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ReFormat WC 2011

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Bratislava, Slovakia, June 2011, will once again host the Senior World Championships. This will be the third time hosting for Slovakia, but only the second for the capital city, which held the very first ISBHF WC in 1996.

Much has changed since the inaugural men’s event which had seven nations participating (AUT, CAN, CZE, GER, RUS, SUI, SVK). Fifteen years later between 16 to 20 nations are expected to compete in the Men’s A and B Pools, while 8 are anticipated in the Women’s division.

Structure of Men's A-Pool

The A-Pool was originally planned as a 12-team format, however the recent withdrawal of India and the approved relegation for Bermuda to B-Pool have necessitated a change in format to two division of five teams. The 10-team format will now feature four round-robin games for each nation, before the playoff rounds. Division A1: CZE, CAN, POR, FIN, GER. Division A2: SVK, USA, GRE, AUT, SUI.

The Men’s B-Pool and Women’s formats will not be finalized until the end of February when the deadline for applications has been closed.

Withdrawal of team India

India’s withdrawal was announced after the ISBHF refused to provide an extension on the August 31, 2010 deadline for player citizenship applications for WC11 eligibility. The regulation was approved and publicized in January of 2010, after initial review and discussion in June of 2009. No other nation had issue with meeting the August 31, 2010 deadline.

This was not the first time the Team India program ran afoul of ISBHF eligibility regulations. India, along with Italy, both failed to provide a national development report in June 2010, which was a mandatory requirement for their continued involvement in the ISBHF. Both national team programs were suspended in June by the ISBHF members in order to draw attention to the eligibility issues and new regulations so that others involved in their organizations may have an opportunity to rectify the problems.

Several representatives from each of the Indian and Italian programs were made aware of the eligibility requirements in through June and July. At an extraordinary ISBHF meeting held this past September, Team Italy was removed from WC eligibility for 2011 due to the lack of any concrete development plans. Team India presented a pilot project with a private International school in India that was slated to start in January 2011. Based on this commitment India remained eligible.

As ISBHF officials prepared for a visit to the school site, it became apparent that the program was not ready to start as promised. Whether this fact prompted the withdrawal of India from the 2011 WC is a matter for debate, however the facts remain that representatives of the national program for India were aware of all the deadlines and have not been able to adequately explain why they were missed, nor why they chose not to attend any of the three ISBHF meetings in 2010.

ISBHF non-residential program

The non-resident programs initiated by the ISBHF several years ago have been successful in establishing street hockey programs in England, Greece, Pakistan, and Portugal, while the Italians continue efforts on three different fronts. Only Team India failed on their development commitments. They have in further indicated that no effort will be made to commence the promised school program, which is a disappointment for the longer term future of the Indian program. Several nations offered assistance to Team India. In the end, the failure lays squarely on the shoulders of the program representatives.

President's note

George Gortsos
ISBHF president

This past weekend I had the honour of becoming the third President of the ISBHF. I believe that as a player and coach I have always strived to play ball hockey in a skilled and team way. Now I have a chance to work with all the great leaders of our sport throughout the World who love the game like we all do. I met some great people in Paris. And I would like to thank the representatives of all our member nations who voted me in on behalf of ball hockey players around the World. This is an honour I will handle with the honesty and hard work that made me a successful player and coach. I want to share the main keys that I will strive to work with my fellow board members to make this game better around the World.
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