The Executive Board met for their third meeting of 2018 in the EHF office in Brussels.
The President, Marijke Fleuren, was pleased to see that the busy summer went well with different kinds of events organized all over Europe since the last meeting of the Executive Board.
She was updated by her Vice-President, Carola Meyer, about her to visits to the ParaHockey event in Barcelona and the INAS event in Paris, which were both a big success and very important in the development of ParaHockey in Europe but also in the rest of the World. The ParaHockey ID discipline is growing rapidly. Carola also offered the Club of the year awards to Atlétic Terrassa in Spain and to Hockey club Essen in Germany.
We also had our EuroHockey U18 Championships over the summer. These events were very well organized, and the players enjoyed representing their countries.
At international level, we had satisfying results at the FIH Open Series in Europe where several European teams qualified for the next round of their Olympic journey. Europe offered 5 hosts for this event!
The President and the Director General, Angus Kirkland, travelled a lot over the summer to visit some of our members. They were well received in Italy and Russia. In Italy, they had the opportunity to watch some youth games and meet the President of the Federation and met the new Italian IOC member Giovanni Malago. In Russia, not only did they visit the beautiful new hockey stadium in St. Petersberg but they were very lucky to see one game of the Football World Cup.
Marijke Fleuren also visited Norway. It was interesting to discuss with them their collaboration with floorball and bandy and how this can help them grow hockey in their region. She visited the Youth Festival U14 and U19 and watched how well the umpiring was organised.
On the day before the Executive Board, the President attended the Gender Balance Forum held in the EHF Office. A working group of 14 representatives from different NAs and different disciplines set out a strategy about gender balance within the EHF. In December the EB will discuss the next steps. During our GA in Antwerp next year you can expect the first outcomes. She also met with the Turkish President.
The Board reviewed the minutes of the previous meeting and approved them.
The Board received the following reports:
Commercial & Communications:
Angus Kirkland and Yamila Conill presented the new partnership proposal to the Board and updated them about ongoing discussions with potential new partners. A full report on the last figures and performances of all social channels will be given to the Board in the next meeting.
Competitions:
Walter Kapounek (chair) reported on the recent Outdoor Competitions Committee and Regulations Working Group meetings. He also presented the update on the 2019 Indoor season.
The recommended venues for the Outdoor club events in 2019 were discussed and agreed. Details of the 2019 club events will be published in a separate bulletin.
Walter presented to the Board the proposal of the Competitions Committee regarding the European calendar for the upcoming years, which was agreed.
EHL:
Angus Kirkland updated the Board on the new EHL season, starting in October with Round 1 in Barcelona. He updated the Board on the recent EHL Board meeting. On 21/10 the EHL Board will give an important press conference about the EHL’s future at Oranje-Rood Hockeyclub.
Development:
The Education and Development Manager, Tom Pedersen-Smith, updated the Board on recent and future activities of the Committee. He will find out more about the EU Erasmus+ funding next week. It has been agreed with FIH that they will conduct the survey ‘The State of the Game’ on an annual basis. Tom has also planned visits to some of our Members in the next months. The nomination period for the club of the year will be open in November.
Education:
Inez Cooper (chair) presented the reports of the 3 working groups (umpires, coaches, officials). She gave an update about the recent activities and upcoming events of the 3 groups. Tom Pedersen-Smith updated the Board on the extension of our partnerships for the EHF Coaching Programmes and the success of the Breda weekend at the end of August.
Director General’s Report:
The Director General, Angus Kirkland, updated the Board on the recent meetings with Belgium Hockey regarding the EuroHockey Championships 2019. He went on to give an update on the General Assembly 2018 and some general office matters. Angus also presented the report of the Disciplinary Commissioner.
FIH Report:
Peter Elders reported about the new rules that were discussed in the FIH Rules Committee. After, Walter Kapounek, updated the Board on the calendar congestion and the recent and future FIH events. The Hockey Pro League is under control and will be played from 2019 onwards.
The President reported to the Board about the upcoming FIH Congress and the elections that will be held in Delhi during the Congress.
Hon. Treasurer’s Report:
The Finance Committee had met the day before the Executive Board to approve the 2019 budget to be presented at the General Assembly in November. Mika Rihtila updated the Board about the year to date budget of 2018 and presented the 2019 budget which will be presented at the General Assembly for approval.
Appointments Committee:
Angus Kirkland presented the report on behalf of the Appointments Committee.
The next meeting of the Board will be held in Brussels on December. Date TBC