Well I wasn't going to post this publicly yet because it can easily just lead to different things with various opinions posted and end up one big mess but after talking to Joe a bit yesterday this is ONE of the directions this sort of thing could lead to.
Hilly mentioned "help get gyms". While there are some gyms that welcome bocking, for most of the bocking community it's hard going. Most leisure halls are worried that:
- Bocking is dangerous
- It could damage their floor and mats
- Do you have insurance (PLI)
All three of these could be the hurdles anyone of us need to find a solution for.
Any other sport that takes place in a leisure centre has a few things we dont:
A National Association (often with an umbrella insurance policy for all it's members)
A Governing Body (which the association becomes)
A Coaching Qualification
Rules or Discipline for the sport/game leading to Banding Achievements
Good Practice Guides
With these in place, a leisure centre can look at the sport and immediately see things are being done in an organised, structured and most importantly SAFE manor.
Without any of these, we are basically a bunch of cowboys hiring a sports hall to do with as we please. This is the reason most gyms run a mile from us.
About 2-3 years ago I asked if anyone was interested in helping me put together an association. A few showed interest and there was a fair amount of talk done by email but nothing happened and most of those members no longer bock anymore. But I'm still here, and the reason I have brought this whole topic up again is because even if I'd started to put stuff together on my own, sure it would have taken me a lot longer to do but 3 years down the line in 2012 we'd be here with something either in place or at least heading that way.
I'll be the first to admit it - this process is boring, it's mostly all paperwork and narrowing down peoples ideas to something we all agree on and put in to place. That's the reason most people lose interest….but I still believe it's worth doing and maybe if I had stuck at it on my own 3 years ago a lot more people would be able to book their local gym without a problem.