Inspire, provoke, and learn  

EHF President Marijke Fleuren said “I had to take some time at the end of the weekend to reflect, remember and disseminate all that I had learned and had provoked me! Who inspired me? That was easy: All, as the lineup of speakers and contributors was extraordinary!  

I know, it’s often an overused phrase, but here I know I can use it in the safety that this was no ordinary lineup, it was extra, and it was gold.  

From Simon’s beautiful storytelling on Friday evening, then the passion of Mariël for keeping alive the vision of the wonderful human that was Johan Cruyff and of course Jon’s excellent presentation on how hockey is working towards being a sustainable sport.  

And that was only until lunch on Saturday! Our breakout sessions demonstrated to us conscious and unconscious bias and what practical things we can do, thank you, Jamie, Jeevan, and Mirela. You were so authentic, so pure.  

Saturday afternoon’s session was led by one of the major leaders in sport in the world – Katie, what an unstoppable woman, she doesn’t believe in tokenism and used her knowledge to change World rugby and its leadership structure. Like Simon, when the call came, she said yes!  

She was followed by Tine with a brilliant presentation about Safeguarding, a very important and still underestimated subject in sport and in society in general. But not in this group anymore. All will take it seriously from now on! 

Elisabeth opened our eyes to the world of basketball and the journey they are on to be more inclusive.  

The final session on Saturday, led by Inez, gave our delegates time to consider all that they had learned, to ask questions and provoke eachother, a perfect end to a perfect day.  

On Sunday there was a frenzy of excitement as one of the special people of our sport took to the stage and, as he did on the pitch, put on quite a show! Thomas then gave endless time to the delegates to chat, look at (and touch) his beautiful Olympic gold medal and it turned into a fabulous fan zone as everyone wanted a photo.  

Finally, it was my turn to give some reflections about (my) leadership. What can I say otherwise than what I have said came from my heart! 

For me, whilst the speakers were really brilliant, it was the delegates who really made the weekend. Whenever we have moments of doubt when it’s hard to stay at the table and have the energy to go on, we only have to look to them for energy! Their passion for hockey, for overcoming even the most basic of requirements (a pitch, sticks, and balls), made us all remember what a fantastic sport hockey is and that with new and old faces, together you can continue to build an inclusive, sustainable sport for future generations. Their pledges (which we will hold them to!) will result in positive actions being taken all over Europe” 

 

 

Friday:  

A warm welcome to the delegates from Peter Elders (Chair of Development) and Marijke Fleuren (President) awaited the delegates from 26 Member Associations early Friday evening.  

Marijke invited Simon Mason capped 197 times for GB and England to deliver a timely keynote on Friday evening. Simon’s familiar voice took them through the ups and downs of an athlete’s dual career. He demonstrated how different desires can be played at different times in your life and how to keep shaping yourself. Most important was his message to always answer the phone and say yes to the beginning of new adventures!  

Saturday morning:  

Shaping opportunities inspired the Saturday morning keynote as Mariël Koerhuis, General Manager of the Johan Cruyff Institute enthused about the values and principles that ‘Johan’ had fought so hard to maintain and pass onto new generations of participants on and off the field of play.   

Following this was the opportunity for Director of Sport & Sustainability from the FIH Jon Wyatt to talk through the global impact the hockey family can have in shaping the lives of so many across three main areas of people, planet, and prosperity and giving tangible actions that have already been in effect across the globe involving many European nations and individuals.   

Saturday afternoon: 

Katie Sadleir, Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Games Federation taught us many things, with rejection is protection resonating across all delegates and guests in the room, as she delivered a keynote on her inspirational journey from athlete to a global administrator.  

With the room beating with information and knowledge after a day packed with expert knowledge the delegates went to an indoor court with hoops as FIBA’s Head of Women’s Basketball applauded European Hockey for its gender equality work and delivered an insightful account of basketball’s journey and eyewatering social media impressions from their impressive work.  

The delegates and audience in attendance were provoked into thinking and action as Tine Vertommen from the International Olympic Committee stated the need for sport to be safe, and that choices should never be made in this regard it is a fundamental of playing, enjoying, and performing in sport.  

With club culture the beating heart of the European Hockey family, the breakout sessions were built around the acceptance and equality of all to be involved, and the delegates were honoured to have Jeevan Chagger present on inclusion in practice from Birmingham Hockey Club (ENG) and Mirela Gali Reyes inspire the impact of female leadership as policy in practice at Atletic Terrassa Hockey Club (ESP). The sessions were rounded off by Jamie Hooper who provided a thought-provoking verbal session around the language towards and involving the LGBT+ community and the inspiration of elite players championing the support for everyone to be treated equally.  

Saturday was summarised by Vice president Inez Cooper with a panel of guests including Jon Wyatt (FIH) Ugne Chmeliauskaite (ENGSO Youth), Marcos Hofmann (EuroHockey), and Tine Vertommen (IOC) who took questions from the floor and talked about the ability to keep opening the door and finding new paths to explore the right way to make an impact. 

Sunday: 

After a sensational Saturday, the delegates awoke to a morning session on Sunday full of gold!  

Former Olympic and World Cup Gold medallist and captain of the Belgium Red Lions blew away the audience with a thrilling tale of storytelling from very humble beginnings. The harsh words, the reality of truth, and the behind scenes commitment ultimately combined to lift gold on several occasions.   

We closed with a keynote from our President Marijke Fleuren. She summarised her leadership experiences and standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone, to support and inspire them.  Marijke spoke positively about the ability to listen to everyone in the room as everyone has a story to tell and can help you learn. From learning about cultures and international relations in the first years of her presidency she ensured she would always be a voice for all.  Marijke leveled the need for emphatic relationships to drive forward change and attitudes supported by an empowered executive board and skilled staff.  During her tenure as President, she made a decision to focus on relevant social subjects such as gender equality and Hockey ID. This approach turned out to be opening up to the world around us. 

Her final words: Always listen, be vulnerable and open doors for those less able, and treasure friendships.

Marijke Fleuren, President, EHF

The Pledge:  

This was not a passive forum as all delegates knew that they needed to think about their pledge to hockey following 3 days of being inspired, provoked, and learning!  The final action from the forum was the submission of their pledges to EuroHockey and to what they have been inspired and provoked to do on return to their home hockey nations.  EuroHockey will follow up individually with all delegees to fulfill these pledges over the coming months.  

It was truly an equally amazing forum!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We closed with a key-note from our President Marijke Fleuren. She summarised her leadership experiences and standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone, to support and inspire them.  

Marijke positively spoke about the ability to listen to everyone in the room as everyone has a story to tell and can help you learn. 

From learning about cultures and international relations in the first years of her presidency she ensured she would always be a voice for all.  

Marijke levelled the need for emphatic relationships to drive forward change and attitudes supported by empowered executive board and skilled staff.  

During her tenure as President she made a decision to focus on relevant social subjects such as gender equality and Hockey ID. This approach turned out to be opening up to the world around us.  

Her final words : Always listen, be vulnerable and open doors for those less able and treasure friendships.