13th November 2017: In our series on #MotivationMonday we turn our focus to a small band of incredible people. Our Hall of Famers.
By now you may have heard of the EHF Hall of Fame, but you may not comprehend what the Hall of Fame is all about?
Well, we all know that in sports there can be incredible athletes, they are amazing on the pitch, they give of their all to their sport but they can be illusive even ghost like off the pitch. And we aren’t talking about the gossip magazines!! We mean their contribution back to their sport, how they choose to live their lives and kind of role models they make for not only their own generation of players, but of those coming up long after they have retired from the international stage.
These are the people that have been honoured by hockey, European Hockey and inducted into the very exclusive club that is The EHF Hall of Fame, so where did the idea come from?
Since its foundation in 1969, the EHF has always valued its players with Best Player, Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper awards at all of our Tournaments. However in recent years, as the players, coaches and umpires have perfomed better, given more, developed themselves through their actions on and off the field of play, we feel that it is now time to honour those very special people that are involved on the field in hockey. The idea of a Hall of Fame, a place (albeit a virtual one) where people can admire, enjoy and revel in the achievements of the greatest in our sport.
The EHF Hall of Fame is our way of honouring and highlighting some of the most significant figures in European Hockey. The inaugural inductees into the EHF Hall of Fame are all International Senior players, have all consistently displayed high levels of sportsmanship, and have had a deep and meaningful impact in hockey on and off the pitch.
The official launch of the EHF Hall of Fame took place during the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships in Boom, BEL on the 23rd – 24th August, 2013. Teun de Nooijer (NED), Santi Freixa (ESP) & Natascha Keller (GER) were inducted.
Moritz Fuerste v Teun de Nooijer playing against each other in EHL.
In 2015, the EHF inducted two new members during the Unibet EuroHockey Championships in London, ENG. On 29th August 2015; Pol Amat (ESP) and Nikki Symmons (IRL) joined the elite group of EHF Hall of Famers.
Maartje Paumen and Kate Richardson-Walsh lead their teams out!
In 2017 and for the first time in a public vote, Moritz Fuerste (GER), Kate Richardson-Walsh (ENG) and Maartje Paumen (NED) were added at the Rabo EuroHockey Championships in Amsterdam, August 2017.
A mighty fine band of warriors, who will motivate you to follow your dreams…. for the next 3 weeks keep an eye out for 3 splendid features by Stephen Findlater as he took time to chat with Moritz, Kate and Maartje.
If these guys don’t motivate you this Monday… well let’s just say that each of them will teach you something different!