I am writing to express my disbelief at the organisation of the Skate 2003 event scheduled for the end of the month.

I am the captain of the senior team of the Brighton Streetstormers inline hockey organisation.

As July arrived, I realised it would soon be time for Skate 2003 to get under way.

I had looked forward to the opportunity to enter a team in the mini-tournament held at the Sovereign Centre in Eastbourne.

Much to my dismay I found that the tournament was being organised by a woman from Heathrow and that all the teams invited were from Borehamwood, Stansted and areas north of London!

Does this promote local sport? Does it display the talent within the area? Does it supply people with contacts if their son/daughter is interested in joining? No!

In fact, the South East Skater Hockey Association (SESHA) was not contacted.

The event is British Inline Skater Hockey Association (BiSHA)-sponsored but SESHA (a region within BiSHA was not consulted).

Why have the organisers not made the effort to consult and utilise kids and people from this area?

-Scott Clark, talos_12@hotmail.com