The 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was a success and finished in style with that amazing goal from Korea’s Nam Yong Lee in the final shootouts. But outside the field of play, there was another big success story as FIH Academy and Raja Ashman Shah Hockey Academy delivered 4 courses for Coaches, Educators and Technical Officials. The programme started with a Level 3 Coaching course, from 22 to 25 March, followed by an Educator course (26-27 March), a Level 2 coaching course (27-30 March) and finally and Level 3 Technical Officials course (28-30 March). In total there were 55 candidates (40 men and 15 women), 26 nations and 5 continents represented.
For the 4th consecutive year, Asian Hockey Federation and FIH Academy have partnered in the delivery of Education programmes in Ipoh, Malaysia. Aimed at supporting the development of the Asian continent's workforce, these courses have attracted people from all over the world, from year 1. Most of the candidates in these courses come from Asian countries where education is sometimes not easily available. But when they arrive at the course opening they find themselves in the middle of a multinational audience with different views and experiences. This fact has been much appreciated across the world as candidates can expand their perspectives and their knowledge with ideas that they would not easily get access to. "I got new ideas and way of think from different coaches" said one of the candidates.
Tayyab Ikram, Asian Hockey Federation CEO, couldn’t be happier with this: "Ipoh and the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup helped turn the education partnership between AHF-Raja Ashman Hockey Academy and FIH Academy into a global programme that brings together people from all the corners of the world. This has also helped us identify and develop the talent of Coaches, Officials and Managers in various regions of Asia, which is a crucial part of our development goals.”
The ability to share knowledge and improve competencies is at the heart of FIH Global Development Programme, Hockey4LIFE. Education is one of the 4 building blocks of the programme together with Participation, Infrastructure and Inspiration. Mike Joyce, FIH Development Director said: "Education is one of the building blocks of FIH Global Development programme, Hockey4LIFE. The education programmes that AHF-Raja Ashman Hockey Academy and FIH Academy are delivering in Ipoh alongside the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup are a strong contribution to our goals."
For the Asian Hockey Federation, education is a central piece in development activities and it’s been one of the engines for improving their member nations performance. Over the past few years, it has had a strong impact in nations like Myanmar, who was second at the last South East Asian Games, and Vietnam, Bangladesh or Nepal, who have had successful participations at international competitions in the continent.
Candidates don’t learn for themselves, their success is also the success of a strong team of FIH Academy educators that bring the candidates knowledge to life and challenge them to improve it. It’s all about the candidates at FIH Academy courses. Siegfried Aikman, Head Coach of Japan, Elisabeth Fuerst, FIH Pro League Panel Technical Official and Lim Chiow Chuan, former coach of Malaysia, were the leads of this year’s courses and together with them they had other world class educators from Asian nations helping in the delivery of World Class Education. "It was an opportunity to network with high level coaches from other cultures” said one of the participants.
For Asian Hockey Federation these educators are the key to open the door for a better skilled workforce. All the Asian educators in Ipoh deliver education programmes for AHF on a regular basis, helping developing Hockey nations get access to the knowledge necessary to improve their performance.
In the end, it’s all about sharing knowledge and learning from other, which for some people might seem trivial but many others is the key for success. With a pathway designed to identify and share the knowledge relevant to each stage, the FIH Academy together with the Continental Federations and National Associations is working hard to make sure that everyone can access the knowledge they need to make their hockey better.
Nam Yong Lee's shootout masterpiece was the perfect ending of 10 days where High Performance Hockey Competition and Education.
#Hockey4LIFE #FIHAcademy #AsiaHockey #SultanAzlanShah
