17.5 Minute Quarters in All Ireland League

johncoxon 10
keely 9
bigmick 7
John 6
Snoody 6
Paul Watts 5
foozbear 5
majwalrus 5
Goalie64 5
Rutter 4

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[Grumpy]

Hi, i know this has been discussed a bit on the main forum, but as this is the small Irish part of the forum.
I am asking the Irish members to comment on this format being used in the All Ireland League in the coming season.

So the question is what do the Irish members feel about playing four quarters of 17.5 minutes?

[Snoody]

How is it broken up? What are the lengths of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 time? Long enough to disrupt the flow of a match?

[Grumpy]

17.5, 5 min break i think, half time, then another 17.5 min, a break and then the last period of 17.5.

Going to love this in the wind and sleet in the Irish winter

[UKSS]

I'm coming over in Sept to take part in a tournament at Cookstown H.C.

They're going to be using this format for the tournament to try get used to it before the season starts. It'l be very interesting to try and play this system.

I think 1/4s will help if your under the cosh, however if your on top the break could do you more harm and give the opposition a chance to re-group.

[hockeyaddict]

I am not Irish and sorry if i am intruding... But i don't see why this should happen, i know they think it might be good for TV but just a thought... football doesnt and hasn't changed its format for TV why should hockey... or am i just getting the wrong end of the stick here (no pun intended) 

[UKSS]

I'm not sure why they are introducing it, I duno how often hockey is on tv in Ireland and N.Ireland so can't comment on whether its for tv purposes.

I think it will make tactics all the more important though

[Grumpy]

I have been studying the format, personally i think it is tv orientated not hockey orientated.
I have not seen evidence that it has added anything to the game.
I now have two rest periods in a maich so if i need a full press i can really pick a team for that or if i want a half court press pick a team for that.
The breaks do add to tactical changes happening and will actually add to the tactical battle between coaches and teams.
I do not think that this will add to the spectator numbers but i am old fashioned.
With tactical battles i do not think this will make it good for spectators in fact a tad boring.
We will not have tv cameras to add to the game or their insights into the game.
All it will do will lengthen the time on the pitch in the depths of winter oh, joy.

[UKSS]

INteresting comments grumpy.

I for one as a player and a coach am looking forward to trying this formatt out in a months time. I think after that I will have a more informed opinion.

IN terms of pre-season I think it will be helpful and it certainly make it easier for the coach to communicate with players.

Not so sure I'd want this formatt for the season though, I'm sure the rest of the home nations will watch and see how it pans out in Ireland this year. Who knows we may all end up playing like this in the future

[hockeyaddict]

Grumpy i think you are right that it will end up being boring for spectators in some sort of way... I just hope they don't go down the route of American Football and Basketball and introduce Cheerleaders for the Quarter rest periods... that is not what hockey needs we dont want to americanise the game lets keep it pure and simple... and i am old fashioned too buddy

[UKSS]

cheerleaders eh...........mmmmmm don't think our club could afford them

[hockeyaddict]

cheerleaders eh...........mmmmmm don't think our club could afford them

neither can ours but how do you keep the crowd from being bored for 5mins I just hope they don't keep this format as hockey is good its unique and with regards to communicating with players well... sub the player off give him instructions and send him on his way again.

[UKSS]

thats true but chinease whispers doesn't always work well in the heat of a game especially if things aren't going well.

We'll have to see how it pans out, I didn't watch any of the EHL so I'm not sure how it went down for that, as this is where this is all stemming from.

I think other rules are time will be stopped for a max of 1 min at short corners and a green card is 2 mins sin bin and yellow 5 mins or it could 5 and 10 respectively I can't remember

[braxer001]

We'll have to see how it pans out, I didn't watch any of the EHL so I'm not sure how it went down for that, as this is where this is all stemming from.
I think other rules are time will be stopped for a max of 1 min at short corners and a green card is 2 mins sin bin and yellow 5 mins or it could 5 and 10 respectively I can't remember

You can find a 5-page discussion of the EHL rule 'changes' here if you're interested

[hockey-legs]

hockeyaddict i agree - this would completely americanise the game. It would be like watching a game of ice hockey, which can get very boring after a while.As a player i would not enjoy the whole shortning (is that spelt right) down of the game.I think a lot of peoples attitudes would change completely. As a lower team player I already find it frustrating playing with a group of girls who have adopted the whole "i cant be annoyed with this" attitude. And while we all get these days from time to time, this is something that I am faced with every week when it comes to match days. If we had the quarters introduced into the game I think this would become an increasing problem - especially where I play - and the game would suffer.

[hockeyaddict]

I am just under the view that they should not change the format just to get it on tv or something... All I have to say is Football (Soccer), rugby, cricket, badminton, tennis etc... didn't have to change their formats to get them on TV just great marketing and getting people interested in it that did the trick... So like i said why spoil an already great sport and F~*# it up (Sorry a bit strong but the way i feel)...

I mean we are already loosing our identity anyway with it being Americanised in a sense (don't get me wrong i love americans well most anyway;) ) eg google 'hockey' and you get Ice Hockey websites results, to get any sort of valuable hockey results you have to google 'field hockey' whats with that?? the mother of all the other variations has to have a prefix I think not... sorry i just hate calling hockey 'Field Hockey', Hockey is Hockey, all the other variations need to prefix but i know thats not going to happen anytime soon...

So in conclusion... keep hockey the way it is and lets market, advertise, encourage, educate people to get them interested in the sport we so love. someone on the forum put down somewhere that they are a footballer and love hockey too... because its so much similar to football (Soccer), I agree in a sense but i feel hockey needs a little more skill otherwise hes spot on... maybe we need to market it in that way too for people who dont know about the game.

ok rant over