2015 – EHF Executive Board Meeting, 11th/12th December

The Executive Board of the European Hockey Federation enjoyed meeting for the fifth time in 2015 over the weekend, in Brussels, with a full agenda of activity covered. The President noted that it was a wonderful time for the ladies in the office with celebrations for Jane on the arrival of her new baby Charlie, Yamila who will get married next week and Siobhan for twenty years of service to the EHF!

The President opened the meeting with a welcome and a short recap on activities:

• Although there had only been one EHL Round (Round 1 in Hamburg) since the last meeting it had been a busy planning period preparing for the coming two years.
• The President visited Gibraltar and Serbia in recent weeks and reported on these successful visits.

The Board then received reports from:

Development Projects Committee- 

Gianni Rossi updated the Board on the extensive plans for the next two years.

• The Sharing Knowledge Programme with the KNHB was outlined. The programmes within that were detailed including the Twinning programme.  Support has also been received through the FIH Targeted Assistance Programme (TAP) for a major twinning initiative with Turkey.
• He then presented a video showing the official presentation of the Infanta Sofia Award, for Spanish ParaHockey work which was met with great enthusiasm.
• Click here to watch the video of the presentation
• A budget was presented for approval.

Education Committee’s three Working Groups: Officials, Coaches and Umpires

Inez Cooper updated the Board on the activities since the last meeting.

• It was noted that the scheduled Officials seminar in Brussels in November was postponed due to the high terror threat level in the city, it has been rescheduled for April 2016.
• All courses were oversubscribed for the coming year, which is indicative of the level of interest and belief in the level of the Courses. Click here for more details.
•  The FIH Academy is supporting all 3 Tiers of our Education programme. In addition there is a new pathway for umpires and officials, with hopes to streamline the progression path.
• A budget was presented for approval.

Director General’s Report- 

Angus Kirkland updated the Board on a number of current focus areas:

• Partnerships
• International influencing at Conferences attended
• The Annual Disciplinary report

Angus reported back on the Continental Federations Meeting with the FIH and the joined up approach to the Hockey Revolution. All stakeholders are now reporting in line with the 5 major Initiatives which was very positive.

He also reported that work had begun with the KNHB for the 2017 EuroHockey Championships and that 4 declarations of Interest had been received for the 2019 Championships.

Communications–

Simon Mason and Siobhan Madeley presented a report from the Communications Committee.

• Simon highlighted the significant growth v KPI’s across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube highlighting our improved fan engagement.
• The Board was updated on the Streaming Programme for 2016 which will cover 3 Indoor events and 3 Outdoor events.  Matches will be covered live and also on Twitter with Instant video clips being posted.  A detailed Press Release will be issued in January on the Indoor Events.
• A partnership with Twitter is being finalised with the assistance of the FIH.

Competitions Committee – Outdoor – 

David Voskamp presented the Outdoor Committee report including an information update on the Club events and Youth events planned for next Spring/Summer. He also noted that all the Responsibility Charts have been updated.

• 2017 Senior and Junior entries and hosts have been received and the CCO will look at this at  their meeting on 5^th  March and will make recommendations for the next Executive Board  meeting in March.
• The Priorities for Committee for the next period include producing Match schedules and ensuring the Regulations and Event Manuals are kept up to date.

Competitions Committee – Indoor – 

Walter Kapounek presented the Board with an update on preparations for the EuroHockey Indoor tournaments 2016 (Nations & Clubs).

• Walter informed the Board that the FIH has allowed EHF to apply the EHF Indoor Tournament Regulations, which vary from the Rules of Indoor Hockey as per Appendix 1 for our Indoor Club Events.
• Walter also updated the Board on the first meeting of the Indoor Innovations Committee, which took place on October 31^st.

Euro Hockey League –

Jorge Alcover reported:

• Round 1 hosted by HTHC had been successful and that the Club had done a good job in hosting.
• He updated the Board on the planning for KO16 and Final4.
• Click here for the latest EHL news

Mika Rihtila presented the actual and the outlook spending for 2015, along with a summary of current debtors.

• He then presented the budgets for 2016 and 2017 with the various Development, Education and Communication requests included.
• Budgets for 2016 approved by the Board.

FIH and International Affairs Matters- 

The President updated the Board on matters from the last FIH Board meeting.

•  She outlined the progress being made in the sharing of the ‘Hockey Revolution’ and the importance of the event portfolio.
• Particular attention was paid to the development of ParaHockey and the President will be linking the experience of Europe with the FIH.
• The President attended her first Women in Sport IOC Commission and highlighted how interesting it was that there is a desire to see more women involved at all levels in sport. Hockey has already started in this area and the President will follow up at both FIH level and as part of the EHF strategy plan.

Appointments Committee –

Angus Kirkland updated the board on the activities of the Appointments Committee.

• 2 nominations periods have worked well and therefore, the nomination periods for 2017 will be as follows
•  Indoor – March 4^th – April 15^th 2016
• Outdoor – June 3^rd – July 15^th 2016

• The Committee plans to undertake a thorough assessment of the reasons behind withdrawals to better understand how to tackle the problem, which is a huge drain on the professional staff and the volunteer resource.

 New Committees – 

• The President led the discussion on the nominations from the NAs.
• These had been discussed with all the Committee chairs and the new committees for 2016-2017 were approved, an announcement on the new Committees will be made in due course.

The President closed the meeting thanking the Board for their contributions over the year, thanking the staff for their hard work and Angus for his constant positive attitude and support.

She wished everyone a Happy Christmas and looked forward to an even better 2016!