x22

Robert Short

Rotterdam – Since my return from the Men’s World Cup Qualifier in Scotland, I have had the pleasure of becoming a spectator once again enjoying the ever-so popular Women’s Champions Trophy here in Holland.

This was a great tournament with crowds on average of aproximately 6,000 people for the Dutch Team’s games. The Dutch made the final but lost 2-1 to the silver medallists of the Sydney Olympics, Argentina. There was a great atmosphere with large tents and booths selling equipment and food, while on the other five pitches at the Amsterdam club, kids camps were constantly ongoing. The atmosphere was similar to that of the 1998 World Cup in Utrecht.

Anyways, the reason for this article is due to an inconsistency that I noticed and had a hard time understanding. At the World Cup Qualifier there were a number of rules set for this particular tournament with promises of this being the way it would be for the future of World Hockey.

One was the movement of the push-out spot for the corners. For us, we had no idea going into this tournament that there would be a difference of a few feet in our corner push-outs. Maybe Canada was informed, but we as players and staff had heard nothing of the sort. I wonder what other teams didn’t have this rule-change prior to the Qualifier?

Now after watching the Champions Trophy I noticed that the spot for the push-out was still in the normal place. So why does this change from tournament to tournament? Is it different for the Women’s and the Men’s tournaments? The league here in Holland has the new lines painted on the spots but we still continue to use the normal push-out spots.

Another, inconsistency shown during our tournament in Scotland was the new rule of white tape not being allowed on our sticks. I assume this rule is there so the players, and as well the spectators, can see the ball on the players sticks, especially on the penalty corners. This makes sense but my problem with it was the fact that some teams did bide by this rule and some didn’t. We were told specifically to color our tape on our sticks, or use black tape. We as a team watched Lombi of Argentina play the whole tournament brilliantly with the whole front side of his stick taped with brilliant white tape. Maybe it was so noticeable due to him scoring nineteen goals. So, where is the consistency? Aren’t these sticks seen through the routine stick checks of each match? In the Champions Trophy I think they were enforcing this rule as I noticed the Dutch team all had bright yellow stick tape around their sticks.

The final one, and most ridiculous one, would be the new issue of ‘no white allowed on your shoes.’ At the Champions Trophy I know this was not used as many of the players were using the same shoes that players were made to color in at the Qualifier. Shoes such as the Gray’s, Dita’s, Mizuno’s, Kangaroo’s etc…. were all not allowed as is. We had players on our bench coloring in small corners of their shoes because they had a grey or white outside lining to the sole. This was a small annoyance for all of the teams so most teams complained. The reason given was that it was for television. The television at the Qualifier was a thirty-minute highlight package on the BBC shown after the tournament, while the Champions Trophy was on television every day. Most of the shoes looked worse colored than they did prior. One of our players had a gray stripe on his shoes and he was told 3 minutes before the whistle to start coloring. But, the funny part was we were playing New Zealand who had a number of players playing in gray running shoes. Japan was also another country that plays in gray shoes.

In golf, what has made the game so popular over the last five years? Tiger Woods! What has Tiger brought other than great golf? He has brought youth, fist pumps, nike shirts, and excitement. In athletics one of the most well known names is Micheal Johnson. What color shoes did he wear in the Olympics 5 years ago when he won a number of gold medals? Gold. Yes, there isn’t a white ball at the feet of these athletes, but this brings flair and excitement. Should ice hockey players paint their skates a color that doesn’t match the ice or the puck?

Field hockey players don’t make much money, if any, from their sport. Some hockey players get their playing shoes for free due to sponsorships, and now we are told we must color in our sponsors logos and stripes. Why would a company continue to sponsor hockey players around the world if their company is not recognizable on the shoes? I know Micheal Jordon wouldn’t still be sponsored by Nike if he wasn’t seen wearing the swoosh logo.

We as players face criticism at all times. Coaches and managers face criticism all the time. And the FIH must hear some criticism as well. Let’s keep the game fun and continue to better the game with better rules.

Rate This Article

Select Here  5 Stars  (Best Rating)   4 Stars   3 Stars   2 Stars   1 Star  (Worst Rating)

Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.