#FridayFocus – 2021 EHF Youth Leadership Festival – #PressPlay

The 2021 EHF Youth Leadership Festival in collaboration with the KNHB is going to be a week full of motivating workshops, contacts and friendships with some amazing guest speakers, including international hockey stars and inspirational and innovative organisations.

The theme for 2021 is “Press Play” – life has been on pause for such a long time that we hope that 2021 will be time to Press Play, especially for our EHF Youth Leadership Festival which will be held during the EuroHockey Championships Men and Women

Nomination Criteria:

These are on the posters attached, but just to be clear you can only nominate 1 male and 1 female aged between 18-30 years old.

National Associations get to choose who they nominate! But beware the deadline is 1st February 2021….

But why bother signing up? Let’s hear from Cedric, an EHF Youth Panel Member:

Cedric Vermeiren tells us of his story and how he came to be involved in the Festival and now as a member of the EHF Youth Panel. Cedric, very modestly, didn’t mention that his presentation won in 2017 and he had the privilege of making his presentation to the EHF General Assembly, a highlight for the delegates.

“In 2017 I made a presentation to the Leadership festival on my work on ParaHockey (Hockey ID) in my club. I have to say that it blew my mind being exposed to youth leaders from all over Europe, especially listening to the status of hockey around Europe. It really motivated me to do my bit to change that, if I could.”

“What we really want to achieve is that young leaders are heard in their own countries, they have a lot to offer, so why not have them involved in the decision making?”

“I became a member of the EHF Youth Panel in 2017 following my presentation to the EHF General Assembly, which was really an honour for me to be able to showcase the work being done in my club (Victory HC) around enabling athletes with intellectual disabilities to play hockey! The presentations are a key part of the Leadership Festival as they give the delegates an opportunity to showcase the work being done in their own country and share that with the other countries, so sharing knowledge is a key component of the festival.”

“I have to say that last year meeting Helen and Kate Richardson-Walsh and being a part of their workshop was a real highlight for me! I also never thought that I would hold an Olympic Gold Medal – that was very cool. They spoke about creating a happy lifestyle which is key for them. They also gave us some insights into being elite athletes, a fun story about Maddie Hinch and how she had positive messages written on her water bottle – something easy for anyone to do! Their messages could be brought into your daily life and they really had an impact on me.”

“In fact, their messages about enjoying the simple things, especially if you are feeling low are particularly true at the moment! Get fresh air! Simples…”

Contact development@eurohockey.org

Cedric (centre back) is pictured with his beloved Red Giants (Belgian National Hockey ID team)

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