Here is Part 2 of my rant about why the Turkish Ice Hockey Federation (TBHF) sucks and needs to be replaced.
Some of the rules the TBHF enforced this season was shocking. The ice rink in Ankara is horrible. No other way to put it, but it is crap. It is run by a bunch of guys who have no idea what an ice rink is, let alone how to properly maintain it. For example, in one end of the ice there is a 5-9 cm gap between the boards and ice. Yes, cement is showing and it is so big that pucks frequently slip right underneath the boards or get stuck. Yet, despite playing on this horrible ice, a TBHF official had the guts to come into our dressing room before a game threaten our team with a suspension because one of our players helmets didn’t have the same colour as the rest of the team.
Hockey is about the players. Somehow the TBHF seems to forget this because myself and every other import player to play in this league this year feels TBHF feels that hockey is about the TBHF. Don’t believe me? Go the to the TBHF website (www.tbhf.org.tr) and just look at the pictures. See a recurring theme? Yep, pictures of the president and the president with the rest of the TBHF brass. Every week on the TBHF is like a new edition of ‘Where’s Waldo’, except Waldo is replaced by the TBHF president and he is usually pretty easy to pick out. This isn’t just on the website either. Walk into the ice rink in Ankara and you will be greeted by a huge mural of the national men’s team and smack dab in the middle is the TBHF brass. Look closely and you will see players BEHIND the TBHF members. I’m sorry, but go to USA Hockey or Hockey Canada’s website and do you see a picture of their presidents front row and center in every picture? When Team Canada wins a gold medal in a championship does the president run onto the ice and move players out of the way so he can be in the picture? NO. Oh and another thing, after the championship game this year my team got together to have one last team photo and guess who budged in? Yes, believe it, the president of the TBHF. What an ass.
Marketing a sport that is unfamiliar to a country is crucial for its survival. So why not market the top league? Not once this season did I see a poster or any announcement of any games anywhere. When the playoffs were announced that they would be played in Istanbul (two games, one weekend) not one form of advertising was in place. Nobody in Istanbul had a clue that there were even Super League games being played there for the second of the season! Got a son or daughter that wants to play hockey? Great, but don’t go the TBHF website, it won’t tell you crap about how to join or how to get started. When is the next Super League game being played? Don’t go the Federation website because it won’t tell you anything. Oh but the website will tell you what the president has been up to lately.
There are currently no coaching clinics in this country. How can the TBHF expect to develop talent to help bring the national teams into higher levels if they don’t develop the youth with properly train coaches? They just don’t care. More concerned about their titles and prestige then they care about the sport of hockey. It really makes me sick to see how they are abusing a great sport for their own personal gain.
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