The final European Hockey Federation Club of the Year awards of this decade are very special ones for the EHF. In 2019 we launched our Equally Amazing campaign and in August our Member Associations signed the EHF’s Gender Balance Charter.
All of these elements are relevant to our Club of the Year awards as each entry was assessed bearing in mind how our clubs are grasping with both hands the opportunities to make sure that gender balance and equal opportunities are available to anyone who wants to play hockey.
As Peter Elders, Chair of the Assessment Committee said “We were looking for tangible projects being delivered at grassroots level. Projects that can be delivered easily and without huge costs to our clubs. Also, projects that could easily be replicated in other clubs and countries under our pillar of sharing knowledge. It is fantastic to see how imaginative our clubs can be and how when they spot a group that is missing out on hockey, how they can engage and bring this group into (or back into) the hockey family. Thank you to all the volunteers who have delivered these projects on the ground and I am delighted to announce the winners as follows:
EHF Small Club of the Year: Ballymoney Hockey Club
Established: 1984
Nation: Ireland
Project: Increasing opportunities for boys’ hockey at U11 and U13
Working across several primary schools to activate a better gender balance for junior sections. Volunteers from the club have been on leadership and coaching courses to be able to give the boys the most positive start in their hockey careers. They have had help from local schools and clubs, and families and friends of our ladies’ sections. They receive sponsorships from star fuels and Bob and Bert’s coffee shop as well as running fundraisers, including a mini and junior fun day, bag packing, table and fireside quizzes and bag packing.
Laura Walters, Funding Officer from Ballymoney said on hearing that Ballymoney HC has been awarded the accolade of Small Club of the Year 2019.
“We at Ballymoney Hockey club are absolutely delighted to have been named the European (small) club of the year 2019. Over the past few years, we have attempted to restructure and redevelop our club. It has taken a lot of hard work, organisation and dedication and this award is a testament to that. We are the first club in Ulster to have been awarded such a prestigious title and we hope we can go on to promote and develop our club further.”
When it came to the Large Club of the Year the EHF was spoiled for choice and when the Assessments were done, both Loreto HC and The Club an der Alster had equal points, Peter chuckled “As there was no chance of a shoot-out in the event of a draw, the committee agreed that the clubs would share the title of EHF Large Club of the Year 2019. Both projects are indeed Equally Amazing.”
Large Club of the Year: Loreto Hockey Club
Established: 1926
Nation: Ireland
Project: Hockey Mums
The idea was that the club offered coaching for Mums, some who had never played hockey before and others who had not played since school, all were keen to play and learn more about the game. This commenced with 40 parents and has grown each year. This year there were over 85 parents taking part. There were three levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced. Parents were taught hockey rules, skills and fitness. After the eight weeks the parents were split into mixed teams and a blitz style tournament & BBQ was held. This final event has proved extremely popular in the community with children, Dads, teachers and local parish workers all in attendance, over 300 people attended this year.
On hearing of the win Wendy Byrne, President of Loreto HC said “ Loreto Hockey Club is delighted, honoured and very proud to be awarded the EHF Club of the Year award for large clubs. The award allowed us to highlight our clubs strong voluntary contributions, its inclusive nature and its warm welcoming atmosphere. Receiving this award caps off a great year for us, having just installed our first ever water-based pitch making our pitch and clubhouse a top-class facility. Thank you to all our members who create wonderful memories season after season. We couldn’t be happier.”
EHF Large Club of the Year: The Club on the Alster
Established: 1919
Nation: Germany
Project: Hockies (ParaHockey)
In 1991 the club founded the Para-Hockey team the “Hockies” which is an equal amazing team for players with or without a disability and female and male players for hockey interested people. The club wanted to join disabled and mainstream people in hockey sport from Hamburg and surroundings. Furthermore, the club supports the team with coaches and equipment like sticks and shirts regularly. The Hockies participate at Hamburg Special Olympics and are integrated into bigger tournaments like the German Indoor Championships and at latest they played a match within EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup Women 2019 in front of 300 visitors. This match was live-streamed and commented by a Hockey expert on the live streaming channel of EHF. The best benefit is that the Hockies are an open team where all people and players (disabled and mainstream /female and male) are able to join just to enjoy hockey. All members are welcomed there is no performance pressure. For the club, it is the best example for equal amazing and an honor that the team is part of Der Club an der Alster.
Dr. Carsten Lütten, President said “We are very proud to be elected for the Club of the Year 2019 award from the European Hockey Federation. In a year, within the club is celebrating its 100th anniversary and hosted the Euro Hockey Indoor Club Cup Women 2019 in Hamburg, it is a great honour for us. This award motivates us for the future and upcoming projects. We would like to thank all members, sponsors, volunteers, employees and supporters and congratulate warmly the joint winner, Loreto Hockey Club from Ireland.”
For more information on the EHF’s Club of the Year, click here .