U12 EuroHockey Festival in Calais: new friends and hockey fun!

The U12 EuroHockey Festival in Calais took place over Easter weekend and was a tremendous success. EHF Development Projects Committee Chair, Gianni Rossi attended the event and sent us a wonderful report about the weekend’s activities. The EHF would like to thank Development Projects Committee Member Jêrome Labaye for organizing the event, as well as Youth Panel Members Jamie Hooper and Telemaco Rossi for their hard work during the event.
Organiser Jêrome Labaye, Youth Panel member Jamie Hooper, EHF Development Chair Gianni Rossi and Youth Panel member Telemaco Rossi
The aim of the festival was to getting kids to see hockey as a way to make new friends from different cultures, and to show the adults that fun hockey can be played even when a full size artificial pitch is not available.
The hosts, HC Calais,  arranged for teams from four countries (Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal) to attend by providing free accommodation and board.
Beach Hockey
The kids had a full weekend of activities, with an introductory meeting on Friday 18th, a full day of workshops on Saturday 19th, and a full day of tournaments on Easter Sunday. The children played beach hockey, hockey 5s and indoor hockey mini-tournaments. On the last day of the festival, a mixed tournament was held. Throughout the weekend, three ‘Friendship’ events were held, to help the kids get to know each other and share their cultures: they shared specialty foods, put on shows and exchanged gifts. At the end of the festival, each child received a medal and a diploma of participation.
Mixed tournament
Reports and Photographs: Gianni Rossi, EHF Development Projects Chairman