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All the news for Friday 18 January 2019

3 Nations Invitational (M) Chile - Day 3
Chile

Result 17 January

ARG v CHI (RR)     5 - 1

Pool standings

FIH Match Centre

National hockey trials for FIH Pro League begin today

The two-day trials for selecting an 18-member Pakistan squad for the FIH Pro League will start at the National Hockey Stadium here from Friday (today).

The trials begin at 2:00pm on both the days.

Nine teams are competing in both men and women competitions at the FIH Pro League which is the new flagship event of the FIH. Pakistan’s first match at the league is against Argentina on Feb 2 in Cordoba, a city in the centre of Argentina.

Pakistan again face Argentina there for their home match on Feb 3 before the green-shirts reach Australia to play away home game on Feb 9.

From there Pakistan fly for New Zealand to face the hosts.

Pakistan’s home matches against Australia and New Zealand will be held in the month of June in London and Amsterdam, respectively.

At the moment, Pakistan’s participation in the Pro League is not confirmed as the PHF is facing a financial crisis while the government is reluctant to issue any grant to the national federation.

The Daily Times

For the players to improve, coaching has to improve, says David John

David John wants some seniors to play in another country and get exposure

K. Keerthivasan and Abheek Dasgupta


David John. 

David John, the High Performance Director of Hockey India, has been in the city for the last few days, watching the ongoing senior National men’s championship B division to tap possible exciting talent. Excerpts from an interview:

On the standard of hockey

Some of the group matches in the B division were sub-standard, but in the knock-outs, the quality was excellent. The level of coaching hasn’t improved in the last two years. For the players to improve, coaching has to improve. I just completed conceptualising a Level I and II coaching accreditation [course], which should start rolling out probably in April.

On the criticism of B division

Forty-one teams are too many. Perhaps, next year we should consider a third [C] division. Hockey India will address it.

Till the Olympics, there aren’t many international tournaments for the Indian team due to the FIH Pro League, in which the country has decided not to take part

It’s a problem because we have to come up with a calendar. We’re having to play teams like Canada, South Africa, and those from Asia, over and over.

So how do you address it?

In terms of domestic hockey, we’ll try and open the window to allow all our national players to play important domestic tournaments. But also I have to be aware that when they go back to play domestic matches, they don’t get recovery time. They’re not rotated properly so they’re not getting rest during matches. The structure of their play isn’t what we play internationally.

How would you bridge this quality gap?

At the moment, it’s difficult. But Indians can play leagues abroad as long as they doesn’t clash with our international schedule. We play our next international matches at Sultan Azlan Shah in March. Then, we have our Open Final series here, which is important, because the top two go to the qualification round. From June through November, there’s a gap. For me, personally, I’ll be happy if some of our seniors go and play in another country and get exposure. But even the domestic competitions in those countries have been affected by the Pro League. We’ll go to Japan in August-September. Then we have to wait till November to find out who our opponent is going to be for the Olympic qualifier.

The Hindu

Field Hockey Canada announces Men’s Masters Indoor National Teams



Two Canadian Men’s Masters Teams set to attend the Masters Indoor World Cup in Hong Kong.

Field Hockey Canada is thrilled to be sending two teams to the 2019 Masters Indoor World Cup. The competition is set for February 14-17 This is the first time the tournament will be held under the joint banner of the IMHA & WMH. The tournament will be held at the Hong Kong Football Club facilities and will feature teams from all over the world. According to national indoor program manager and coach, Louis Mendonca, said the teams have some incredible experienced athletes that area looking to stay active in the hockey community and keep competing. For Mendonca, the goal isn’t strictly winning.

“The goals for this tournament is to re-ignite the competitive nature of these athletes while facilitating an essential component of camaraderie,” he said. Mendonca, who was inducted into the Field Hockey Canada Hall of Fame in 2018 said that he hopes this experience ignites a push for growth in the Canadian hockey community. “I hope the momentum from this tournament is taken back to the home cities of all the athletes to re-invest in the grassroots of the sport.”

Field Hockey Canada is submitting a 45+ team (that will be playing in the 40+ division) and a 50+ team. Congrats to all athletes selected. Please stay tuned to the Field Hockey Canada website and social media next month for official schedule and results from Hong Kong!

Men’s Masters Indoor 45+

Cassius Mendonca   
John DeSouza
Dave Cox   
Ken Pereira
Dmitri Chipilo   
Mahyar Ouladrabiei
Gary Singh   
Reggie Pereira
Jag Mahal   
Sandy Singh
Jagdish Singh   
Tom Clarke

Coach: Louis Mendonca

Men’s Masters Indoor 50+

Asgar Kapasi   
Parimal Mody
Baljinder Rakhra   
Philip Loy
Dennis Pang   
Robin Godin
Kempton Graham   
Satpal Singh
Murali Rajaramam   
Sean Godfrey
Ozias D'Souza   
Vernon Grattan-King

Coach: Shankar Premakanthan

Field Hockey Canada media release

Liaoning power ahead as PKS-Uniten win in the wet

By Jugjet Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: Liaoning Hockey Club from China showed that they mean business in the Women's Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) when they beat SSTMI 3-0 yesterday.

And lady luck was on PKS-Uniten's side when they picked up three precious points after only playing for 30 minutes against KL Wipers.

PKS-Uniten were leading 1-0 courtesy of Hanis Nadiah Onn's 12th minute goal, and then it began to rain. The rainfall continued for more than 30 minutes and after half time, the match was abandoned with the score remaining.

"We were quite lucky to have scored before it rained so we were able to picked up three points by playing for only 30 minutes," said PKS-Uniten coach Lailin Abu Hassan.

PKS-Uniten now have one more tough match against the Terengganu Ladies Team.

"Yes we have two more matches, and I believe the toughest one will be against Terengganu Ladies Team who have shown great form so far," said Lailin.

Yesterday, Terengganu Ladies Team beat defending overall champions Blue Warriors 3-2.

RESULTS:

Women -- KL Wipers 0 PKS-Uniten 1, Terengganu Ladies Team 3 Blue Warriors 2, Liaoning HC 3 SSTMI 0.

FRIDAY:

Men -- TNB Thunderbolts v Maybank (National Stadium Pitch I, 6pm), UniKL v Tenaga Nasional (Tengku Abdullah Stadium, 5pm), Terengganu HT v NurInsafi (Batu Buruk, 5pm).

New Straits Times

Terengganu powered past Police for third win in women’s hockey league

By Aftar Singh


PKS Uniten’s Nor Izaidah Ibrahim dribbles past players from KL Wipers during the National Women’s Hockey League at the Bukit Jalil hockey stadium. M. Azhar Arif/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu came back from a goal down to edge defending overall champions Police Blue Warriors 3-2 for their third win in a row in the National Women’s Hockey League.

The East Coast team topped the seven-team standings with maximum points from three wins.

They outplayed Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) 5-0 before they thrashed Penang State Hockey Association (PSHA)-MSSPP 13-0.

Terengganu powered by five foreign players took the lead as early as the second minute through Domashneva Vera of Kazakhstan.

But Police fought back to score two goals in a space of five minutes.

Norazlin Sumantri scored off a penalty corner in the 36th minute before Norbaini Hashim sounded the board off a penalty corner five minutes later.

Terengganu were ruthless in the fourth quarter to score two quick goals.

Nur Syuhada levelled the score in the 50th minute and four minutes later Siti Rahmah Othman was the toast for scoring the winning goal.

Terengganu skipper Siti Noor Amarina Ruhani was all smiles after ending their losing streak against Police. They have lost twice to them last year.

“It was a hard fought win and we did well in the last quarter to score two goals. We conceded our first two goals in three matches but most important is that we topped the standings,” said Siti, who is also the national team captain.

NATIONAL WOMEN’S LEAGUE
RESULTS
TERENGGANU 3 POLICE BLUE WARRIORS 2
PKS-UNITEN 1 KL WIPERS 0
LIAONING CLUB 3 SSTMI 0.

The Star of Malaysia

UniKL coach to face MHC over recent outburst

By Jugjet Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) coach Arul Selvaraj is in big trouble as he will now have to face the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) for his recent outburst.

Arul was summoned by the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) technical committee yesterday who then decided to refer him to MHC.

This could spell trouble for the coach, who criticised the quality of the league recently, as it could now be suspended for more than a year.

The committee will also summon NurInsafi player Jiwa Mohan to appear before them for a breach in the tournament’s code of conduct.

"After hearing the explanation from Arul, we have decided to refer him to MHC who in turn may refer and involve their disciplinary committee,” said MHL technical committee chairman Jusvir Singh.

Arul was given an opportunity to defend himself and justify his statement.

"If I have said something which was against the code of conduct, then I apologise.

"I only spoke about concerns in the MHL, which is shared by many, to make it better. But I may have used the wrong channel, and also the timing was not right because the tournament is running right now.

"Maybe next time, I will speak to the right people, or maybe make a statement after the league ends when the Code of Conduct does not come into play," said Arul.

Arul told NSTP Sport on Jan 13 that the MHL looks like it was going to close shop due to the lukewarm response this season.

In the article, Arul had suggested recommendations to revive the league and also touched on the relevance of the Razak Cup.

New Straits Times

Subahan refutes claim that MHL’s standard is on the decline

By Aftar Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal has disagreed with former international Jiwa Mohan that the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) standard has declined in recent years.

Subahan said the MHL is not dying a slow death.

“Our league is one of the most competitive leagues as you can see the number of top foreign players playing in the league,” said Subahan.

“We have some world-class players such as David Harte of Ireland, and Robert Kemperman and Valentin Verga of Holland – who played in the World Cup in India last month – playing in our league.

“The Dutch players were supposed to play for their country in the World Pro League, which is starting this weekend. But they put the national interest aside to play in our league.

“Last year, the world’s top penalty corner specialist Gonzalo Peillat of Argentina played for Terengganu.

“They won’t be playing in our league if it was not competitive,” he added.

He added that even national coach Roelant Oltmans also agrees the MHL is a competitive league.

“From the matches played, it can be seen that our league is competitive.

“For example, in the final of the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup on Jan 6, Tenaga Nasional, who are made up of all local players, beat a Terengganu side powered by six foreign players (2-1) to win the Cup,” said Subahan.

On the question that there is a drastic drop in the number of teams taking part in the league, Subahan said last year six teams took part in the Premier Division, but this year seven teams are competing.

“The Division One is not held this year because TNB, who is our main sponsor, wants to come up with a new Under-21 league for all states,” added Subahan.

“TNB wants to focus more on junior development in every state. We have to respect their decision as they are our main sponsors.

“TNB is expected to reveal more about the Under-21 league next month with the hope to have more juniors playing.

“By having this junior league, the national selectors will be able to unearth new talents,” said Subahan.

The Star of Malaysia

NSW Claims Under-18 Australian Indoor Hockey Festival Double

Ben Somerford



New South Wales have done the men’s and women’s double at the Under-18’s Australian Indoor Hockey Festival which concluded at Goulburn’s Veolia Arena on Thursday.

NSW defeated Western Australia 7-2 in the women’s gold medal match on Thursday, with braces from Jade Callander and Eva Reith-Snare.

NSW raced to a 3-0 half-time lead and never looked back as they secured consecutive titles.

In the women’s bronze medal match, Queensland edged ACT 6-4 in a seesawing contest.

In the men’s, NSW knocked off Queensland 6-1 in the decider with six individual goal scorers in the victory.

Nathan Czinner and Samuel Bell both scored inside the opening 10 minutes as NSW wrapped up the title convincingly.

In the men’s bronze medal match, reigning champions Victoria defeated WA 3-2 in a shootout after a 2-2 draw.

Numerous Under-18’s awards were also handed out on Thursday following the finals, with the winners listed below.

Women’s
Play the Whistle: Tasmania & Victoria
Top goal scorer: Kaitlyn Lee (NSW) – 11 goals
Player of the Tournament: Talicia Canty (Queensland)

Men’s
Play the Whistle: ACT & Victoria
Top goal scorer: Justin Schonken (WA) – 11 goals
Player of the Tournament: Harry Pilbeam (Tasmania)

The Festival will run from Friday 4 January to Saturday 26 January 2019, across Under-13, Under-15, Under-18, Under-21 and Open divisions, with the Masters divisions having already competed in December.

The upcoming Under-21’s semi-finals and finals will be live streamed on Hockey Australia’s YouTube channel on Monday and Tuesday.

Hockey Australia have partnered with Destination NSW and the Goulburn Mulwaree Council to make the Festival possible and we thank them for their support.

Head to https://hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com/competitions/ for fixtures and match information. Follow @HockeyAustralia on Twitter for updates. Entry is free at Veolia Arena.

Hockey Australia media release

Pakistan hockey in 2018 — the year of defeats, controversies, setbacks and gross mismanagement

Anwar Zuberi



THE year 2018 was a complete disaster for Pakistan hockey, both on and off the field. It started with humiliation in tri-series at Muscat and ended in the same fashion at Bhubaneswar World Cup. In between, there was a brief spell of slight improvement under Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans but that did not last long.

Though the 12th-position finish in the 16-nation World Cup, which was the worst-ever for Pakistan, brought shame and dismay for the 180 million population back home, not a soul in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) appeared too bothered about the fiasco including its President retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, a relative of former PML Minister Ahsan Iqbal, and secretary Shahbaz Ahmed both of whom unashamedly held on to their jobs.

Instead of accepting their complete failure to run hockey in 2018, the PHF hierarchy, as expected of them, pointed fingers at Imran Khan’s government for not releasing funds to save their skin.

Shahbaz finally resigned from the secretary’s post on Dec 29 citing government’s step-motherly treatment to the national game.

“When the government and the ministry of Inter-provincial Coordin­ation (IPC) don’t have either the time or funds for the national game then I also don’t have time for hockey,” Shahbaz said in his resignation.

On the eve of national team’s departure to Jakarta for Asian Games in Aug, Khokhar, for the first time, told newsmen that the PHF had received approximately Rs 450m, Rs 150m a year, from the government which was insufficient.

The above grant is besides the funds that the PHF earned from other sources including the owner of Peshawar Zalmi, a cricket outfit of Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Reports say the Sindh government bailed out the PHF by doling out Rs100m to ensure Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup and to settle player’s outstanding dues.

It is pertinent to mention that owner of Quetta Gladiators Mr Nadeem Omar had also come to the rescue of Pakistan hockey team once in the previous set-up.

And in the same press conference, Shahbaz, in a harsh tone, accused media of working against the spirit of nationalism and creating fuss against the national game.

All said and done. It is the PHF which should be blamed for lavish spending, ill planning and lack of vision during the last three years and making a mountain out of a molehill.

The 12th position in the quadrennial competition has reminded the rise and fall of four-time former world champions Pakistan’s previous worst performance at the 1986 London World Cup when the greenshirts defeated arch-rivals India 3-2, not for the title clash but for the 11th-12th position classification match.

Triangular series:

At the outset, Pakistan won the triangular series opener against Oman 3-0 before being held by Japan 2-2 and Oman 4-4. Making amends, the greenshirts got the better of Japan 2-1 again.

After attaining top two positions in the double league, both Japan and Pakistan once again clashed in the final where the former whipped the latter 3-2 to sent a strong message to the regional teams.

Japan eventually proved their mettle by crowning the Asian champions later in the year.

The PHF held deliberations with Oltmans at Muscat who took over the assignment as national team’s head coach for second stint — March 1, 2018 to Sept 1, 2020. However, he left after the Asiad in disgust following tiff between the PHF and the government for not releasing Rs 200m funds allocated by previous government.

The PHf also hired Australian physical trainer Daniel Berry on the recommendation of Oltmans for some time who also quit with the Dutch official.

Commonwealth Games:

Pakistan stood seventh at the Commonwealth Games held in the Australian city of Gold Coast in April. The significant thing is that the greenshirts didn’t lose any game in the 10-nation event.

Drawn in pool B, Pakistan held Wales to a 1-1 draw in the opening fixture. In the next Pakistan shared points with India after being engaged in 2-2 stalemate.

The draw against India came after suffering four successive defeats 1-7 and 1-6 in the World Hockey League and 1-3 and 0-4 in the Dhaka Asia Cup in 2017.

In the third fixture, the greenshirts drew 2-2 with England and rounded-off the pool matches by playing 1-1 draw against Malaysia to end up fourth in the group.

Finally, Pakistan’s lone 3-1 victory came against minnows Canada in the playoff for the 7th-8th positions.

Though Pakistan finished seventh, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi doled out Rs 5.3m for staying unbeaten and to encourage the players for future commitments.

Final positions:

1-Australia, 2-New Zealand, 3-England, 4-India, 5-Malaysia, 6-Scotland, 7-Pakistan, 8-Canada, 9-Wales, 10-South Africa.

Champions Trophy:

Arch-rivals India thrashed Pakistan 4-0 in the opening match of the six-nation 37th Champions Trophy held in the Dutch city of Breda from June 23 to July 1.

Pakistan got a 2-1 drubbing from Australia in the next tie before whitewashed by the hosts Holland 4-0. Pak­is­tan managed to sent Argentina packing 4-1 before losing to Belgium 2-4.

Belgium defeated Pakistan 2-1 on shootout after being tied 2-2 in regulation time of playoff for the last two positions.

Introduced by Pakistan in 1978, it served as the last event at the behest of the FIH and Pakistan was allowed special permission to compete.

Final positions:

1-Australia, 2-India, 3-Holland, 4-argentina, 5-Belgium, 6-Pakistan

Asian Games:

Japan’s meteoric rise was visible when it stamped its authority by getting the better of fighting Malaysia 3-1 on penalty shootout after being tied six-all in regulation time to annex maiden Asian Games title at Jakarta in Aug-Sept.

India ended up with a bronze following 2-1 victory over Pakistan in the play­off. This is the second time after 2002 Busan Asian Games that Paki­stan’s finished fourth at the Asiad hockey.

Pakistan topped pool B winning all five matches. They opened their campaign while inflicting 10-0 defeat on Thailand. The greenshirts defeated Oman by the identical 10-0 margin. Pakistan pump in 16 goals against Kazakhstan in the third fixture. They routed Malaysia 4-1 before outplaying Bangladesh 5-0 in the last league tie.

Eventual champions Japan halted Pakistan dream run with a solitary goal victory in the semi-final while India conjured up 2-1 victory over the greenshirts to deny them even the bronze.

Throughout the year and before, the PHF hierarchy as well as the team management looked over confident citing Asian Games gold as the main target in order to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which was defeated.

Final positions: 1-Japan, 2-Malaysia, 3-India, 4-Pakistan, 5-South Korea, 6-Bangladesh, 7-Oman, 8-Sri Lanka, 9-Thailand, 10-Indonesia, 11-Kazakhstan, 12-Hong Kong.

Asian Champions Trophy:

Arch rivals Pakistan and India were declared joint winners after the match was abandoned due to heavy rain.

Pakistan whipped South Korea 3-1 to start the six-team competition on winning note at Muscat. However, in the next fixture, the greenshirts were humbled by India 3-1 that followed altercation between Hasan Sardar and Mohammad Saqlain. The latter was called back by the PHF and relieved of his job.

Pakistan thrashed Oman 8-1 and were held 1-1 by Japan. Pakistan gets the better of Malaysia by solitary goal in last league match.

Pakistan fought courageously to beat Malaysia again 3-1 on shootout after being tied 4-4 in the semi-final. India carved out 3-2 victory over Japan in the other semi-final to set a title clash with Pakistan.

Final positions: 1-India and Pakistan, 3-Malaysia, 4-Japan, 5-South Korea, 6-Oman.

World Cup:

Four-time former champions Pakistan, who failed to qualify for the last World Cup held at The Hague in 2014, returned winless from Bhubaneswar World Cup and ended up with a humiliating 12th slot in 16-nation event which is their lowest finish in the events history. Previously ranked 13th, the greenshirts entered the Bhumaneswar contest thanks to FIH for raising the number of teams from 12 to 16 for first time ever.

Pakistan lost their pool D opener by solitary goal to Germany before being held 1-1 by Malaysia. Pakistan received 5-1 thrashing from Holland in their last group tie.

Pakistan was blanked 5-0 by eventual champions Belgium in the second round to make exit.

Belgium, meanwhile, clinched their maiden hockey World Cup by getting the better of Holland 3-2 on penalty shootout after both teams remained goalless in regulation time.

The bronze went to Australia who thumped England 8-1 in the playoff for the 3rd-4th positions.

Final positions:

1-Belgium, 2-Holland, 3-Australia, 4-England, 5-Germany, 6-India, 7-Argentina, 8-France, 9-New Zealand, 10-China, 11-Canada, 12-Pakistan, 13-Spain, 14-Ireland, 15-Malaysia, 16-South Africa.

Domestic:

At the domestic front, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) carved out 2-1 victory over Wapda in the final to win the 64th National Hockey Championship at Sukkur on Jan 1. The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) blanked Navy 3-0 to grab bronze.

Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hockey Association Zahir Shah kept Khokhar and Shahbaz on their toes levelling serious allegations of misappropriation of Rs 500m doled out by the government and alleged that no audit was carried out. He also filed a suit against the PHF in the Peshawar High Court.

The PHF appointed Olympians Hasan Sardar and Islahuddin as head coach/manager and chief selector up to World Cup besides Saqlain and Rehan Butt as coaches.

Also in January, the PHF inducted six Pakistan greats in Hall of Fame besides equal number of foreigners without any criteria and doing injustice particularly, to living legends retired Brig Abdul Hamid ‘Hamidi’ and Abdul Waheed Khan, both the 1960 Rome Olympics gold medallists, among others.

The recepients of Hall of Fame mementos and cash awards of Rs0.5m apiece includes Islahuddin, Hasan Sardar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah and Shahnaz Sheikh (Pakistan) Paul Litjens, Floris Jan Bovelander and Rob Lathouwers (Neth­er­lands), Christian Blunk (Germany), Juan Escarre (Spain) and Don Prior (Australia).

Pakistan played host to World XI that comprised couple of foreign players from six nations — Holland, Australia, Germany, Argentina, New Zealand, Spain — aimed at reviving international hockey in the country.

The visitors played two matches against Pakistan juniors winning 5-1 at Karachi and playing 3-3 at Lahore.

In May the incumbent PHF president and secretary were re-elected for four-year term in the elections that was termed ‘illegal’ by quite a large number of bonafide organisers and noted former players from Karachi to Peshawar.

This can be gauged from the fact four districts instead of six were allowed in the inter-club scrutiny of the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) elections to accommodate blue-eyed people at the epense of genuine group.

Television channels reported foul play in rural Sindh besides the three other provinces and termed the polls ‘unfair’.

It is pertinent to mention that both Khokhar and Shahbaz visited the KHA Complex in Gulshan Iqbal on Feb two and acknowledged their hard work.

In the aftermath of PHF’s interferance, the KHA filed a suit in court of law and its relation with the games controlling body become sour.

Obituaries:

Olympian goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed died of heart ailment at a local hospital in Karachi on May 12.. He was 50.

Begum Perveen Atif, one of the founders of women’s hockey in Pakistan and wife of the ex-PHF secretary late retired Brig M. H. Atif, died on Nov 23.

Conclusion:

It is the need of the hour that those found responsible of Pakistan hockey team’s pathetic performances over the last three years should be taken to task and banned from holding any office in future.

One has failed to understand the inordinate delay in appointing a new set-up of the PHF. People with clean record and a vision to lift the game should be given the task immediately to clear the gloom.

Dawn

New FIH Athletes’ Committee members gear up to represent their peers


Old and new Co-Chairs Rogier Hofman, Annie Panter and Kate Richardson-Walsh (from the left to the right) at the FIH headquarters on 16 January 2019

During a dedicated meeting at the FIH headquarters yesterday, Annie Panter, outgoing Co-Chair of the Athletes’ Committee, passed on the baton to the new Committee members, focusing particularly on the transfer of valuable knowledge. Led by FIH Sport and Development Director Jon Wyatt, the meeting served to ensure a smooth transition following the online election of eight new Regular Member and two new Liaison Members for the FIH Athletes’ Committee by players around the world last autumn. FIH CEO Thierry Weil also joined in to address the athletes’ representatives.

The new Athletes’ Committee, composed of retired and active players, will first focus on ensuring regular, comprehensive communication with their peers and explore various channels, especially in Social Media.

New Co-Chair Rogier Hofman, a previous member of the Dutch National Team who now represents the athletes’ voices with full voting rights on the FIH Executive Board, said:

“I feel very honoured that I have been chosen for the FIH Athletes Committee and by dedicating myself to this I want to relieve the players so they can focus on their sporting-careers but ensure that all norms, values and most important topics that apply to all players worldwide are heard and implemented within the FIH and our sport in general.”

The new athlete representatives agreed to delegate one of their members to each FIH Committee or Panel in order to ensure athletes’ views are considered across all areas of the organisation, including fields such as health and safety, commercial and broadcast, rules and competitions. The Athletes’ Committee is also determined to strengthen ties with the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the WADA Athlete Committee.

Outgoing Co-Chairs Marsha Cox and Annie Panter said:

“We have enjoyed the challenges of chairing the FIH Athletes’ Committee over the last two years and have done our very best to ensure the athlete voice is heard strongly within the FIH. We would like to thank all of the outgoing members for their work and wish the incoming members the very best for their time on the Athletes’ Committee. We have a huge amount of confidence in the new Chairs, Kate Richardson-Walsh and Rogier Hofman, to lead the Athletes’ Committee forward and become ever more effective. We trust that the FIH will continue to provide the level of support necessary to ensure that athletes across the world are able to contribute towards the governance of our sport.”

The next meeting of the FIH Athletes’ Committee, which will serve to agree on a full strategy for the next four years, will take place in in September.



ABOUT THE FIH ATHLETES' COMMITTEE

The Athletes’ Committee serves as a consultative body and makes recommendations to the FIH Executive Board, FIH Committees, Advisory Panels and other bodies. The roles cover seeking and providing feedback to the FIH on behalf of all athletes, whilst developing and promoting resources and initiatives to athletes such as health and welfare, anti-doping, social media, the need to create stars to attract new fans, career preparation and management. The Committee also plays a central role in liaising with the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other sporting organisations to enable the sharing of information and research and ultimately developing the game of hockey.

Click here to learn more about the Athletes’ Committee’s role and composition.

FIH site