Executive Board Meeting

Minutes

Jane Brennan, EHF Operations Manager

Siobhan Madeley, EHF Communications Manager (part)

David Voskamp, EHF Competitions Manager (part)

Leen Ryckx, EHF Intern (part)

Felix Blank, Sportradar

Agenda topics

President’s Welcome

She wished to record her thanks to Angus Kirkland and the staff on their work over the past few months on the ongoing Operational review of the organisation.  She noted that Angus would go into further detail on this project later in his report.  She went on to say that it is always good to start to think about how you are working, and often there are big and positive consequences to these reflections.

She noted that Mika Rihtila has also been part of the process, as the financial procedures were reviewed with a view to working more efficiently. A big step forward has been made and it will be interesting to see the results – again a big compliment to the staff for all their time and effort.

The President went on to pay her next compliment to all of our clubs who recently played and hosted tournaments all over Europe – 12 tournaments in total took place including the inaugural EHCC Juniors.

She noted that this season it was not all the usual hosts – tournaments also took place in Russia, Slovenia, Gibraltar, and Ukraine and it has been fantastic that we have all these countries who are eager and willing to organise and host our tournaments.

It appears to have been a great success and we are very proud of our clubs and very thankful to them for their organisation.

She reported that the last 3 months have been a very busy period also for the FIH, with new committees being established and announced – the full list of which is available on their website. New panels have also been established, and Marijke reported that she had been appointed as the chair of the Governance Panel.

She reported that the newly named Hockey Pro League has been a big process and one of the most important things over the last few months was the announcement of the teams. She wished to express her disappointment that Ireland and Spain were not successful in their applications, but she will report on this further, later in the meeting.

Marijke then spoke about the EHF Office and staff – there will be some staff changes which Angus will report on, however she wished to welcome Leen Ryckx to the meeting. Leen is Chair of the EHF Youth Panel and is currently doing a 10-week internship with the EHF, the President welcomed her to the EHF.

She showed the Board a copy of The Hockey-Kids book by Sabine Hahn, which has been translated into English and Dutch, and may also be translated into Spanish soon – it has been a big success and Marijke was asked to write the epilogue to the book – she has congratulated Sabine on a wonderful book.

Lastly, she showed to the Board a wonderful gift which had been presented to her by Gloria Negre – a beautiful plaque the first meeting when EHF agreed to become independent organisation in 1966. A tie pin and the first EHF pin were also presented.

She wished to record her thanks and great appreciate to the Alcover-Negre family for these gifts.  She then thanked Jorge for all his organisation of the successful March Board meeting in Barcelona, and again she noted that the Board and all of EHF appreciate enormously all the work he has done for hockey.

Matters Arising

He noted that a half pitch which was available from Berlin went to a club in Slovakia which Ludmila Pastorova reported as being a great success – she confirmed that she will provide photographs for the EHF website to report on this project.

1. Ludmila to send photos of the new half pitch in Slovakia received from Berlin for a website article

Minutes of last Meeting

EuroHockey Championships Update

Angus reported that planning is going well. 42,000 tickets have been sold, with the final weekend being sold out.  The stadium is on track, and planning for side events etc is well under way.

Jorge Alcover wished to compliment the KNHB staff on their friendly and professional attitude during the meetings and the excellent collaboration to date with the EHF and their staff.

Office Review update

Angus reported that a RACI has been produced which now details who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each task undertaken by the EHF.

Overall this document has clarified what we do and who does it resulting in clearer standard operating procedures and governance.

In addition to this each staff member has been working on examining their time and investigating improved working methods and workflows.

The EHF has now moved to a cloud based server, and plans are in place to set up Workrooms for the National Associations – who will use the same login details as they do for the FIH Workrooms.

Angus wished to record his thanks to the staff for their hard work on this valuable project.

Commercial Update

In the last couple of years, we have seen a decrease in income from direct sponsors.  This is a trend we need to reverse. The President noted that it is essential we make as much effort as possible to retain our current sponsors.

A lot of work has been put into securing our TV media rights which has been successful with a significant increase in revenues in this area since 2013.

The Board discussed the proposal from the previous day by SportRadar and agreed to proceed with working with them going forward. This will provide a partner on the digital side so we can create a “home for hockey” for many events.  This coverage will support the basis of our offering to new and existing partners.

Angus outlined that we need to secure our current partners, grow our income from TV and Digital.  In addition, to this the incoming Education and Development Manager will be tasked to look at what Agency funding might be available.

A Marketing Working Group will be formed to support Angus and oversee our Commercial approach.

Staff Update

As Norman Hughes will shortly retire as EHF Education & Development Manager he reported that his replacement has been confirmed and Tom Pedersen-Smith will join the EHF in mid-August.

He also reported that Grainne Corry had been engaged to cover the maternity leave of Yamila Conill but she has started already to provide extra help coming up to and during the Championships.

As already noted Leen Ryckx is currently doing an internship with the EHF, and lastly, he noted that Jane Brennan would finish up on 15^th August, and interviews for a new Administration Manager will take place on 27^th & 28^th June.

Athletes Committee

The Board also agreed that if there does not appear to be sufficient interest informing the committee then it should be postponed for the time being.

The President noted that it is important how we communicate the final decision about the Athletes Committee.

Angus to follow up.

Disciplinary Report

Since the last Executive Board meeting there have been 8 new cases – mainly withdrawals.

He reported that according to the Disciplinary Commissioner discipline at matches is generally good

Competitions Committee Outdoor

Outdoor Clubs 2017

Whitsun:

·       12 events (Including Junior EHCC)

·       10 venues

·       10 countries

·       41 men’s teams (including 4 at EHL)

·       36 women’s teams

(2016 – 40 men’s teams, 36 women’s teams)

·       32 countries were represented in the men’s events

·       23 in the women’s events.

(2016 32 men and 21 women, DEN, POL, POR in and GIB out).

David wished to highlight that the 2^nd men’s team from Portugal was promoted from Challenge IV to I over the course of 3 years.  It was the same club each year Clube Futebol União de Lamas from Santa Maria de Lamas.

Final Rankings including promotions and relegations have been published on the EHF website.

Ranking table

The EHL ranking table was updated which resulted in some changes in EHL: POL has lost their 2^nd EHL place

RUS gained a 2^nd EHL place

ITA has lost their EHL place

AUT qualified to enter a team in EHL again.

The EHCC ranking table was also updated which resulted in some changes in EHCC: ENG lost their 2^nd EHCC place

GER gained a 2^nd EHCC place

RUS lost their EHCC place

BLR qualified to enter a team in EHCC

Withdrawals

Catania (ITA) withdrew 1 day before the start of the EuroHockey Club Challenge I, Women Siauliai (LTU) due to financial issues.

The Board noted that this was particularly disappointing.

The Board asked that Lithuanian Hockey Federation send a letter confirming what costs they incurred as hosts.  This information will be sent to the Disciplinary Commissioner so it can be taken into account when he issues the fine to ITA and the EHF will arrange that Lithuanian Hockey Federation be refunded of any costs incurred from this fine.

The Competitions Manager will follow up on this.

·       Osmanyie (TUR) withdrew 2 weeks before the start of the EuroHockey Club Challenge II, Men Gibraltar (GIB) due to financial issues.

·       Eagles (GIB) withdrew 3 weeks before the start of the EuroHockey Club Challenge III, Women Porto (POR) due to financial issues.

·       Kecioren Baglum (TUR) withdrew 3 months before the start of the EuroHockey Club Challenge III, Women Porto (POR) due to financial issues.

·       Braxgata (BEL) withdrew 2 months before the start of the EuroHockey Club Trophy, Women Munich (GER) due to exams and national team preparations.

The Board discussed the issue of withdrawals, they agreed that National Associations must be informed it is completely unacceptable when clubs withdraw less than 2 months in advance as this significantly devalues our competitions.

It was agreed that a letter would be sent from the President after the Disciplinary Commissioner issues his decisions.

Regulations

With regard to this last withdrawal by BEL women, EHF invited the first ranked team in Challenge I (BLR) to take over the spot of BEL in the Trophy to have an 8-team Trophy event. This resulted now in an issue with 9 teams to be scheduled to play next time in Challenge I. It has been discussed in length that it now means that BEL needs to be placed in Challenge II in 2018 as a 9-team event cannot be played. EHF can always decide the position any team will play and they will play in Challenge II. The only question is if EHF should waive their ban of not being able to be promoted?

Decision The above question is if EHF should be promoting clubs teams in the future when these issues will remain, as a place should be reserved for the teams which withdrew in the division below. Decision Where a team withdraws they are automatically relegated one division with no chance to promote the following season. Where this means the division, they are relegated to has 9 teams then they are the 9^th team and as such drop 2 divisions.  In this instance, they can earn promotion in the next season.

Decision Comment from last EB meeting: It was asked in the CCO in March 2017 if from 2019 onwards the EHCC date could be moved to the same weekend (last weekend in May) as the EHL Final4. The EB is asked to make this decision. This decision was postponed till the next EB meeting.

It was decided to leave the dates for 2018 as they are.  2019 would be reviewed in light of the schedule of the new FIH Pro League in due course.

When an NA replaces a club team in a Challenge event before the deadline date of withdrawals, this alternative team cannot earn promotion. In indoor this is already in the regulations, but not yet in outdoor.

It was confirmed that this was discussed at Office Bearers meeting early May and approved.

Decision There is currently an inconsistency in the responsibility charts where some hosts pay for the TOs travel and in other events the TOs own NA is responsible. Due to the fact that the TO is an important job and more and more experienced TDs are being appointed as TOs in order to provide support to newer TDs it is felt in all responsibility charts the host should pay for the TOs travel.

Currently:

-Indoor Nations: host pays @Senior; NA pays @Junior.

-Indoor Clubs: NA pays.

-Outdoor Nations: host pays @Senior; NA pays @Junior.

-Outdoor Clubs: host pays @Cup; NA pays @Tropy/Challenge.

Agreed to streamline responsibility chart

There will be a proposal from the Hon Treasurer and the Finance committee later in the meeting to increase entry fees, at which point the Board will can look at how EHF can cover extra costs as with the previous issue of the second Umpires Manager which was approved for Indoor tournaments at the last meeting.

Update EuroHockey5s Championships 2017

Preparations are underway with both hosts and teams.

The Competitions Manager will visit the event in Wattignies (FRA).

Boy’s Championship – Walcz (POL) – 5-8 July 2017

14 Teams: AUT, BLR, BUL, CRO, DEN, FIN, FRA, GEO, LTU, POL, SUI, TUR, UKR, WAL.

GIB withdrew before the deadline, but POR (May) and ITA (Mar) withdrew after the deadline.

GEO is not sure if they will come.

Girl’s Championship – Wattignies (FRA) – 12-15 July 2017

10 Teams: AUT, BLR, CRO, FRA, GEO, GIB, LTU, POL, TUR, WAL.

UKR withdrew before the deadline, but POR (May) and ITA (Mar) withdrew after the deadline.

GEO is not sure if they will come.

Update EuroHockey Junior Championships 2017

Championship, Men – Valencia (ESP) – 8 teams

Championship II, Men – St. Petersburg (RUS) – 8 teams

Championship III, Men – Lucerne (SUI) – 2 teams *

Championship, Women – Valencia (ESP) – 7/8 teams **

EuroHockey Championship II, Women – Hradec Kralove (CZE) – 8 teams

* Junior Men’s Championship III

Teams:            SUI, BLR, LTU

Venue:            Lucerne (SUI)

Dates:             19-22 July 2017 > CANCELLED

LTU withdrew 29 May due to financial issues so the event had to be cancelled.

It was offered to SUI and BLR to play a 2-team event, but BLR declined. The Board noted that the policy of the EHF is a tournament must have at least 3 teams to be an official EHF tournament. The Board was of the view that a draw should be made and asked that the rankings be agreed at the next Competitions Committee meeting in September.

The President noted that it was extremely disappointing that Lithuania withdrew at such a late moment, particularly as Lithuania understands the consequences from the hosts point of view.  Leonardas Caikauskas noted that it the main issue is because so many of the players also play for the senior national team.

The Board agreed that the current calendar causes difficulties for many of our National Associations and the hope is that this will be resolved soon.

** Junior Women’s Championship

Teams:            Pool A: NED, ESP, BEL, FRA; Pool B: ENG, GER, ITA, IRL

Venue:            Valencia (ESP)

Dates:             28 August-3 September 2017

ITA has withdrawn due to financial issues, but EHF has asked them to reconsider.  Should they be unable to participate then no replacement team will be invited to take their place as CZE are the next inline however they are hosting Championship II.

Angus reported that he had spoken to the Italian Hockey Federation and they are working with CONI (Italian Olympic Committee) and hope to know by next week if they can send a team.

EuroHockey Championships (Men & Women) 2017

Preparations are underway with hosts and teams of the above tournaments and no changes to report since the last Executive Board meeting.

ABN AMRO Junior EHL

SV Kampong (NED), Mannheimer HC (GER), Real Club de Polo (ESP), St. Germain (FRA), KHC Dragons (BEL) and Wimbledon (ENG) played 16-17 April in Eindhoven (NED). It was a great success with Kampong retaining their Junior EHL title.

Junior EHCC

On 4 June, the first ever Junior EHCC took place. The teams played a Round Robin (10 matches).

A TD with 2 national and 2 local judges were in charge of the event, together with a UM and 6 young female umpires. The KNHB should be thanked for arranging all the officials! Moreover, the host club ‘s-Hertogenbosch did a great job hosting the event.

1. AHBC Amsterdam (NED)

2. HC ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED)

3. Surbiton (ENG)

4. CSP Krylatskoye (RUS)
5. Canterbury Ladies HC (ENG)
 

Agenda topics

Competitions Committee Indoor

Walter Kapounek and David Voskamp presented the report from the Competitions Committee Indoor.

Disciplinary Report

To note that all TD and disciplinary reports from 2017 Indoor tournaments have been submitted to the EHF Disciplinary Commissioner for any appropriate action to be taken: Club teams of FIN, TUR, GEO have received their penalty. CCI acknowledged the low level of hearings and yellow cards.

Indoor Championships 2018 (Nations)

Men’s Indoor Championship III – Nicosia (CYP) – 12-14 January 2018

SLO/GEO applied for late entries and were accepted. Teams: BLR/CYP/SCO/SVK/WAL/SLO/GEO.

Women’s Indoor Championship II – TBC (BEL) – 19-21 January 2018

BEL proposal for a new venue for the women’s Championship II in Brussels (Uccle) instead of Kortrijk was agreed under the condition that it meets the EHF requirements.

Women’s Indoor Championship III

Not be held: TUR (1^st reserve for CII), SLO (2^nd reserve for CII). ITA withdrew due to finance issues. The Competitions Manager updated the Board that he is in discussions with Slovenia and is hoping that this tournament may be held.

Ranking

Pools will be decided after deadline date for withdrawals (June 30) based on the FIH Indoor World Ranking.

EuroHockey Indoor Club Championships 2018

The Indoor Competitions Committee made the following decisions on hosts for the Indoor Club Tournaments 2018.

Men’s:              16-18 February 2018

Women’s:        23-25 February 2018

Cup (Men)

Venue: HC Rotweiss Wettingen (SUI)

Decision: Has applied 3 years and were unsuccessful in their applications to host. Furthermore, Germany is hosting the Indoor World Cup shortly after.

Offers to host: KTHC Rot-Weiss Koln (GER)

Trophy (Men)

Venue: Minsk (BLR)

Decision: The decision was made by voting

Offers to host: Lille MHC (FRA)

Challenge I (Men)

Venue: SK Slavia Prague (CZE)

Decision: Due to financial reasons for the participating clubs.

Offers to host: AD Lousada (POR)

Challenge II (Men)

Venue: Tbilisi Club (GEO)

Decision: Only offer to host. In 2013, 2014, 2016 GEO wanted to host the Challenge II (M), but were unsuccessful in their application to host.

New entries: HK Elektrovojvodina (SRB), HC Kilppari (FIN), Hrazdan HC (ARM), Klevas – Siauliai (LTU).

Draw was made, resulting in the following ranking: LTU, ARM, SRB, FIN

Due to late withdrawal in 2017, the following country is not eligible for promotion: FIN

Cup (Women)

Venue: Dundee Wanderers (SCO)

Decision: Due to the outstanding debts of UKR to EHF, they cannot be taken into account for hosting.

Offers to host: MSC Sumchanka (UKR)

Trophy (Women)

Venue: SK Slavia Prague (CZE)

Decision: Only offer to host

Challenge I (Women)

Venue: HK Moravske Toplice (SLO)

Decision: Only one host

Offers to host: No offer to host. EHF asked the teams to reconsider and offer to host.

Due to late withdrawals in 2017, the following countries are not eligible for promotion: GEO, TUR

EuroHockey Indoor Junior Championships 2019

Pools announced after the Indoor World Ranking is published in autumn 2018.

Men: 11-13 January 2019

Women: 18-20 January 2019

CCI has the following recommendations:

Junior Championship (Men)

Recommendation: Vienna (AUT) (Based on voting)

Offers to host: Minsk (BLR), Tarnowskie Gory (POL), Trabzon (TUR), Sveti Ivan Zelina (CRO)

Teams: AUT, BLR, CRO, ITA, POL, SUI, TUR

Junior Championship II (Men)

Recommendation: Espinho (POR)

Decision: Only offer to host

New entry: SWE, DEN

Not entering: NOR, SLO, BEL, SCO, FRA

Teams: CZE, POR, SVK, UKR, WAL, SWE, DEN

Junior Championship (Women)

Recommendation: Tarnowskie Gory (POL) (just north of Katowice)

Offers to host: Tarnowskie Gory (POL), Minsk (BLR) and Prague (CZE)

Teams: AUT, BLR, CZE, ITA, POL, SUI, UKR

Junior Championship II (Women)

Recommendation: Sveti Ivan Zelina (CRO)

Offers to host: Trabzon (TUR)

New entry: TUR, CRO, SWE, WAL

Not entering: FRA, SVK, BEL, SCO

Teams: TUR, CRO, SWE, WAL

We understand that Russia may enter late, they have been given an extended deadline until 30^th June.

Approved – do not publish until the RUS question is solved. Ok to publish hosts not teams yet.

Regulations

Eligible to play

CCI suggests aligning the deadline for indoor Clubs to be eligible to play to December 1^st for all indoor events. Change from November 1 for Cup/Trophy and January 1 for Challenges. This was agreed ny the Board.

Time-Outs

CCI discussed the standard procedure for asking for a time-out. It should be in the regulations to make sure it is uniform. The Competition Manager will bring this forward to the RWG and FIH.

Medical personnel

CCI asked the Competition Manager to check if FIH has any requirements on how to document if teams have medical personal. Perhaps a certificate could be added in AltiusRT with a check box.

Suggestion to FIH

CCI recommends to FIH that only 1 person on the bench is mandatory – the team manager, the rest is up to the team. Therefore 2 coaches and 1 medical person should be possible.

Dates for 2019 Clubs

8-10 Feb. Men and 15-17 Feb. Women have been approved by FIH.

Competitions Coordination Committee Report

He noted that the EHF has written to the FIH Competitions Committee asking them to review the number allowed on team bench and if there is a possibility to increase the number of staff.

Euro Hockey League

KO16 & Final Four

Jorge reported on a fantastic season which started in Ireland for Round 1 – which was packed, and spectators enjoyed a great atmosphere.

This was followed by the KO16 in Eindhoven which was also excellent with circa 20,000 visitors.

The final took place in Dragons in Belgium which was truly big, bold, packed and loud.  The CEO of FIH was in attendance and was very complimentary the presentation of the game and the clubs.

This Final4 had around 7,000 spectators with ticket sales of over 100,000euro – this has shown that EHL is becoming much more balanced financially, and we hope to finish the year with some profit.

Junior EHL was also big success as has already been reported with Kampong taking the prize.

Season 2017/2018

Preparations for next season are underway, the letter inviting entries will be sent early next week.  Round 1 will take place in Barcelona with whom we have an agreement to host the next 3 years of Round 1 and one Final 4 in 4 years time.

For the next KO16 we have an agreement with Oranje Rood, unfortunately OR did not qualify for EHL the next season.  We have however already been contacted by another club interested in hosting.

Discussions are also underway with regard to securing a host for Final 4.

As was reported yesterday it has been agreed to give the losers of the first matches of KO16 the opportunity to play a second match which will earn them ranking points  so they have chance to play more than one game and also earn points.

Due to this proposal, a proposal to the Board was made with regard to the ranking points awarded.  This was approved and it was agreed that the EHCC will also be aligned to this.

Jorge reported that the committee will contact the FIH to request new regulations, one which will be to award 2 points for field goal (as is the case in HIL) and to trial a regulation where video referral is not permitted during shoot outs.

It was requested and agreed by the Board that Jorge Alcover would remain on the board of the EHL for the next two years.

Development Projects Committee

EHF/KNHB Sharing Knowledge- TWINNING PROGRAMME

• Belarus-Push:  Very active, Breda Push U18 girls visited 3 hockey centres in Belarus and played a festival with Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania.  Local coaches gaining a lot from the Sharing Knowledge experience.  Herman Kruis visited Belarus in late May to firm up the plans for the rest of the year after Belarus did not make WL Semis.
• Lithuania-Push: details being finalised with Sven van der Most for U21 squad and coach development in July.
• Ukraine – Spanderbosch: Michel de Lange has visited and supported then with Goalkeeper clinic and Hein the coach from Spandersbosch MHC will visit Ukraine 10-14 July to deliver coach education.
• Croatia- Oosterbeek: Papers signed by Split Ministry so the 2 small pitches can start to be constructed.  Split will visit Oosterbeek in May/June. Young coach and young umpire support will follow in Sept.  Two small pitches are being prepared and target to be finished Sept 2017.

Working hard to grow their membership through recruitment at schools, grow its regional competition by inviting players to start their own club, start a women’s team, strengthen its relationship with CHF and the municipality of Split, establish a hockey field – the municipality will release space for a half pitch in the centre and/or next to a hotel near the sea.

During a visit to Oosterbeeck on June 12 – new young coaches will be qualified as FIH Level 1 coaches.

• Czech- HOD: twinning actions planned for Aug and Sept including young umpire and young coach’s development.
• Bulgaria- Athena: Athena HC send a group of 20 persons to last week July Summer Camp in Albena. Twinning visit to Athena by key volunteers from BHF willtake place at the end Oct. Athena have donated 1 of their pitches and the plan is that this will be laid in the new hockey town of Bourgas (Black Sea).
• Poland- Kampong:

2-3rd September – A Coaching Seminar in Poland with two guest coaches from Kampong (one for youth coaches and one for senior coaches) will take place.

1-4th November – U16 boys and girls camp in Utrecht- same as last year – involving 18 girls, 18 boys, 8 coaches maybe also umpires.

14-17th November –  U18 boys camp in Utrecht – involving 26 boys and 6 coaches.

• Turkey–KNHB: Michel Kinnen delivered FIH Level 1 in Turkey end March. Plans to return in July to deliver Coach development at L2 and we will review again after this event.
• Turkey TAP: L2 in Konya to be finalised — Michel Kinnen to lead.
• Austria Oranje Rood Programme will start November with a full week visit of the Austrian U21 team and coach, umpire and club development delegates to OR

EHF Youth

• Panel: Leadership group is formed under Leen Ryckx and Kostas but face to face work in Amsterdam will lead to them being more proactive as exams have affected their linking in recent months.
• Leaders Festival: 35 young leaders confirmed. All plans coming together well.
• EHF Youth Camp: Has proved very popular with all 35 places being now filled by twinning Nations who have availed of the subsidized spaces from Sportways.
• EHF Caravan: Bratislava (HC Raka) 1-3 July and Budapest 5-7 July firmed up.

EHF Para Hockey 

• All planning going well with 9 nations confirmed. France due to finalise their squad by 12^th June.
• Meetings held with both INAS and Access Sports (UK) in May.
• Invitation received to FC Barcelona June 2018.

Marijke Fleuren reported that she has contacted all Continental Federations CFs about Parahockey, informing them what the FIH need from them to move ParaHockey Forward, and she was happy to report that responses had been positive and the ball is rolling.  She also reported that she understood Special Olympics Holland are working hard to bring hockey in as a sport.

EHF Give and Get

• Berlin carpet arrived safely in Belarus (Mogilev).
• Other Berlin carpet arrived in Slovakia safely as reported earlier by Ludmila Pastorova.
• Athena – Bulgaria  We are arranging the transport in August of this pitch.

EHF Club of the Year

Both clubs delighted and plans are in place to present the awards. The President noted that it seems winning clubs often request the award to be presented in their home countries, whereas the EHF prefers to award it at one of our European tournaments, she proposed that for the moment we continue to present the awards in the usual way.

Marijke and Angus to finalise this year’s presentations with Yamila Conill.

EHF Survey 2016

So far 31 nations have started to complete the survey but only 23 have thus far sent player numbers.

NAs to chase:

• Armenia
• Austria
• Czech Rep
• Italy
• Georgia
• Portugal
• Moldova
• Estonia
• Romania
• FYROM
• Greece
• Scotland
• Poland
• France
• Ukraine
• Russia
• Luxemburg

Angus confirmed that he along with EHF staff will target nations to encourage them to complete the survey ASAP

The President thanked Gianni Rossi for his final report to the Executive Board.  She noted that Gianni had not been re-nominated to send for Election by the Italian Hockey Federation and wanted to take the opportunity to give a special thank you to Gianni for all his work for the EHF over the years.

She went on to say how much the Executive Board admired him and are grateful for this work, she thanked him for his wonderful personality – his funny side and his serious side, both of which are very admirable.  He has given so much joy to us all with his fun side but we know that his serious side is all for hockey and its development and  he has always striven to give people a chance who need it – those at grass roots, Para hockey and youth in particular.  Anyone who needed extra support – Gianni was always there.

Gianni wished to personally thank all of his fellow Board members for everything over the past four years, it has really been a family and the President has always been someone who can find a solution to give members the power to be active.  He also thanked the staff in the office who he said were always so obliging – never was there a problem that could not be solved with a polite and smiling attitude.

He noted that there is currently a difficult situation in Italy, and he personally felt that there is no excuse for the large number of withdrawals lately – he went on to say that he is also sitting on the EHF Executive Board as a European and the whole Board works together to develop hockey over the entire continent.

Education Committee Coaches

She noted that all activity was in line with plan and budget.

Top Coaches Programme (TCP)

Seminar 1 in Eindhoven was delivered successfully with 21 coaches and 5 mentors 14-17 April 2017. Preparations well underway for 20-25 August at Euro Championships Amsterdam linked to FIH High Performance seminar and we are trying hard to include Karen Brown and/or Marieke Dijkstra/Sonja Thomann so that we have more female mentors.  Andreas Prause , a Sports Science consultant to the Belgium teams, has been an excellent addition.

Coaches for Europe (C4E)

Seminar 1 in Lisbon went well with 14 delegates and 4 mentors. Plans are well underway for the C4E members to coach at EHF SportwaysYouth Camp in Amsterdam 21-25 August (Hurley HC).

Supporting National Growth

Norbert Nederlof conducted a successful seminar (15 coaches) in Finland on April 22^nd.

Antonio Antonov and Norman Hughes will conduct a course in Russia 9- 13^th June for 23 delegates.

Malta seminar delayed by 1 month due to clash with EHF events. Lithuania– tbc – probably Sven van der Most (Twinning) 8^th Sept. Greece 22 Sep – tbc. Norway 13 Oct – Indoor seminar – tbc. Balkan– Indoor seminar – tbc. Probably Stan Huisjman 2 Nov.

.

Education Committee Umpires

UDP – Programmes for 2017 under way.  All Groups will be in Amstelveen, with Group 9 graduation taking place there. Other recent and upcoming events:

Group 9:  Practical Weekend in Brussels 22^nd/23^rd April and EHL final 4 weekend 3^rd/4^th June, in Belgium

Group 11: Launch Weekend took place in Berlin, 7^th/9^th April

U4E – Delighted to report that we received 44 applications for the Umpiring Pathway (U4E/UDP/Breda) for only 36 places.  Selection criteria agreed and successful candidates announced.  Plans for Breda are well advanced.

2017 UDP selection group confirmed as Paul Box-Grainger, Eric Denis & Ray O’Connor. They will be at Breda to assess all the attendees at U4E.

SNG – 16 successful applications received for ground-breaking Level 1 Umpire Coaching Course in Breda (extended from 12 original places). Partnership agreement confirmed with FIH Academy to provide tangible support.

Plans are being for tailored 2-3 year development plan for NAs delivered through SNG mentors will be announced shortly. This will be promoted via contacts with NAs and a “push” in Breda.

Inez noted that she was very happy with progress made in the SNG programme.

Looking forward the UWG has many ideas to further develop the EHF umpiring programmes.  They will be drawing up outline plans over the next few months for presentation to the September Executive Board, along with costings.  Should additional budget be approved, they will then move the relevant plans on from outline to detail.

Inez went on to say that there are still lots of conversations about where the programmes should go in the future, particularly with UDP – what is the next step for them.  It is hoped that with Henrik Ehlers as Chair of the FIH Officials committee that he can work closely with Ray O’Connor on this matter.

Inez confirmed that now that SNG is working better we can definitely concentrate on this.  UDP is in need of some refreshment, although it has been a very successful programme, after 10 years it is time to revamp it.

The President noted that perhaps it is useful to create a small working group to meet in EHF Office to discuss this – she suggested that perhaps Ray can prepare a paper and proposed that the group meet around November 2017

She confirmed that she will discuss the suggestion with Paul Box-Grainger.

The President congratulated the group on their progress with SNG and reported that she will mention this development during her speech at the upcoming General Assembly.

She asked Inez to provide her with the letter being sent so that she can prepare this.

Angus reported that he will prepare infographics with details of numbers of participants etc who have passed through our Education courses to show at the General Assembly also.

Education Committee Officials

Activities in 2017 of EHF Education Committee (working group officials)
* TO seminar (intermediate level and Judges ready to move up) in Brussels (BEL), weekend of 31 March / 1 April 2017:
The following participants took part in this seminar:

WOMEN                                               MEN

Katerina Huptychova (CZE)                 Michiel Bruning (NED)

Iulia US (UKR)                                     Jose Luis Goicoechea (ESP)

Lesley Bayne (WAL)                            Neil Maylan (WAL)

Emi Vilchez (ESP)                                Dariusz Kurz (POL)

Patricia Pereira Gomes (POR)            Harry Stickland (ENG)

Raymond Hughes (IRE)

Unfortunately, we had withdrawals from Laura Samwel (NED), Daniel Glass (SWE), Michael Kriegel (GER).

Two scholarships of EUR 150,– were given to CZE and POL.

Guest speakers at this seminar were Eric Pirenne (Manager of BEL Men’s team),
Jef Brouwers (BEL sports psychologist) and Peter Weefers Bettink (NED, med.doctor).
The feedback report have been sent to the all Committee members and Inez Cooper.
* UM seminar in Amsterdam (NED) at EuroHockey Championships, 19-21 August 2017

The UM Seminar 2017 is organized in good cooperation with KNHB. The chair of the OC is Yolande Breda (NED).
Technical Officials seminar (Basic level – Judges), 25-27 August 2017
The EHF TO seminar (Basic level – Judges) is going to be held again in Breda at HC PUSH.  The course conductors will be Anne Wotherspoon (SCO), Barry Anderson (ENG) and Sonja-Annabel Swede (GER), they all have confirmed their availability. Sylvie Petitjean (FRA) has been asked to confirm availability as well.
Peter de Leeuw (NED) and Caroline van de Leur (BEL) will be TD/TO and liaison to the OC of HC Push.
The NA’s have put forward names of participants and at the moment 29 people are listed for participation. We are awaiting the nominations for the outdoor season 2018, therefore some more participants will be welcomed.
Planning 2017 – 2020

The Committee will continue planning the following activities:
2018

·       TD level (intermediate) – refresher course for TD’s and seminar for potential TO’s to move up.

·      TO basic level (judges) – starting judges/refresher course for judges (Breda,NED)

* cooperation with FIH and FIH World Academy of Sports
FIH and FIH World Academy of Sports are participating in the UM seminar in Amsterdam (NED). Edna Rutten has spoken to Craig Gribble about cooperation with FIH Academy, but there is at the moment no further progress. Edna suggested to make a e-learning on Equipment- and Stick checks. Paul Box Grainger showed his interest in helping with the set up.

* New feedback report on TO’s
This project has started and EHF TD’s are asked to fill in the new feedback reports as well. In the next meeting these reports will be evaluated.

FIH Report

Bjorn reported that the selection of committees process was complete and most are published on the FIH website.

Bjorn went on to report that there are still ongoing discussions as to whether the pro league teams will earn ranking, he noted that the main point is that there will be no ranking advantage to teams who play in pro league – even if they can earn ranking points these will not be in addition to points available for earning by those not in the Pro League.

The Board agreed that form an EHF point of view it is important to support the FIH Competitions Committee with regarding ranking – it is essential that there is a fair system that gives a balance to everyone who participates in hockey, and ranking should reflect all matches played by teams.

The Board discussed that they felt the FIH new procedure and process for committee members appointments was very unclear.  Angus noted that a letter had been received from the FIH suggesting that the EHF contact NAs and their nominees who EHF had not nominated to the FIH committees and thanking them for their nomination.  The FIH also asked for feedback on the nomination process – he will follow up.

Home & Away League/Pro League – Marijke reported on the procedure which took place to make the final decision on applicants for the Pro League.

She reported that the process was very good, open and objective, and that she was happy with the procedure itself.  She did however note that from a European and personal perspective she was disappointed that Ireland and Spain were not successful on this occasion.

She confirmed that all agreements still need to be signed.

She also noted that it is very important that countries who will not be taking part in the Pro League get extra attention, as they need to be given support so that they can make the step the next time.

Overall the President reported that she has been very busy with the FIH,but that there was an excellent atmosphere during meetings and good collaboration with the CEO and the FIH President.

Hon Treasurer’s Report

He reported on a successful meeting with the Finance Committee the previous day the agenda of which included:

·       Final Management Accounts which were noted

·       Auditor Appointment

The Committee proposed to appoint Caroline Baerts of current Auditor PVMD.

Approved

Financial Procedure and Processes – Mika reported that this is a work in progress.

The Budget 2018 was reviewd and approved subject to any known changes in the next month or so.  The Year to Date 2017 and Outlook for 2017 were also noted and at thie time on target.

·       Subscription Proposal – The Committee proposed that no changes be made

Approved

·       Competition Entry and Licence Fees – The Committee proposed that Entry fees be increased by €50, with no changes to License Fees.

Taking this into account the Board discussed again the proposal to cover the costs of some TO travel in order to keep the Responsibility Charts streamlined so that National Associations no longer must cover the travel costs of any TO’s.  It was agreed that in the cases where the host does not have to cover this cost this can be taken by the EHF.

Approved

The General Assembly Report and Presentation will be presented as in previous years.

A proposal from the Committee was presented to the Board that National Associations who withdraw before the deadline only be invoiced for 50% of the entry fee for the relevant tournament.

The Board discussed this proposal and decided that they agreed with the principal but that it should only apply to the below tournaments for both Indoor & Outdoor:

Clubs – Challenges only

Nations – Championship II and below

The Board felt that for the top level tournaments (Championships, Cups & Trophies) the full entry fee should remain payable upon submission of the entry form regardless of withdrawal date.

They also agreed that as National Associations will now have to pay only 50% of entry fee if they withdraw before the deadline, the Disciplinary Commissioner should be advised that those withdrawing after the deadline may be penalised more heavily than before.  It is hoped that this will encourage National Associations to withdraw in good time if they feel they are not in a position to take part in a tournament, therefore reducing the number of late withdrawals and the problems this causes for hosts, other teams, officials and the EHF.

A separate marketing/funding working group is to be set up and this will be led by Angus Kirkland who will start by writing a Terms of Reference for this group. It should include member(s) of the Finance Committee.

Mika presented a summary of the current outstanding Debtors to the EHF.

It was noted that in accordance with our statutes, National Associations who have outstanding debts will not be permitted to attend or vote at the General Assembly.

It was agreed that National Associations will be reminded of this the next time they are reminded of outstanding debts.

Mika reported on a discussion by the Finance Committee on Income Strategy and Goals going forward.

He noted that the committee discussed the following:

•       To cover the basic operations, we need 1 M€ annual income.

•       Our revenues streams are Media (TV rights etc), Fixed sponsorship contracts, License fees from competitions, FIH grants and NA fees

•       Philosophy: to increase the percentage of our income that comes from outside funds, so the percentage of our income that comes from NA fees decreases

•       The division of income generating goals could be 20% National Association Fees, 20% FIH Funding, 15% Licence Fees, 20% Fixed Contracts, 25% Media & Rights

He then spoke about Expenditure Strategy and goals

•       Basic level of expenditure without extra development around 1 M€.

•       The philosophy should be to increase the share of development, education and communication and decrease the share of office and admin:

•       Competitions 17% (currently 18%), Development & Education 25% (currently 23%) Communication & Marketing 20% (currently 14%), EHF Office 28% (currently 32%) General & Administrative 10% (currently 14%)

Mika then presented the 2018 Budget proposal to the board for Approval to present to the General Assembly

Approved

Approved

Approved

(Taking this into account the Board discussed again the proposal to cover the costs of some TO travel in order to keep the Responsibility Charts streamlined so that National Associations no longer have to cover the travel costs of any TO’s.  It was agreed that in the cases where the host does not have to cover this cost this can be taken by the EHF.)

Approved

Agreed that should only apply to the below tournaments for both Indoor & Outdoor:

Clubs – Challenges only

Nations Outdoor– Championship III and below

Approved

Appointments Committee

Committee Membership

Following Henrik Ehlers appointment as the new FIH Chair of Officials, Christian Blasch (GER) was asked to join the committee in the interim and has accepted.

Nomination Period – Outdoor

The Nomination period for Outdoor 2018 will open June 5^th and close July 14^th.

Outdoor Clubs

Outdoor Club season concluded June 5^th. We had a high number of withdrawals with the umpires. 205 umpire appointments were made but only 109 were accepted. This means about half of the appointment have to be remade.

Outdoor Nations

For nations, we made 233 appointments where only 144 were accepted.

In red, we’ve highlighted the nations who have a 50% or less acceptance rate.

Feedback

Surveys will be sent following the Outdoor Club season completion and the EHF staff has been asked for pertinent feedback as well.

Angus reported that he had spoken to the Committee Chair following the last meeting with the Board’s request to review the procedure and consider opening a second window for addition/removal of nominations.  He noted that it would be discussed at the Appointments Committee’s next meeting.

The Board asked that this process be sped up, Angus to speak to the Chair again with a view to actioning the proposal sooner than October.

General Assembly

Statutes he noted that there will be some changes to our statutes proposed to the General Assembly in order to keep them in line with the FIH statutes.

He asked the Board to agree when any changes to the statutes approved by the General Assembly should come in to effect, and proposed that it should be 1^st January 2018.

Agreed

The Board were informed that the Youth Leadership Panel hoped to host their Final Presentations in the Novotel on Thursday 17^th August and wished to invite the Executive Board and any delegates present to attend.

Therefore, the Board agreed that their own meeting would take place at 14h00 on Thursday 17^th August.

Elections to Executive Board

The deadline for the submission for nominations to the Executive Board was 16^th June, the Board agreed that the list of candidates should be published in a bulletin on the EHF Website in the coming days, along with the Election Protocol for 2017 which was also agreed.

Agreed

Agenda topics

Any Other Business

Leonardas Caikauskas reported that the 40^th Anniversary celebrations of the Lithuanian Hockey federation were taking place the following week and Carola Meyer would be attending on behalf of the EHF.