16th November 2016, Brussels: The EHF would like to congratulate 4 members of our European hockey family who received special awards during the FIH Congress last week:
President of Honour – Leandro Negre
Outgoing FIH President Leandro Negre, from Spain, was awarded the title of President of Honour for his passionate dedication to the sport. In addition to serving as President for eight years, Leandro has dedicated a huge part of his life to the sport, from playing international hockey (as a goalkeeper) for Spain in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games to working on the organising committee for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Leandro served as President of the Spanish Hockey Federation (RFEH) from 1984 to 1992 and later became President of the European Hockey Federation (EHF) from 2003 – 2008. During his eight years at the helm of the FIH, Leandro has been the driving force behind the innovative changes in structure and approach to hockey – particularly the first stage of the Hockey Revolution – that has seen the sport’s dramatic growth in participants and spectators across the globe. It is fitting that Leandro should be awarded this Honour.
(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
Order of Merit – Martin Gotheridge
Martin, a lawyer by profession has been at the forefront of professionalising our sport especially working in the background on our Regulations and our Statutes. A longtime member of the EHF Competitions Committee he was elected to the EHF Board in 1993, he served as an Ordinary member, a Vice President and was President from 2008 until his retirement in 2011. His honorary service to improving the governance of our sport is second to none and this service has earned him the Order of Merit of the FIH.
(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
Guust Lathouwers Memorial Trophy – Ray O Connor
Ray O’Connor of the Irish Hockey Association has been an international Umpire – earning his golden whistle for 100 international matches in 2000 – an Umpire Manager, a mentor to up-and-coming officials, a member of the FIH Umpiring Committee and is currently Chair of the European Hockey Federation (EHF) Appointments Committee.During his years of involvement with hockey at the highest level, Ray has been responsible for some ground-breaking work, including the Road To Projects, which first began with the Road to London 2012. He was also a leading light behind the development of the EHF Umpire Development Panel (UDP), considered one of the most important umpiring projects at continental level. Ray is a man driven by process and delivering fair and transparent appointments in the EHF. His tireless work as an administrator was only equalled by how he prepared for the 2 Olympic Finals that he was honoured to whistle. This award honours not only Ray’s achievements on the field, but the immense work he does for hockey off the field.
(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)Etienne Glichitch Award – Norman Hughes
Norman Hughes has been Continental Development Officer (CDO) and now Education and Development Manager of the European Hockey Federation since 2002. Prior to that he was a player and coach for England and Great Britain. He is an Olympic Medalist, with a Bronze medal with GB from the Games in Los Angeles in 1984. Throughout his work with EHF, Norman has been a key player in the design and delivery of coaching courses, including Top Coaches and Coaches 4 Europe programmes. He is responsible for the Development and Education programmes for the EHF. Since 2002 more than 600 coaches, umpires and officials have benefited from his work. Norman also plays a key role in the European Youth Leaders Programme and spearheaded the inclusion of ParaHockey at the EuroHockey Championships. His passion, his spirt, his empathy for all our members and his can-do attitude all contribute to who Norman is and why this Award is so fitting.
(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)