FIH is throwing its full support behind World Children’s Day by encouraging hockey communities across the world to don blue kit as they take part in hockey activities.
Unicef’s World Children’s Day is a global day of action for children’s rights. Among the many celebratory activities taking place around the world, children will be taking over high visibility roles in sport and the media and participating in national summits, where they will discuss the issues of today and the future.
With the colour blue symbolising World Children’s Day, famous landmarks around the world will light up in blue to show support for children’s rights.
FIH is encouraging hockey groups in schools and colleges and national associations to get behind the movement. They can do this by running tournaments, matches or other hockey-related activities, or simply by putting on some blue kit and supporting World Children’s Day.
And the support starts with the international governing body as all the staff in the FIH offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, will be pulling on blue shirts to mark the occasion.
On the same day, FIH will be announcing the winners of the Olympic Day competition. This took place in June 2019, with national associations invited to enter projects that symbolised hockey’s ability to change lives for the better.
This illustration has been kindly offered by Sabine Hahn, author of the kid’s books series “The Hockey-Kids”. Learn more about Sabine Hahn’s work by clicking here. ©Sabine Hahn
A number of national associations entered initiatives that were taking place within their hockey communities, but the judges decided that the following were standout examples of how hockey could be a conduit for a better life. The three prizes each align to a current FIH campaign:
Chile, whose project targeted women and minority groups – particularly people with physical and learning difficulties – was awarded the Inclusion Prize. This links to the FIH Equally Amazing policy.
Afghanistan were awarded the Impact Prize, which aligns to the FIH Beyond Hockey initiative. The national association ran a series of programmes in art and music, which celebrated hockey and its ability to break down barriers and promote peace.
Zimbabwe and the Czech Republic shared the prize for Initiation, part of the Hockey Dreams campaign. In Zimbabwe, a nation-wide art competition invited children to paint or draw pieces which raised awareness of the inspirational power and beauty of sport. The Czech Republic held a beach hockey tournament for children and their parents, which demonstrates that hockey can be enjoyed anywhere by different communities.
Both World Children’s Day and Olympic Day are powerful reminders of the power of sport to do good. So do share your World Children’s Day activities with the international hockey community. Using the #WorldChildrensDay and tagging FIH and UNICEF, post selfies, group pictures, video clips, comments and let’s spread the word.
We know sport is a powerful tool for change, so let’s make sure that we do our bit to help make the world a better place for the next generation.
#WorldChildrensDay #UNICEF
