The European Hockey Federation (EHF) held its 33rd General assembly online with 34 National Associations in attendance on 18th September 2021.
The EHF President Marijke Fleuren, welcomed all Member Associations, Executive Board Members, Members of Honour, Diploma of Merit holders, and EHF Executive Board election candidates to our virtual 33rd General Assembly “Together we are stronger!“
Marijke delivered her 2021 President’s Report about covering events held, updates on various programs and the challenges the EHF has faced in the last year, and how we have tackled them together with our members.
She reflected on the great 2021 EuroHockey Championships, EuroHockey U18 Championships, EHL, Olympic Games, and upcoming Outdoor Club events. These great events were well followed on TV and on our streaming platform – EHTV, which this year has had 1.1million views; 191,000 viewers, and over 106,000 subscribers
Marijke highlighted two special moments. She congratulated the new President of the Polish Hockey Federation and mentioned France women’s national team journey towards the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
Marijke summed up by saying “Whilst 2021 has been a challenging year for the EHF and our Members, I would like to personally thank our Board, our Staff, our Committee Members and indeed all those working for hockey around Europe, especially in our clubs. We all worked hard to deliver all events we had, and everyone was happy to be on the pitch again.”
EHF Treasurer Mika Rihtila presented the audited accounts for 2020 and the Budget for 2022 and both were approved, along with the proposal to keep the subscriptions for 2022 the same as for 2021.
It was proposed to re-appoint Caroline Baert of PVMD as Auditor for the year 2022 and this was approved.
Tom Pedersen-Smith (Head of National Association Development, Education and Funding) and Angus Kirkland (Director General) updated delegates on Solidarity Programs, EHL future plans, EHTV+, and the new European Championships Qualification events in 2022.
The Assembly then turned its attention to the elections to the Executive Board. The following members were elected:
Vice-Presidents – Inez Cooper and Walter Kapounek.
Ordinary Members – Gabriele Lemmle, Magdalena Nazaret, Peter Elders, Marcos Hofmann, Patrick Keusters.
Marijke said: “A warm welcome (and congratulations) to our new Board Members, Gabriele and Marcos. Congrats to Inez for stepping up to be our Female Vice President and to Walter, Magda, Peter and Patrick who were re-elected. We are looking forward to working with you all in a cooperative and respectful way, as always.”
Marijke updated the Assembly that Gino Schilders of the Czech Republic had been awarded the Diploma of Merit for his outstanding contribution to the development of hockey and that she and Angus had had the opportunity to offer him this during her recent visit to Prague for the EuroHockey Championship II.
Marijke then paid a special tribute to Carola Meyer for her sterling work for EHF for over 15 years and for her support and wise council as Vice President. Marijke inducted Carola as a Member of Honor of the EHF which was gratefully accepted by Carola.
The 33rd General Assembly was recorded, and a copy will be sent to our Member Associations in the coming days.
You can find the 33rd EHF General Assembly presentation here.
The date and venue for the 34th General Assembly which will be held in 2022 will be confirmed in due course.
