How would you describe the IOM hockey Festival? A very social run festival based around having fun both on and off the pitch! Aim is to provide a well organised and reasonable costing weekend for players and supporters alike. We are pleased to advise that once again we have secured funding from the Tourist Division of the Department of Economic Development and we are extremely grateful for this support, as without it we would simply not be able to put this event on. We love to see people having a good time and we encourage fancy dress and the Sunday night is a very competitive team night, with Saturday also being a themed night so you have to bring very little else to wear, especially if coming as a supporter!! When is the IOM Hockey Festival in 2011? For 2011 only, based on feedback from teams that attended in 2010, as Easter is so late in April, we have reverted back to Whit weekend the late May bank holiday long weekend and it runs from the Friday to the Monday so for 2011 it is Friday 27/5 to Monday 30/5 How many days/nights do we need to book for? You can come over for as few or many as you want to. Most teams arrive either Thursday night or during Friday and then depart either during the Monday or Tuesday. It is totally up to you how long you stay and what accommodation you can secure, as close to TT. If you have never been to the IOM it might be well worth staying a bit longer to explore the island further and make a real long weekend break of it! What is the standard of play and who is the tour open to? The majority of teams nowadays are social and looking for a fun filled weekend and that is what we look to offer. We do ask on our entry from, the standard of hockey and if we can see certain teams are at a higher level we try to match them against like ability teams, however it just depends on overall entries and we can t always guarantee that match. We just ask that everyone plays fair and get along both on and off pitch! We offer games to people of all sexes, ages and abilities to be honest. We run mens, ladies and mixed games and also are interested in vet s teams as well, so we will be looking to see what we can offer in that arena as well. The more of a mix of team entries we get the better overall to be able to meet match expectations and requirements. We can only do that if we have sufficient different opposition, so if having lots of games is the key reason for a Tour the IOM Festival might not be the right one if you are a ladies or mens teams.
What is the score on accommodation? As it is Whit weekend which is just before TT we strongly recommend that hotel accommodation is reserved at your earliest convenience, to make sure the team gets in to the same hotel and costs are according to budget. The Tourist Board very kindly sent an email to all the main hotels in October, asking about availability as we wanted to be sure that there was sufficient accommodation (Chesterhouse unfortunately is fully booked both for 2011 and 2012) so we have had to look back at teams finding their own accommodation at various hotels. The good news is that there is availability (however the later you leave it to book the harder it will be to get availability for a whole team for the whole weekend so please book early). The Hotels and prices range from basic B & B approx 30 per person up to 4 * if a more comfortable stay is wanted, many of the hotels are hockey friendly and have house teams in previous years. Palace Hilton which is 4* has agreed to do team block bookings at a rate of 45 per person B & B based on sharing a twin room and this gives you access to their leisure centre etc, contact in the first instance for availability Claire Croly telephone 00441624 682772 and then email confirmation to her at Claire.Croly@seftongroup.co.im Some people have also asked in the past about camping and the tourist board website link below will advise you about which camps are available, but you will be required to have your own transport to get to and from the games during the day and social events at night. Travel - what are the options? As it is Whit weekend which is just before TT we strongly recommend that Travel is booked at your earliest convenience to make sure that you get the best rate and travel times to suit. You can get to the island by sea or air and we do have flights from many airports but it is important to book travel as early as possible to get the best choices and cheapest rate and don t forget to ask for group discounts. Quick link is via the Tourist Board website: www.visitisleofman.com What surfaces do you play on and where are the pitches? This year again we are primarily focusing our games around grass pitches, whilst we are sad to advise that we are not using Ronaldsway for the hub this year we are delighted to advise that we shall be using Cronkbourne Sports and Social Club for our clubhouse and we shall have 2 grass pitches there and 2 further pitches on the adjacent ground. So the
hub is now much closer to Douglas. We also have Astro pitches available to us, that we will additionally use for some games. How many games do we play and what is the timescale of the games? Historically we have played a traditional style game with two halves of 30 minutes each. We are exploring the possibility of having shorter games; this will depend on the number of teams and the overall pitch requirements and overall availability. So please bear with us and be flexible. However at the end of the day what we do require is that teams only commit to what they can and will play, in the past we have had teams not turn up on say a Monday, which is not fair on the opposition who has turned out, plus we have to pay for the coaches and pitches (2010 we introduced a non attendance fine see important notes!). How does my club/team enter? Simply go onto the website www.manxhockey.org go into the 2011 Festival Tab for entry forms, select and complete the relevant entry form and please also do print off read and keep with you the important notes, as there is key information and messages in these notes. Send the entry form to the MHA secretary, either in the post, with the entry fee or proof of the entry fee being made, or electronically (if entry fee prepaid) and can scan evidence. Receipt of team entry will be made by email by the secretary, receipt of your entry form and fee will be confirmation that you have read and understood and are bound by the important notes. How much does it cost to enter, when do we have to pay by and can we enter more than one team? We have kept our entry fee the same even though VAT has gone up as we want to attract as many teams over to the IOM Festival as we can, we all know how tight things are. There is an early bird entry fee per team of 80 valid up to being received by the MHA secretary by 28/2/11 thereafter the cost is 100 per team and we usually look to close entries by early April (Sunday 3/4/11) to give us time to do the fixtures and print the programme. You can enter as many teams as you wish to, simply do a separate entry form for each team and you can send them and the fee all together or separately as suits. All we ask is that if you do bring over more than one team that you don t rely on players from each team to make up the numbers as you may not be at the same venue.
There is a possibility of further late entries after the April closing date but that will be at the discretion of the secretary, depending on whether or not the fixtures have been finalised and there may be a late entry fee supplement if additional work is needed to accommodate a late entry, so please bear that in mind. What is included in the entry cost? As previously advised note that this event is heavily subsidised by the IOM Tourism Division and without it we would not be able to run such a well organised event, so we are very grateful to them for continuing to support us in ongoing tough credit crunch times. Transport from your hotel to the games at the beginning of the day and shuttles if playing at a pitch that requires transportation and return transport to your hotel at the end of the day. Games are included, we will do our utmost to give you the number of games required wherever practically possible and we have opposition, 2 a day Sat and Sun guaranteed others dependent on availability of suitable opposition at the required timescale, please note we reserve the right to put games on as per availability. Free entry to the Friday welcome night at Amber, with a live band An organised theme night on the Saturday night this does have a cost and will need to be paid for separately before the event and we would recommend to do at the point of entry if possible please (this is likely to be 12 per head and will include food and entertainment). Entry to the Sunday fancy dress disco bash at the Palace Hilton A free souvenir programme which gives all details of the weekend A well organised, safe and fun weekend with in-house or phone availability of the organising committee Travel, accommodation costs and spends are all extra How can I pay for team entry and for Saturday night s theme do? Please note that no cash will be accepted over the weekend and all costs including the Saturday night tickets will need to be paid for in advance of the IOM Festival weekend. You can either send a cheque made payable to Manx Hockey Association and send it to the secretary (see secretary contact details question) or you can pay it direct into our Festival account and the details are:
Bank Name: Isle of Man Bank Account Name: Manx Hockey Association Festival Account Account Number: 12780596 Sort Code: 55 91 00 Please quote the following with payment; Entries Festival entry and your team name Saturday Night Tickets Sat night and your team name Any problems or further queries not covered here, please contact the secretary What are the secretary s contact details? Name: Ms Denise (Den) Goodburn Address: Thie Gennal, Glen Road, Laxey, Isle of Man, IM4 7AH Email: mhasecretary@hotmail.co.uk Telephone (mobile) 00 44 7624 490606 (evenings) if urgent I can take limited calls at work but please only if really important 00 44 1624 691435 The secretary will endeavour to respond to all queries as quickly as she is able to but please note this is a part time position and done in her spare time, so emails are not always picked up same day. Thanks in anticipation of your patience and understanding Den.