HOME TRUTHS FROM THE PRESS OFFICER

I made a statement on record that Rotherham Hockey Club would reduce from 6 to 4 senior teams if we did not do more to help with advertising the club.

WE [and that means all of us] have to have excellent press coverage if we are to survive this dip in membership.

No excuses this season!

I can provide a form to fill in if you want that to serve as a press report.

Press reports serve 4 functions.

• 1.       To advertise the club to prospective new members.
• 2.       To give praise where it is due.
• 3.       To pick away at ignorance and prejudice towards hockey.
• 4.       To provide a platform to increase the scale of press coverage.

To those of you, who have helped a really big thank you. To those of you who have not seen it as significant: you have been proved wrong!

Given enough support by having press reports from ALL the senior AND junior teams I know that we could have had reports in the Rotherham Advertiser, Sheffield Star, Rotherfm and I was aiming at Hallam FM [to really hit the Sheffield students.] The result would have been increased youth membership, more novice / lapsed players, more students.

I have quite a good relationship with the local press but every time I cannot provide a full CLUB report it weakens.

I am going to repeat another prediction. Football’s bubble will burst, questions will be asked about why we put too high a priority on it. We should go on the offensive now and sow the seeds to attract disillusioned footballers and parents. AND we should be recruiting more cricketers. But none of the above will entertain a club that NOBODY HAS HEARD OF!