The North-West Hockey League website has moved. It can now be found at
http://www.northwesthockeyleague.co.uk/index.htm
After seven years on the League Committee, the last five as Overall Co-Ordinator, I have decided to end my involvement in hockey administration.
I was persuaded to join the committee in 1994, as a result of my lobbying for the introduction of league hockey for 3rd XIs and below. Twelve months later, my goal was achieved as three divisions were created for 3rd and 4th teams. Not everyone agrees that this was a change for the better, but if the number of teams in this years junior league is any guide, then junior league hockey seems here to stay.
When a vacancy arose for an overall co-ordinator in 1996, I volunteered to take it on, as another vision was germinating somewhere in my subconscious. That was to make hockey results and league tables available to everyone, not just a few club officials and notice boards. My predecessor had done a fantastic job in getting league results onto ITV Teletext, but the internet was starting its rapid rise in popularity, and it seemed a natural way to make more information available. It took a couple of years to get the momentum going, but for the last two seasons, results and league tables have been updated every Saturday evening, usually around 9.30pm. I hope you have found the service useful, and it has added to the enjoyment of your hockey.
Last season, for the first time, I included the Junior League in this service. With hindsight, that was probably a mistake. The additional workload (up to 78 games rather than 48) turned the job into a chore, rather than a pleasure, taking 5-6 hours every Saturday. This increased commitment on my part, coincided with a gap developing, between my own strong views about the overall strategy for hockey in the north-west, and those of other members of the league committee.
It is inappropriate to go into great detail here, but suffice to say, I do not support the current proposals for regionalisation of the league in 2002/03, nor the formalising of ties with the Northern region of the Welsh Hockey Union. In some areas, I seem to be a lone, dissenting voice on the committee, and I have begun to ask myself whether my views reflect those of hockey players in Lancashire, or whether the decline in my motivation to continue to devote my Saturdays to administration is affecting my judgement. The current Chairman and Secretary of the league are magnificent servants of the sport, worthy of everyone's admiration and thanks for the amount of work they put in to keep the league going. They do not need me to be a negative, disruptive voice on the committee, and I have decided that it would be best for me to stand down, and allow them to implement the changes that they feel are in the best interests of hockey.
Thank you all for your support over the last seven years. I continue as Fixtures Secretary of Bolton Hockey Club, so I will probably speak to many of you during the coming season.
Best wishes
Tim Murphy
Last Updated on 13 August 2001