Dear SIHR
March 2, 2023
How I should respond to the reminder that my SIHR (Society for International Hockey Research) membership is about to expire . . .
Dear Membership Manager:
Thank you for the friendly reminder that my SIHR membership is about to expire.
Over the past four years, I had indeed found value in my membership. I had even contributed to the special edition of the Hockey Research Journal you noted, which featured many articles on the World Hockey Association.
However, I have noticed a troubling political track SIHR has undertaken over the last year.
For starters, SIHR is now asking members to voluntarily identify their gender. An effort to better understand and serve the membership, you say. It will be used solely to help the organization plan research and diversify the membership base. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m missing how this fits in with SIHR’s mandate:
“The object of the Society shall be to record and preserve the history of hockey by collecting, cataloguing, and preserving historical information and records, and by making them available to the public through presentations, articles, journals, books, exhibits, website and social media.”
There’s also the new section on the website giving a list of players believed to have indigenous heritage along with a cute little feather next to their name in the player profile page. Part of a project to identify players and provide an index of articles and books written about indigenous players. All to complement one of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, SIHR says.
Adding to this was a recent thread in the members-only email list. One member had found some indigenous heritage in the background of an old player and was crowing about it with such glee that one would have thought he had stumbled upon a stash of gold bricks buried in his back yard.
Forgive me for thinking SIHR was an organization dedicated to hockey research. As a hockey historian, I could care less about a player’s heritage. I care about whether or not players are any good. Or if they played for the Jets. Or in the WHA.
Thank you also for the reminder about last year’s meeting held at Brock University here in St. Catharines. A memorable event and enjoyed by all, SIHR said.
But it wasn’t enjoyed by “all.”
That’s because Brock, an institution heavily funded by taxpayers, only permitted genetically modified humans to be on campus. The only such venue in the city to have such a requirement. There was no federal, provincial or municipal law, edict, decree, mandate or proclamation forcing Brock’s hand. So by staging the meeting there, SIHR again jumped into the political arena with both feet. They weren’t just “following orders.” That would have been bad enough. Any history buff who had studied the previous world war is certainly familiar with the consequences of the Germans blindly “following orders.”
Another member so kindly pointed out that the meeting was available online “for those who couldn’t attend for whatever reason.” In other words, you can still use public transit. You just have to sit in the back of the bus.
The only official response I got was a backhanded mention in the bulletin from outgoing president Fred Addis, who said, “I did hear that one member was upset about staging the meeting in a place that required Covid protocols to be enforced, but given that our organization is a microcosm of the broader society, it was therefore perhaps expected.”
He didn’t get it. Or he just didn’t want to get it. Willful ignorance.
At this point, I would sooner take the $45.00 I would otherwise have used to renew my membership and instead withdraw $45.00 worth of dimes from the bank, stand on the Burgoyne Bridge and pitch them one by one into 12 Mile Creek than give even one of them to SIHR.
Good luck with your new political direction.
--- Original message ---
From: SIHR Membership
To: Me
Date: Monday, February 27, 2023
Subject: SIHR Membership
Dear Curtis,
While reviewing our records, we noticed that your membership will expire on March 2, 2023. We’d like to thank you for supporting the Society for International Hockey Research, and to invite you to take a moment to renew your membership.
In 2022, after a two-year hiatus, SIHR resumed holding our semi-annual meetings in person, with an Annual General Meeting in St. Catharines, Ontario, and a fall session in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Both were streamed online for those unable to make the trips. The first details for an AGM near Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on April 21-22 have been announced, with an agenda and lineup of presentations to come soon.
To mark SIHR’s 30th anniversary, we unveiled our “30 in 30” list of notable hockey books, as selected by members like you. The full list can be found on our website.
Our Hockey Publications Database is a fast-growing, searchable index of books, programs, guides and directories related to the sport. We think this will prove to be an invaluable resource for researchers and collectors alike. It has even been designated as the official publication database of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s D.K. (Doc) Seaman Hockey Resource Centre.
Of course, our signature publication remains the Hockey Research Journal, which this year boasted more than 100 pages of content tied to the 50th anniversary of the World Hockey Association.
Your SIHR membership supports all of these efforts, and with dues holding the line at $45.00 (Canadian) per year, we’re confident you’ll agree there’s great value in continuing to belong to the Society.
To renew your membership online for one to three years, please visit SIHR’s website and look for the “About” menu near the top left corner of the screen. Click on “Membership,” and look for the heading “Already a member?” Click on the button beneath it, with the label “Renew an existing membership.”
If you prefer to pay by mail, please make your cheque payable to SIHR and send it to:
[address redacted]
Should you have any questions or concerns about your membership, I’d be happy to address them. Just drop me a line at [email address redacted].
Regards,
[name redacted]
Membership Manager
Society for International Hockey Research
| Previous post | Next post |