Addressing the PAHF Congress earlier this week in Santiago, Chile, FIH President Tayyab Ikram gave a detailed update on where FIH stands today, in particular on the work done by hockey’s world governing body to develop and grow the game in all corners of the world. He insisted on the fact that never before had FIH done so much to empower National Associations (NAs) and help them achieve their development activities. One of the key areas of development being to provide the best possible facilities to our young generation.
The FIH President went on talking about the power of hockey – and sport at large – to act as a catalyst for positive change in society. Hockey is a sport with high values and principles – such as gender equality – and we want to capitalise on those to offer equal opportunities and capacity building to our female leaders and young leaders. Caring for the youth is also massively important, especially to ensure the sustainability and growth of hockey. “It’s time for us to bring hockey to the youth and not wait for the young generation to find us! We have to change our mindset”, President Ikram stated. Generally, we have to be more engaging. With athletes, with fans, with key stakeholders of today’s society. In fact, we need to look at the bigger picture. This is more than hockey and there are a lot of opportunities out there. We need to seize them!
Then, as the Pan American Games were being held at the time of the PAHF Congress, Tayyab Ikram spoke about high-performance. He underlined that some teams need help in coaching and also in the professional approach that such events require. Athletes should receive equal opportunities when it comes to high performing sport.
During the Congress Forum, the FIH President had a session with the National Associations of the Pan American region to talk specifically about the empowerment and engagement strategy that FIH launched in June. This was followed by another interaction on Olympic solidarity and how NAs can benefit from this, especially at a time where we are in a much better position within the Olympic movement. “It is so insightful to be able to talk in person to the National Associations, listen to their needs and challenges, and try to find together solutions and opportunities. I’d like to thank all of them for these very precious moments of exchange”, the FIH President concluded.
