- Governance
Game Management System (GMS) Update - 9 September
Most clubs and many players and volunteers will be aware of the issues associated with the launch of the Game Management System (GMS) in the last few days. Firstly, on behalf of England Hockey and the provider of GMS, we apologise for the inconvenience caused.
The issues primarily relate to the authorisation process to get players onto the system that are slowing the system down. A number of actions have been undertaken to remedy the issue but as yet this hasn’t had significant enough impact on the performance of the system.
The most important issue is that we are able to play hockey and that the game is not disrupted as the new IT systems settle in. As a result, we are changing the approach over the coming days as follows with a more detailed analysis by role further down.
- Registration
- Player Registration will be paused for at least 48 hours. We will communicate with clubs when this is ready to resume when system performance has improved
- Officials and Club Admin roles will still be able to register on GMS and update key details. England Hockey is up to date with Club Admin approvals where people have been able to register
- Club Admins should focus on updating fixture times and venues to ensure opposition teams and officials know where games are being played. There is good progress in some areas, with up to 50% of times and venues in from clubs that is helping to ensure teams know where they are playing.
- Officials should continue to register to England Hockey Officiating (EHO) via the GMS portal and declare their availability so appointments can be made by Area Officiating Committees
- Because Player Registration is paused, clubs will not be expected to populate Match Sheets with player names until matches on the first weekend in October (apart from teams in the England Hockey Leagues, who we will communicate with separately)
- Match sheets will initially be used simply to record the key match details such as the score. Guidance will be issued on this next week
If your issues relate to any of the points above, please do not email the GMS support email address. We will however continue to use that address to make any profile or system changes as requested.
Once again we apologise for the initial underperformance of the system and these steps should ensure that there is limited impact on hockey being played.
What does this mean for me?
-
- You will be able to play as normal
- You won’t be able to register on GMS for at least the next 48 hours
- Your club should inform you when you can register again; England Hockey will also communicate this
-
- Team Admins register as players and then are assigned by clubs. If you aren’t registered yet you won’t be able to for at least the next 48 hours
- You should register first when registration reopens
- You’ll need to read the guidance from next week on the expectations for Match Sheets in the early weeks of the season
- The league regulations still apply to matches
-
- If you are not registered yet please continue to register, England Hockey will approve your Club Admin status as soon as possible. You will need to fill in your details correctly and be confirmed as a suitable Club Admin by the club if you are new to the role
- Club Admins should focus on updating fixture times and venues (guide here) so matches can be played and Officials can be appointed to matches. League regulations and system controls are being relaxed here to allow that to happen later than in the league regulations. If you have limited time please start with the first couple of weekends
- Club Admins current do not have permissions to allocate Team Admins and Player Panels yet as well as some other functionality. This will be added and communicated with user guides once the system performance improves.
- When Player Registration reopens it is strongly recommended that Team Admins register first so Club Admins can give them Team Admin positions
-
- Settings have been adjusted so Club Admins can change fixture times and venues without being restricted by the system in the lead up to games on 18 September
- Any fixture date or name changes will be undertaken by GMS Support. We will prioritise responding to any of these
-
- Officials should continue to register to EHO via the GMS portal. Once registered you should promptly register your availability
- Officials making appointments should continue to appoint to the early games of the season where appropriate. Venues and times not already confirmed will be added in the coming days
- Officials are encouraged to regularly check future appointments through the system in the short term