What a week it is for the European Hockey Federation, with everything from youth festivals to gender balance on the table for discussion, debate, dialogue and planning so that we deliver an ever better Federation for our members!
As we gear up to celebrate 50 years of the European Hockey Federation in 2019 and what is bound to be an impressive Belfius EuroHockey Championships (both on and off the field), this week sees numerous meetings that will ensure the continuing delivery of the EHF’s Strategic Plan and the building blocks for the Federation beyond 2024.
Tuesday:
The week started with a meeting via Skype with our Youth Panel to discuss plans for the 2019 Youth Festival, some incredibly exciting news will be shared soon about this Festival as we step it up from the very successful meeting of the young hockey minds around Europe in 2017.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday, our Development and Education Manager, Tom was off to the EU offices with the STICK Project. A consortium of five hockey clubs and universities have been to be awarded funding by the European Commission (under Erasmus +) as part of the STICK project.
The meeting was attended by:
Erasmus:
- Luciano di Fonzo – Head of Erasmus+ Sport Sector
- Ms. Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, Head of Erasmus+ Higher Education
From the STICK Project:
- Mireia Galí – STICK Project Coordinator, Atlètic Terrassa Hockey Club
- Marta Vilalta – STICK Project Academic Coordinator, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
- Dominique Vos – Dragons Hockey Club, Belgium
- Gemma Cirera – Project Manager
and our own Tom Pedersen-Smith. More details on this meeting to follows. This is an incredibly exciting time for hockey players who want to play hockey at a high level around Europe and continue their studies.
Thursday:
The day started with a Forum on gender balance. A fluid theme on how we ensure that all genders are represented and feel engaged in European hockey, on and off the field; Our athletes, in the coaching of our athletes, our umpires and officials and of course with the administration of the game both within the EHF on our Committees but also engaging with our Member Associations to promote gender balance. More to follow on the outcomes of this Forum.
The day ended with the Finance Committee, possibly not perceived as the most glamorous of meetings but a vital one as these members ensure that the EHF keeps within its budgets whilst ensuring that the core financial stability of the Federation is maintained at all times. We are very lucky to have financial professionals from around Europe willing to give of their free time on this essential Committee.
Friday:
With energy to spare, our President, Marijke Fleuren will Chair the usual Meeting of the Executive Board, the full agenda is here.
Saturday:
The Executive Board will conclude its business in the morning and welcome the members of the Education Committee, who will discuss their actions and planning on Umpires, Coaches and Officials education for the coming period. The meeting will be joined by Mike Joyce, Director of the FIH’s Hockey Foundation to discuss the FIH Global Development Strategy.
Sunday:
Our final meeting of the week will be the Development Projects meeting and what a joyful way to finish as the focus of the meeting will be the growth and development of ParaHockey ID around Europe! Mike Joyce will also join this meeting.
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What can we say? The EHF is here to serve the European hockey community, we have a very small team of staff who could not deliver what we do without a team of dedicated volunteers. Thank you to all of you who have given and will give of your time to hockey this week! A mammoth week of meetings and an exciting time to be involved the EHF!