According to the NOIE figures, 40% of players in Australia can have access to this up-to-the-minute information, now! Players in other countries, such as Norway, Austria, Vanuatu, Bahrain and Uruguay, where there is little to no organised polocrosse, would find such a resource extremely beneficial. They do it tough and it is only through the efforts of a few well-intentioned, dedicated people, that polocrosse survives in these areas. They need a hand and the Internet is the perfect vehicle to provide the stimulus required.

Admittedly, any profit made from the sale of Rules Books, would drop dramatically, but surely, advertisers targeting our niche market could be approached to sponsor a page and thus make up the shortfall. All net surfers are familiar with and most are comfortable with the necessary banner ad at the top of every web portal page. It serves a purpose and nobody should begrudge the web sites from trying to be cost effective whilst providing a vital service.

The odd thing about polocrosse is that most polocrosse tournaments are like secret meetings. Virtually the only people that know a tournament is being held are the players and their immediate friends and family. A little advertising occurs on occasions, but this is restricted to a limited budget and its effect is hardly measurable. Sure there are well-promoted tournaments, but these are in the minority. This is another area where the Internet excels. Every country or state could have their respective tournament calendar prominently displayed on the web site, have appropriate keywords for search engines and be kept up to date with the latest changes. The latter is most important because on one occasion, two carloads of past players and their friends had seen a tournament calendar on the web and decided to see if they could meet up with old friends. They travelled to the tournament in question to find that the grounds were all locked up and the tournament had been cancelled. To say that they were less than impressed is to put it mildly. The problem started because they could not get information from clubs on a regular basis and thought it was fantastic when they found all the dates they wanted on Polocrosse Worldwide. Unfortunately, the cancellation wasn't sent to the web site and procedures need to be put in place to prevent a repeat of this debacle.

Tournament advertising and follow-up reports with photographs are vital to the growth of our sport. This can be achieved at very little cost by using a web site because every club has a member or supporter who is blessed with artistic flair and they could be given the task to design a flyer advertising the club's forthcoming tournament. Upload it to the web site, with a preview of the carnival and make a commitment to add results and photographs on the carnival's completion. Some clubs currently prepare a report for their local newspaper, so very little effort is required to display the same report on the club's web site. The club's activities have to be constantly in the public's 'face' to generate interest in prospective players and supporters. The net is the only medium where this is possible 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The above points are but a few of a myriad of possible uses for the Internet. One important issue that hasn't been raised as yet is the use of message boards and forums. Exchanging messages has led to many friendships being formed between players and supporters in many different countries. This could be a topic for a future article. Another use of the net could be to reduce the cost producing newsletters and information flyers. Make it all available on the web and you have effectively reached 40% of the households for minimal cost. So there you have it - get the information out there to promote this sport and the net is just waiting for us to utilise its many advantages to achieve this goal.

by Craig Foot
Article published in Polocrosse Australia Magazine in 2001.