September 2019 Executive Board Bulletin
Sofia, Bulgaria – September 20/21
The Executive Board met in Sofia, Bulgaria for their first meeting with the new Board members recently elected at the General Assembly.
On the day before the meeting, the President, Marijke Fleuren and the Director General, Angus Kirkland, met with the Bulgarian Hockey Federation and the Rector of the National Sports Academy. The next morning, they visited the National Sports Museum where Antonio Antonov presented to the Museum his Diploma of Merit and medals. They then met with the Deputy Minister of Sport and Youth and the Deputy Mayor of Sofia to discuss how they could support a new pitch in Sofia. An important tool for Sofia’s 8 clubs.
The EHF President was pleased to welcome the two new members of the Executive Board: Magdalena Nazaret and Sabina Zampetti. She is looking forward to get their input and to work with them in the future. The President explained to the new members how EHF Executive Board operated.
She looked back to a fantastic few months of successful competitions with the EuroHockey Championships in different parts in Europe, finishing the summer on a high in Antwerp. The tournament itself and all the side events around it were all very well organized. A big thank you to the numerous volunteers. She expressed her pride regarding the elections of the Athletes Panel and the induction of the new Hall of Fame members, Julia Muller and Jérôme Truyens. The Push tournament in Breda was also a big success again.
The Board received the following reports:
Communications & commercial: Simon Mason (Chair) updated the Board on the performance of the different social media channels of the hugely successful summer. He also reported on the different events that were streamed on our eurohockeytv.org platform during the outdoor season. Angus Kirkland also updated the Board on the ongoing work to look for new partners in collaboration with Jokko De Wit with some initial success.
Competitions: Walter Kapounek (Chair) updated the Board on the next indoor season. He also mentioned the new indoor rules that are in line with the changes made last year for outdoor.
The recommended venues for the Outdoor U21 invitational tournaments in 2020 were discussed and agreed, and details will be published in a separate bulletin.
The Chair reported on the recently completed outdoor season. As reported at the General Assembly, the FIH will no longer host Hockey Series Opens or Finals, instead the qualification pathway will be provided through Continental competitions. To ensure each NA has a possibility to qualify for the Olympics in one cycle, the Board agreed that the year before the EuroHockey Championships, EuroHockey Qualifiers will take place. This will start in 2022 and a full bulletin will be provided in due course, following approval from the FIH.
The Board discussed the number of the teams in the EuroHockey Championships and the pros and cons of sticking to 8 teams or expanding in the future. The Board were largely in favour of keeping the format but agreed that more information was required, and this will be prepared in the coming weeks.
EHL: Angus Kirkland updated the Board with the KO16 coming up in Barcelona. He reported that the branding had been refreshed and modernised as had the website.
Development: Peter Elders (Chair) reported to the Board on the activities from this year. The Gender Balance Campaign was launched earlier this year and seems to be a big success. All National Associations present at the General Assembly signed the charter.
Education: Inez Cooper (Chair) presented the reports of the 3 working groups (umpires, coaches, officials). Inez gave an update on a very busy summer for the 3 groups. All the courses were very well organized and run by qualified mentors. EHF received a lot of thank you letters as well from the educators as from the participants in the courses.
Strategic Plan and Operations Plan: The Board reviewed the strategic plan 2017 -2024 and agreed to update the plan to reflect 2020 -2026. Going forward it was agreed to update the plan every two years to ensure it is current. This will be prepared over the coming months and the Board will review at the next meeting. The Board members were given the draft Operations plan for their input prior to the upcoming Continental Federation meeting taking place early in November.
Director Generals’ Report: Angus Kirkland updated the Board on the successful European Championships in Antwerp in August. Angus went on to give a disciplinary update. The Terms of Reference are being updated for the Committees and the EHF will go out seeking for nominations for members at the end of October.
FIH Report: The President reported on the ongoing work of the FIH and correspondence received.
Hon. Treasurer’s Report: Angus Kirkland presented the year-to-date figures and outlook for 2019 which is in line with the budget. The 2020 budget, approved at the General Assembly, was reviewed.
Appointments Committee: Angus Kirkland presented the report on behalf of the Appointments Committee.
The next meeting will be held on December 13th & 14th in Brussels.