On 19 November 2017, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) took the opportunity of the Sentinel Homes Women's Hockey World League Final 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand to engage with the High Performance Directors from the Hockey Pro League nations in a workshop at the AUT Millennium Institute of Sport.
The objective of this workshop was to update them on the progress made by FIH with the Hockey Pro League ahead of its 2019 launch and to identify and address any questions they might have around this new competition.
The morning session was dedicated to a general update on League by the FIH team and also a presentation from Hockey New Zealand CEO Ian Francis about what it means for the sport in his country and from a strategic and operational point of view.
This session was also open to all officials participating in the World League Final in Auckland. They witnessed a presentation on what it will mean for them to work in the Hockey Pro League and were given an opportunity to ask questions.
The afternoon session was devoted solely to the high performance aspects of the sport. Adam Commens, High Performance Director of Belgium Hockey, opened the session and, on behalf of the High Performance group, shared their excitement about being part of the Hockey Pro League.
Throughout the session, the following topics were covered:
- 2020 calendar and global calendar
- Fit of domestic leagues
- Importance of the Olympic status
- Fit of Hockey5s
- World Rankings
- Talent development for the Hockey Pro League
- Players and coaches welfare
- Communication channels with the FIH
- Use of high performance data for TV and digital
This session was also marked by the presence of Adam Storey, Sports Science Manager & strength and conditioning coach from the professional rugby union team Auckland Blues. He talked about how Super Rugby travel is managed and shared some valuable tips for the High Performance Directors.
At the end of the workshop, it was agreed that the High Performance Directors would come back to FIH with a list of outstanding questions that would be shared with the Hockey Pro League League Management Panel.
