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News for 03 April 2019

All the news for Wednesday 3 April 2019


Hockey pushes for unified Korea team



In an exciting move that shows the power of sport to influence a wider agenda, the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) is one of the organisations currently pushing for a unified Korea women’s team to be part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic hockey competition.

Tayyab Ikram, who is Chairman of International Relations and Olympic Relations for FIH as well as Chief Executive of the AHF, explains why he feels so passionately that hockey should be playing a leading role in the Unified Korea Project.

“It will truly be an achievement if the world sees a unified Korean team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and we are willing to make all such efforts in order to make it possible. Such stories make sports a lot more defining, it makes it emotional and such moments makes the audience fall in love with the power of sport.”

Ikram stresses that the AHF is keen to support hockey’s involvement in all global agendas presented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). “If it’s about sport and peace, gender equality, whatever the United Nations, UNESCO and the IOC is considering for global agendas, hockey would like to be a part of it,” he says. “It is imperative for us to be seen to be supporting IOC initiatives. Most importantly, it is about peace in the region.”



A precedent has already been set at the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, where a unified women’s ice hockey team represented Korea. It was a move that captured the imagination of the world, as well as the approbation of communities in both North and South Korea.

Not only is the move good news for the unification process, it could also help create a new hockey-playing population in North Korea. Ikram agrees: “This will have a positive impact on hockey and for it to be seen as an elite sport. A unified Korea will improve the viewership numbers, it will encourage people to take an interest in the sport and such popularity would help open further venues for hockey in Korea. It will also allow more talent to come through the ranks. This is all good for development and growth of global hockey.

If the unification process goes ahead, both the AHF and the FIH will have important roles to play in supporting hockey development in the region.

Ikram already has his views on the process: “It is extremely important that FIH and AHF guide and support both North and South Korea so they can prepare a unified team without compromising too much on the performance level of the athletes. We don’t want to see a quota system in this scenario. Both FIH and AHF have the planning to support Korea to prepare a unified team.”

Support will include development programmes and high performance programmes; finding suitable venues for training camps; and assisting the team in reaching the necessary standard for Olympic qualification, possibly via an event in Asia, ahead of formal Olympic qualification events.

"It is extremely important that FIH and AHF guide and support both North and South Korea so they can prepare a unified team without compromising too much on the performance level of the athletes"
- Tayyab Ikram, Chairman, International Relations and Olympic Relations, FIH & AHF

For the dream to become a reality, there are a lot of processes to go through. Ikram outlines some of the challenges to be overcome in the next few months. “There is the question of how can we combine the two teams? How many players from each team will participate? This is a selection process and we are already running out of time.”

Communication at all levels is key. There needs to be conversations between the two national associations; between the two National Olympic Committees and of course, between the two national governments.

There is also the challenge of the cultural differences between the two nations. These differences are reflected in both the two nations’ approach to hockey as well as a more general cultural approach.

The solution is obvious to Ikram: “The differences can only be resolved if we provide better and more opportunities for the players to stay together, train together and spend more time together. Both teams would need adjustment and adaptation time for them to present and play like a team.”

And of course, the question of funding will always prove a challenge. Who will find the development programmes, who will be involved, who will be working on the process – these are all part of the larger jigsaw that the AHF is working to resolve.

#Hockey4LIFE #Sport4BetterWorld   #IDSDP2019

FIH site



‘Hockey Series Finals on schedule’


India captain Manpreet Singh. File

In a big relief for India, the Hockey Series Finals, the country’s only route to next year’s Tokyo Olympics, will be held as scheduled in Bhubaneswar in June, despite the International Olympic Committee’s ban on hosting global events.

In the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in February, India refused to issue visas to a three-member shooting contingent from Pakistan for the World Cup in New Delhi, leading to the IOC asking all the international federations not to award global events to the country. But a top Indian Olympic Association (IOA) official said that the Hockey Series Finals, from June 6-16, will go ahead as scheduled. “We (IOA and IOC) have reached an understanding on this issue and I can say it is almost confirmed that Hockey Series Finals will be held in June in Bhubaneswar,” the official said. India had pulled out of the Hockey Pro League and they will have to compete in the Hockey Series Finals to qualify for the Olympics. The world over, there will be three Hockey Series Finals of eight teams each. The top-two teams in each of Hockey Series Finals will qualify for the Olympic qualification events to be held in October and November.

The Tribune



Undisputed PR Sreejesh finds challenger in Krishan Pathak

By Rutvick Mehta
 

India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh

India's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final defeat to Korea might have had minimal impact on Indian hockey's larger scheme of things. Qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is still the target, but there was a major takeaway from that title clash in Ipoh on Saturday.

With the scoreline 1-1 after regulation time and the final into the penalty shootouts, the Indian think-tank — which was without a head coach in the tournament and was led by high-performance director David John and analytical coach Chris Ciriello — decided to bench the experienced PR Sreejesh for it.

Instead, young Krishan Pathak went out and took the field for the one-on-one shootouts, which the Indian team lost 4-2.

While the low-key tournament provided an ideal platform to test the youngsters of the inexperienced team before tougher battles ahead, it is learnt that the move to ask the 21-year-old Pathak to guard the goal for the shootouts over Sreejesh wasn't all about it.

"Who took the last two shootouts and what was the success?" said a member of the Indian contingent present in Ipoh.

Sreejesh was the goalkeeper in the shootouts against Malaysia in the semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games, which India lost 6-7, as well as the 2018 Champions Trophy final against Australia, where India went down 1-3.

The 30-year-old Sreejesh — celebrated as one of the best goalkeepers in the world and called India's 'Wall' — has been fighting some criticism after returning from a career-threatening, eight-month long ACL injury lay-off in January 2018.

The murmurs grew when he conceded two goals to allow Malaysia to twice stage comebacks in the Asiad semifinal and take the game into the shootouts, and when he was caught wrong-footed as the Netherlands found the winner in the 2018 Hockey World Cup quarterfinals to knock the hosts out.

Former coach Harendra Singh, though, backed Sreejesh to the hilt during his tenure, playing him in all World Cup matches.

However, during this Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Sreejesh was often switched with Pathak in between quarters during India's league matches, and the apprentice did manage to hold on to his own whenever he replaced the master, despite conceding four out of the five goals in the final shootouts.

"No goalkeeper in the world would have been able to stop Korea's second and last shootout goals," the member said. "These kind of tournaments are perfect to give experience under pressure situations for someone like Krishan with the future in mind."

For long, Sreejesh has been the undisputed custodian of the Indian citadel, with a second goalkeeper named just for the sake of it. And while it remains to be seen how the new coach — set to be Australian Graham Reid — looks at Sreejesh when he takes charge, the undisputed tag might be coming off slowly.

Daily News & Analysis



Making hockey dreams come true



The Hockey Dreams Foundation has long been at the heart of hockey development in Africa. The Dutch-based charity aims to improve the lives of people in a number of African countries by giving local hockey coaches a chance to build their future around the sport.

Working across Zambia, Uganda and Malawi, the eventual aim is to have qualified coaches in ten African countries. Currently, the project is gaining strength and momentum in the countries named above.

In the next stage of their work, the Hockey Dreams Foundation has now opened its Academy, which has been developed alongside talent development agency Ken & Ben.

Malou Janssen, head of PR and Communications at the Hockey Dreams Foundation explains: “The Academy gives us and the coaches a structure to work with and it is also very helpful for planning new steps to be taken in the future. It’s a collaboration between the International Hockey Federation (FIH), The Hockey Foundation, KNHB [the Dutch Hockey Association], Join for Joy and a lot of other people and organisations.”

Students attending the Academy first enroll on the Game of Change course, and students on this course then graduate to Game Changer status.

The Game of Change course is divided into two levels – basic and advanced. It is a modular course, which leads to a diploma on completion. The basic course is aimed at secondary school pupils, and teaches the basic skills that a Game Changer needs. The advanced course is either part of a business or a college course. The advanced level focuses on management via a series of modules.

Among the skills that are covered over the two modules are personal planning and presentation, hockey skills, computer skills, management and administration techniques and how to be a tournament director.

"There are plans to build an actual hub functioning as a club house in Lusaka, Zambia. It will provide somewhere for the coaches to meet, study and plan their coaching projects."

As graduates from the course, working with groups of children, Academy coaches will receive a regular payment equivalent to €30/month.

In a practical demonstration of the success of the Foundation’s development strategy, two of the Hockey Dreams Academy coaches from Uganda recently obtained their FIH Coach Level 1 and FIH Technical Official. At present, around 75 per cent of coaches delivering Hockey Dreams Foundation coaching courses at schools and communities have obtained a certificate in the Competent Coaching Module of the Academy, either through the FIH or their national association.

The Hockey Dreams Foundation also offers an equipment redistribution service. With support of the FIH, European Hockey Federation (EHF) and KNHB, it started the Sweetshop project – a collection point where hockey equipment is collected and then sent on to hockey playing communities that have little or no equipment.  Janssen adds her own plea: “We desperately need a storage place, preferably in Amsterdam. If anyone would be able to help us out, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Role models are important to the Hockey Dreams Foundation concept. Currently there are four Hockey Dreams Ambassadors: Maria Verschoor, Bjorn Kellerman, Stijn Jolie and Tristan Algera. These Dutch players visit the hockey coaching camps to help with the coaching sessions and to raise the profile of the organisation to the wider world.

And some of the African coaches also get to experience life as a hockey player/coach in Europe via return visits. Recently Zambia captain Innocent Mbabali spent time in the Netherlands with the Kampong team, joining in coaching sessions.

And the plans just keep growing. Janssen outlines just some of the events happening throughout the year.

“In July, members of the Netherlands women’s squad Frederique Matla and Maxime Kerstholt will be making their first trips to Africa as supporters of the Hockey Dreams Foundation’s work.

“In addition, a group of hockey players from the USA, will visit Zambia, through the organisation URU Sports.

“There are plans to build an actual hub functioning as a club house in Lusaka, Zambia. It will provide somewhere for the coaches to meet, study and plan their coaching projects. It will also provide a store for their equipment and be a meeting point for all the kids from the community.”

There is a strong relationship between the Netherlands clubs and the African countries. To this end, in collaboration with SportWays Hockey Camps, one or two of African coaches are invited to the Netherlands to experience a different coaching and hockey culture. The African coaches attend training sessions, meet entrepreneurs to talk about running an organisation, do some sightseeing and then join a hockey camp in Amsterdam with coaches from all over the world. The coaches take a lot of knowledge back to their community – where everyone can learn from it.

And that in a nutshell is what the Hockey Dreams Foundation is all about – collaboration, sharing knowledge and experience and creating a better environment where people can thrive.

#Hockey4LIFE #Sport4BetterWorld #IDSDP2019

FIH site

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