Mundo Hóquei (MH): How did this “National Development Plan” for english roller hockey begun?
José Carlos Amaral (JCA): In the last ten years, I’ve been working with the national seniors team. In the english roller hockey, I begun to “build the house from the roof”. I shouldn’t started to coach the senior squad, but the younger teams, in order to make a depper work. In the meanwhile, in the last years i coached the seniors, and we reach some good things, like the victory in the World “B” championship and the maintenance in the “A” Group.
In the end of 2004, when the current NRHA President was elected, I received the invitation to organize and coach all the english national teams. Then, the “National Development Plan” was wrote, with the goal of, in the next few years, put all the roller hockey agents working under the same direction.

MH: What are the main goals of this plan?
JCA: In England the clubs have no coachs, the work is done “under the knees”, in a very amateur way. There are only two clubs that all the years have new younger players, wich are the Herne Bay United and Bury. The other clubs are not well organize.
This plan jumped into the field in January, 2005. The goal is not develop only the national teams. We also want to help the clubs too, in organization and in what tactics is about.
Once in the month, there are organized the so called “English roller hockey weekends”. In the first stages, we had about 40 players. In the last stage, we reached about 140.
The knowledge that the players carry into their clubs is very much. With this, we will elevate the english roller hockey level.

MH: How do you divide the players? Only by age?
JCA: No, the players are divided by age, but also by their skills level. Year groups are created, from 8 to 38 yeras old. Then, we divide the players in two trainnings: iniciation and skills development.

MH: What is the importance of this “stages” in foreiner countries?
JCA: In the last year, we made some stages in Portugal and Spain, besides we played in several tournaments. We have the support of Barcelos and Feira municipalities, in Portugal, and from the Spanish Federation. Logicaly that english roller hockey only earns with this type of interchanges. Right now, we are far away from the other countries, but in the next years we may fight for a medal in the european schoolboys championship, for instance.

MH: How does NRHA is interacting with the regional associations?
JCA: The “National Development Plan” has being build “step by step”. The first part of the plan, wich are the first two years, it’s already made, and it was done in a national level.
From now on, beside the two days national trainning camps, there will be an extra day in each region, in order to be closer to the players who have no chance to travel in the national stages. I do what I can, because i’am not a “full time” worker, but now therea re some clubs where I coach at least once in the month.
English roller hockey is a “small place”, divided in three main regions. There is one stronger region – Eastern – where I’ve been working and living in the last tem years. From January on, my priority will be the Northern and Southern regions. I will do a larger number of trainnings and stages in those regions, because we’re facing a real risk of seeing roller hockey die in that part of the country...

MH: In those regions, the amateurish is bigger than what happen in the Eastern Region?
JCA: Exactly. In those regions, dads and friends are responsible by the trainnings. Some of them didn’t even played roller hockey and so, they haven’t enough knowledge to do a good work. Altough we have to congratulate them by their efforts, tooking the kids “from the streets”, and putting them in the rink. But roller hockey needs to be play in an higher level, in a professional level. I say many times in England: this sport can be amateur, but it needs to be face in a professional way.

MH: … In a seriously way?
JCA: see that there are amny ways of being professional. This young boys are here. They are amateur, because they paud to be here, but they are doing a professional work.

MH: This “National Development Plan” it was not made only for players...
JCA: One of the next year’s goal is not only to teach players, but also teach the coachs ad the referees. Obviously, our priority is the player, but in the “National Development Plan”, we also planed to help directors to organize themselves and their clubs, teaching them how to recruit new players, and people for roller hockey, for instance.

MH: What is the women’s roller hockey role in this “National Development Plan”?
JCA: We want to bring more girls to roller hockey. Currently, we have only about 50 girls affiliated in the entire country. In the last World Championship, I ad only 12 players with enough skills, and I had to choose 10. Then, one was injured and two other had to give up due to school issues... I had to invite one girl in the “last hour”, because if not, I wouldn’t had 10 players to play in the World Championship.
Altough all the problems, I believe we were really good in the competition!

MH: What are your main sporting goals in the next year?
JCA: My main goal for the next year will be the World “A” Championship, in Switzerland.
Then, we will jave the World Juniors Championship, wich isalso an important competition. We will have a new group of palyers, and we will try to give them more experience, thinking about the next european championship too.
The schoolboys are being prepare for the future, we are thinking more in the schoolboys championships from 2008 to 2010.
In the women’s, we are preparing the next european championship, but we are thinking in the next World Championship (2008). We will start all from the zero, we will bet in an under-18 team, in order to ahve one competitive team in the next two or tree years.

MH: To finish, I would like to know your opinion about the english roller hockey actuallity. What is your balance of the Herne Bay’s participation in the european competitions?
JCA: I think they made wha they should do. They loose the two games against Saint-Omer, wich is a team with semi-porofessional players. I think that the results are not bad, if we think that it was the normal result against a team wich have a lot of international and experienced frech players.