the code in one example and rules of the parent organisation in another. but i think you get my drift.

my BIG question: how soon after the split from cmas, assuming it happens - and graham seems determined that it will, will the aqua challenge committee [or perhaps we can refer to them from here on in as the 'junta'] resign all positions and allow free voting by the players/national committees to ELECT a new president and committee members from nominations from member countries.

i'm happy enough if uwh decides to leave cmas, but i really don't want to swap one version of non-elected leadership for another. how soon until we see detailed manifesto/constitution that outlines how our new era of self-determination will work

will we truly have self-determination? or will we have the same old secrecies under a new banner, without input from players?

gee, i really got going here didn't i? sorry folks if the diatribe above is getting off-topic or if i got incoherent.
hopefully somewhere in the mess i asked insightful questions and raised serious issues.

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Ok time to add some balance to this debate before we get way too off track.

Here is the score as your impartial Admin see's it:

1. Everybody is a little suprised by the Bari/South Africa thing - well stuff happens.
2. Hendo has forged ahead with the inevitable split from CMAS - well that is irreversable, for better or worse (I'm neutreal on this of course)
3. All this has happened without transparency - as per history, if you don't ask you don't know. Nobody has ever asked.
4. Aqua Challenge as a name doesn't find consensus - well what would? You'll never make everyone happy on this. From a marketing view point this sport must rebrand as it's failed to attract viable numbers under the current banner. Sorry it's true. So a start is better than standing still.
5. Your new federation could become a dictatorship - true, so put your hands up and lend a demorcratic hand in your future.

Here's the bottom line (from a non plyers perspective);

I've spoken to Graham Henderson once face to face on this issue. He is passionate, future driven & commited to this game. Thats on the plus side.
On the flip side, he has not sought wide consultation on this issue, there has by his own admission he has not been open to CMAS suggestions in the past & has made enemies there. Graham will insist that he has fallen out with CMAS as they're basically not interested in UWH. That's a fair assumption.

There is a greater danger here - Graham Henderson is nearing exhausion and you need him.

In your debating of names etc have you thought about what could/would happen if Hendo was to throw his hands up and say enough?
You'll be left in limbo - not wanted by CMAS & without any other option for Worlds besides Bari.

So as a commited group you must either get on board by getting involved or risk being swept away without a say.


Here's a valid question to a 'small forum audience' of the world's elite players & leaders (that's who you have here WTD, so respect is due thank you)
What can you do to help the future of your game?
Volunteers hands up please.

And questions to Hendo as World President (so again, all due respect that you have his ear thank you everybody)
What help can we be to the process or to the world's in South Africa?
How can interested parties apply for board level elected positions?
Will you continue to keep this community up to dae and informed?

I apologise for the rant - but it is time to stop whinging and start doing.

Above all - lets keep this debate going. Never before in UWH have the actual participants been this involved in the political goings on.
In all democracies debate is crucial & healthy.

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That was really well put Carl.

There has been a lot of negativity in regards to the name change, and the move away from CMAS, maybe we should focus on the big picture and the positive step that has been taken. I seems we all agree that CMAS isn't good for our sport so its a step that had to be made. And by the sound of Hendo's current sleep pattern (or lack there-of) he would welcome some more hands on deck.

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...also remember that in this forum most people are already committing in some shape or form to the game in their little patches of the world.

however i certainly agree that graham should be encouraged for the work he is putting in.

people have issues with the WACA but it's not a personal grievance anyone has with graham, its merely a point on which almost every player will be very passionate.

in this instance those that make the decisions are those that put their hands up to take the responsibility of administration and making those decisions.

this will always be the case in a volunteers world. the answer is of course the old cliche of "you want input, then stand up and help".

i do think a little more consultation would have been a good idea with the WACA thing, but sometimes decisions have to be made fast.

I understand that some may feel aggrieved that they don't know everything, please remember that this is a public forum so all and sundry can read it. It would not be prudent for me to telegraph all the moves that the commission is undertaking at this time, please remember that CMAS has a team of lawyers to act for them, so I don't intend to make their job easy for them by showing them my hand.

To correct a couple of statements made earlier by others, I will say it again. I did not appoint the members of the CMAS Underwater Hockey Commission, they were taken from nominations from their federations. Their was seven positions and there were six nominations received so they were elected unopposed.

Leena as for you not hearing about this through official channels, all I can say is I believe at the moment there is no president of the Australian Commission so therefore their is little or no chain of command for the commission. I have forwarded all correspondence to Simon Talbot but like others he is waiting to see what is happening.

I will be attending the CMAS GA in Rome at the end of May so I hope I will have more to publicly say after that. As for elections if anybody has bothered to read my email header, it says interim president of the WAA. This implies that their will be elections as soon as the new organisation is formed which is the case.

One thing that everybody needs to remember here is that with the forming of a new organisation it does not impact on hockey alone. Consideration has to be given to all the other sports that your federations are involved in and the repercussions from CMAS a breakaway will cause for the federations and their other sports.

I would just ask that everybody be patient as we are trying to organise things to minimize the pain and pressure that will be put on us.

Cheers

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