As part of their first in-person global gathering since the 2018 FIH Congress, the delegates of the 49th FIH Statutory Congress recently held in Oman (7-9 November) were invited by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and its President Tayyab Ikram to participate in a sharing and learning Forum focusing on the empowerment and engagement of hockey’s stakeholders.
In his opening address, President Ikram recalled that “the FIH Empowerment and Engagement strategy has been conceived for all National Associations (NAs), the top ones as well as the emerging ones.” He went on saying that the global hockey community is facing a number of questions that it has to address such as “How best can we serve our athletes?”, “What are the steps we are taking to protect their mental health?”, “Are we ready to serve our young generations?”, “How are we positioned towards Artificial Intelligence?”, just to name a few. All these topics, and more, were tackled during the full day event.
The general session continued with a report from Isabelle Jouin, President of the French Hockey Association (FFH), talking about the strategy and legacy benefits from hosting the Paris 2024 Olympics. Interestingly, beyond the legacy of the stadium itself that of course represents a major tool for French hockey’s development, FFH noted already a 20% increase in participation (= number of players) since the completion of the Games! FFH presentation was followed by a discussion panel about “Legacy and Dream” involving Tayyab Ikram, Isabelle Jouin, Hockey Belgium President Patrick Keusters and the President of the Chilean Hockey Association, Andrés De Witt Hepp.
Then, the attention turned to FIH’s flagship event – the quadrennial World Cup – with a thorough update from KNHB President Erik Klein Nagelvoort and Hockey Belgium CEO Serge Pilet about the preparations and vision for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup which will be a combined event – women and men – in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Wavre (Belgium), where a new hockey stadium is currently under construction.
Moderated by FIH Head of Education & Development Mike Joyce, the next panel of the day, titled “Athletes First”, included FIH President Tayyab Ikram, German Hockey Association President Henning Fastrich, Co-Chairs of the FIH Athletes Committee Camila Caram (CHI) and PR Sreejesh (IND), as well as FIH Players of the Year Yibbi Jansen (NED) and Harmanpreet Singh (IND). The discussion focused on the challenges faced by athletes in three areas: lifestyle, mental health – the FIH President announced at the Congress the launch of a global programme about this major topic - and life after hockey.
Next on stage were Chair of the FIH Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Marijke Fleuren, FIH Coach of the Year Alyson Annan, FIH Umpire of the Year Sarah Wilson, Coach of the Oman Women's National Team Waqas Ahmed, Camila Caram and Isabelle Jouin to discuss about “Women in Hockey”. Gender equality – or inequalities based on gender, and how to tackle them – were a focal point. On this occasion, the FIH Women in Hockey Empowerment Project - and its tagline #MadeForHockey - was launched, with the “Body Confident Sport” campaign as a first concrete global initiative under the umbrella of this project.
The last item on the general session agenda was a presentation from Croatian Hockey Association President Damir Hrupec and Director Slaven Zlatar informing the delegates about the preparations going on for the next edition of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup that will be staged in the coastal city of Poreč in February 2025.
In the afternoon, the Congress delegates were invited to split into four workshops dedicated to key strategic matters: Participation and development, Communication, More places to play and Technology Solutions. These breakout sessions provided an excellent opportunity for National Associations to express their challenges but also share their knowledge and success stories, therefore enabling everyone to get important take-aways for their daily management of hockey in their respective countries.
To conclude the productive and intense Forum, the delegates received a detailed presentation from FIH Global Supplier Polytan on the latest evolution of artificial turf. Sustainability was a key topic and, in this regard, a particularly encouraging information shared by Polytan was that the first-ever carbon zero artificial turf – Poligras Paris GT Zero - which was inaugurated at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 consumed 63% less water than the surface used for London 2012! President Ikram gave a huge credit to Polytan mentioning that the FIH won the IOC Climate Action Award and Polytan has a major role in this award: “In fact, full credit goes to them.”
Commenting on the Forum, FIH President Tayyab Ikram said: “I would like to thank all Congress delegates, as well as the panel guests and our partners, for their active participation in this Forum. The way it was designed enabled everyone to express their views, learn from each other and ask very relevant questions. I was impressed by the energy prevailing in the general session as well as the workshops. We will leave no stone unturned in order that each National Association receives the guidance and support they need on their journey to develop our game.”
