Congress Highlights

The first part of November 2006 was an important period for the FIH and the sport of hockey. During the ‘Congress Week’ in London, many decisions for the future of hockey were taken. In this article, we will give you a summary of the excellent week at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

FIH Congress

• Five new national associations were officially admitted as new FIH members: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador and Estonia.
• The organizers of the 2008 Olympic Qualifiers were announced. Canada, Azerbaijan and Russia will be the host of the three Women’s Olympic Qualifiers. Japan, Chile and New Zealand are entrusted with the organization of the three Men’s Olympic Qualifiers.
• Honorary Secretary General Peter Cohen (AUS), Honorary Treasurer Jean-Pierre Strebel (SUI) and Vice President Antonio von Ondarza were re-elected for a four year period.
• Claire Peeters-Monseu from Belgium was re-elected for a new four year period in the Executive Board Aaron Sher (USA) and Bark Jae Shin (KOR) were re-elected. The last two seats in the Executive Board went to Steve Jaspan (RSA) and David Collier (ENG).
• One Executive Board member retired as hockey administrator and was not standing for re-election. Theo Ykema from Netherlands was the chairman of the FIH Coaching Committee from 1992 until 1997 and the chairman of the FIH Development and Coaching Committee from 1997 until 2006. To reward Ykema for his outstanding contribution to hockey, the Dutch was inducted as FIH Member of Honour.
• The national association of Spain received the Pablo Negre Trophy, which is awarded annually by FIH to the National Association which has by its activities, initiatives and sportsmanship served best the course of hockey and made it more popular during the previous two years.
• The Chilean Hockey Federation was awarded with the Super Fair Play Trophy Rene G Frank. The Trophy is awarded every two years in conjunction with the Congress, to a team or an individual known to have shown the greatest spirit of sportsmanship during a period of two years.
• The Ghana Hockey Association received the newly established Theo Ykema Award, given to national associations that improved their work in many different areas in hockey such as activities, participation and number of qualified officials.

WorldHockey Forum ‘Synergy for Success’

• Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the organizing committee of the 2012 London Olympic Games, adressed the WorldHockey Forum 'Synergy for Success'. The former Olympic gold medalist explained to the delegates present at the WorldHockey Forum the success of the London Olympic bid.
• Presentations from five national associations about the way they achieved success in different sections. German Joachim Hurter explained the way the German Federation organized the BDO World Cup men in Monchengladbach, Germany. Hernan Sanchez from Chili told the participants about the way to develop hockey at all levels. Oko-Kikoi Dzani and Nii Quaye-Kumah from Ghana gave a presentation about increasing the efficiency and operational activity in managing the national association. Sheila Walker and Laura Darling from the USA focused on attracting and developing officials at all technical levels. Paul Varian from Ireland gave a speech about how to make events more rewarding and enjoyable.
• The 250 participants were split into five different groups to discuss how national associations and the FIH can create synergy together. The outcomes of these discussions were addressed to a special panel.

Executive Board Meetings: The following decisions have been taken:

• Formalization of the use of the video umpire for all future major FIH events. The video umpire will be used during the Olympic Games, World Cups, Champions Trophies and Olympic and World Cup qualifiers. The decision was taken based on the successful use of the video umpire at the recently held Men’s and Women’s World Cup.
• Three qualification tournaments of six nations per gender for the 2010 World Cups. This is already the case for the qualification process for the 2008 Olympic Games. In the past, one twelve nation qualifier per gender was organized. As a consequence more teams will be given the possibility to participate in the qualification system.
• Barry Dancer of Australia, winner of the silver medal during the BDO World Cup men, and Argentine Sergio Vigil were nominated as FIH Master Coach.
• Grand Masters Association (WGMA) recognized as international organization for hockey players aged 60 and over. This means the recognition of the importance of international veterans’ hockey.

Order of Merit for three hockey administrators
Three long time hockey administrators were awarded with the FIH Order of Merit during the official dinner in London on Saturday. On the fortnight of the Congress, Belgian Claire Peeters-Monseu, Derek Wilshere from New Zealand and Fook Wong from USA received out of the hands of FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman the awards for their distinguished service over more than ten years.

Claire Peeters-Monseu received the Order of Merit for her great work in the FIH, the European Hockey Federation and the Belgian national association. Derek Wilshere is already hockey administrator since 1962 and is the President of the Oceania Hockey Federation since 1995. Fook Wong is well known as President of the FIH medical committee and is involved in hockey since the early 80’s.

Other awards
The FIH awarded five people who made an excellent contribution to hockey over the past years. South African Clare Digby, FIH Continental Development Officer in Africa, received the Diploma of Merit out of the hands of FIH Honorary Secretary General Peter Cohen. Former international umpire Alain Renaud from France also received the Diploma of Merit. The other three awards went to special media people. TV journalist David Christison from Australia, also known as ‘the voice of WorldHockey’ received a Diploma of Merit for his great contribution as official FIH TV commentator. FIH TV Coordinator Rupert Rumney and English journalist Bill Colwill received the Presidents Award out of the hands of FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman.