AIHL Vegas Annual Meeting and restructuring

While it's great that "the league office has been compiling comments, questions, and suggestions and incorporating them into the agenda for the meetings" in Vegas and they want team reps to "help shape new policy" and vote on league changes, why are team reps required to attend a meeting in Las Vegas? A flight out on a Friday night, meetings during the day, and then a flight back on Sat. night or Sunday? That's a bit much.
for most working people to do.
The league has removed the NJ Surge from the Mid-Atlantic division and placed them in the New England division. this was done and the Surge were not asked if this move is something they would want. The Surge spent two seasons in the division. Why are they the team that has to move up to the New England division, a division that consistently has teams drop out of the league or not show up for tournaments. Their division is a mess with teams changing locations or names (except the Ants and 495ers.) So why should a team that has been a part of the strong and competitive Mid-Atlantic division be sent up there? Location can't be the only the reason because there are several teams that are playing in divisions that are not ideal compared to the division they could be in. Why not stick one of the two new NJ teams up there?

Interesting topic. They are the most northern team in the Mid Atlantic division and maybe they are trying to help the NE division out. How do you know that the Surge were never asked?

I would ask your owner or one of the division coordinators. They will certainly tell you an honest answer of the situation.

While nothing is ever perfect, the league is attempting to promote a democratic process and a big part of that process is commitment, dedication, and a desire to improve and give constructive criticism instead of just complaining. Part of the process is for a team to show the league and the other owners they are committed to the league and to the immense financial obligation that owning a team entails by sending a representative to the league meetings.

I am not answering in any way for the league but as an owner, this is the message to other owners. Anyone can be on a conference call or send an email but true progression will only ocurr by people getting together and moving forward. I myself understand the cost of attending in Vegas. Our team has three owners and having attended in the past its great to meet other players/owners from around the country. Unfortunately, sending all three of us every year is not feasible. However, we do send at least one.

The Surge (and the Minutemen prior) are a good organization and all of my interactions with Havelock and the rest of the leadership has been excellent. Im sure theres a definitive reason to the move, maybe moving the Surge provides more stability to the division (just a thought).

Looking back to the 2006-2007 there have literally been well over a hundred different elite/pro teams in the big three leagues (PIHA/MLRH/AIHL). These are the only teams from that season that have been continuously operating:

Ft. Collins Catz -PIHA
Mile high Miners -PIHA
Colorado Thunder -PIHA
parker Prowlers -PIHA
NJ Grizzlies -PIHA/AIHL/MLRH
Hartford FireAnts PIHA/AIHL
Pittsburg Bandits PIHA/AIHL
Harrisburg Lunatics PIHA/AIHL
Scottdale Inferno PIHA/AIHL
Richmond Robins PIHA/AIHL
PA Typhoon PIHA

There are a few other teams, the Surge/Minutemen for example, who have been continuously playing but continually change owners/names. This is a short list of teams when you think about the fact that in 2007-2008 PIHA had 42 Pro teams. In 2008-2009 AIHL had 31 Elite teams. The sport needs stability to survive. Look at the teams above; just about every single one of them has someone who currently or formerly is/was an officer in one or more of the leagues. The aihl and the sport are looking for leaders and attending the meetings in Vegas is a simple way to become one in the sport of roller hockey.

Check with your owner, maybe the Surge were added to our NE division to help build stability. Hope this helped put a different perspective on things.

Looking forward to the season!

Well put Zuba. Good luck with the season this year. Ants deserve to have a great season.

Great time meeting with Anthony Flynn and Keith Noll. MLRH, will support AIHL in it's efforts to grow their league and vice versa by working our schedules to not conflict with each other and allow players to be available to play for their teams and respective leagues without conflict or having to choose. Even better was the news that both leagues along with Denis Jelcic at PIHA, will now enforce the "burn a bridge" rule. Which is if you leave the league without paying your fees and or leave behind an unpaid bill, you won't be able to play in the other two leagues until that issue has been cleared up.

An example of this was a team which burned PIHA, then MLRH and then went to AIHL, where they folded midseason last year. This won't be able to happen anymore under the new agreement and cooperation with all three leagues. Thanks again Keith, Anthony and Denis for your support and time in Vegas!

Matt:

You forgot the LA Pama Cyclones and Mission Axiom along with the Anarchy teams and Ducks teams out of Irvine, Corona and Huntington Beach respectively.

Great idea on not allowing teams to jump leagues who still owe. Also may be you guys should think about not allowing players who get kicked out of a league to go play in another.

Thank you for your answers. I know of the situation with the Surge because I have been in contact with its owners. Morristown, other than Wallington, is the farthest north of the AIHL teams, but clearly location is not always a factor in forming the divisions. The Northeast does need another team, but why not have it be one of the new teams; let them display their committment to the league. I believe that Morristown has shown its dedication for many years. Why not keep the rivalries going with the Grizzlies and Nightmare. Also, I can appreciate a face-to-face meeting over a phone conference or video conference, and would prefer it if that were possible, but I don't think its reasonable to expect that. Again, teams like the Surge have shown they are committed to the league through their actions over the past seasons. I like the "burn a bridge rule" and I think this same rule should apply to certain players, as Minutemen said. I also think teams that have been consistent in paying and putting up a respectful team in terms of quality of play and sportmanship should be rewarded. This is where I think the Surge should be rewarded by being allowed to stay in the Mid-atlantic division; trips are shorter and we have been thinking about playing these teams all summer.

lang92 - I agree with you those rivalries should stay especially the Grizzlies vs Surge. I was the one that started the Morristown Minutemen back in 2003 and Chris Havelock and others have done a great job to keep the program going. Travel will definitely be a lot more expensive for them but do not know what transpired for the change in divisions. I remember the very first game of that rivalry, it was down at ICSA and it was so great to be apart of. Such hard fought games because we basically all knew each other. That is when the grizzlies first entered PIHA, forgot which year.