Following our AGM on 23rd August we are providing a brief summary of points that will have impact on IHI and our members over the next year.

Fees

At the AGM we were awaiting insurance quote before confirming membership fees for the year. This has since come in and as expected there is a rise in costs so unfortunately membership fees will be increasing slightly

• Over 18s - €45
• Under 18s - €25
• Learn to Play - €10
• Officials - €20
• Non-playing team staff - €10 

2020-21 registration will open Tuesday 8th September.It is imperative that anybody participating in inline hockey activities (including club ran fitness session) is re-registered by the end of September. The current insurance lapses on 30/9/20 and if not re-registered you will not be covered.

Skate Ireland

Last year we talked about moving forward to become a CLG for Sport Ireland application. Since then we have had conversations with Skateboarding Ireland about forming an umbrella body for roller sports in Ireland, and henceforth Skate Ireland has been born.

Skate Ireland will become the body that goes for Sport Ireland recognition with each roller sport affiliating to it. This is the direction World Skate once all countries to take and will help to reduce some of the costs associated with recognition. 

Once the legal side of the organisation is taken care of more Irish roller sports will be invited to join.

National Programmes

With the cancellation of 2020 events all teams have refocused towards 2021. We have also used lockdown to put on paper a five year plan:

• Specific targets for each team
• Greater focus on player fitness
• Better pathways
• Introduction of a Junior Womens team by 2023

Details regarding the set-up for each individual team will be announced in due course. We should note there will not be a full U13/15 programme this year instead hosting player camps to focus on player development.

Leagues

As announced earlier in the summer our U12 & U14 leagues were rebranded to Under 13 & Under 15 respectively. This is part of plan that we will have a 2 year jump ahead of the 2021-22 to bring our cut-offs back in line with World Skate and other European Nations.

Our leagues this year will look very different due to the Covid-19 pandemic and we have procedures in place which can be viewed in our downloads section, all participants should make themselves aware of these. We are committed seeing a return to competitive hockey but in a way that we minimise risks, there will be challenges and inconveniences for all.

We our scheduling that our senior leagues will begin the 2020/21 season in October with a view to start junior competitions in November if the situation allows.

All participants should make themselves aware of changes to the rule additions (mostly admin changes) which will be published online next week. All clubs have previously been sent a copy.