September 16/17; Brussels, Belgium: EHF Executive Board meeting took place in the EHF Offices in Brussels.
President’s Welcome
The President, Marijke Fleuren, warmly welcomed everyone to the fourth Executive Board meeting of the year. The President was happy to see the full Executive Board face-to-face and hear a lot of discussions around the office.
The minutes of the June meeting were read and approved.
Development report
Tom Pedersen-Smith informed the Board that EHF has been successful with the EU Digital Transformation Strategy funding grant which will start in January 2023. Tom presented to the Board digital transformation, branding update and guidelines which the Board discussed at length.
Peter Elders and Marcos Hofmann presented to the Board the large number of solidarity grants for NA’s and related projects. They informed the Board that the Development Committee will meet on 23rd September.
FIH update
Marijke Fleuren and Angus Kirkland updated the Board on the upcoming FIH elections.
Competition Committee Indoor and Outdoor report
Walter Kapounek reported to the Board on the Indoor Championships I and III which were postponed from January to December. The Board discussed the FIH calendar which is having a significant impact on our standard dates for our Indoor competitions. Next season’s Indoor World Cup, the Hockey5 World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers in 2024 will all have an impact on our indoor calendar.
Walter also updated the Board on the outdoor EuroHockey5s, Under-21 and EuroHockey Qualifier events.
Walter presented the recommendations regarding EuroHockey Championships II and III hosts in 2023. Board approved the hosts which were announced on September 21.
The EB discussed a decrease in participation in EuroHockey events from some federations, due to a variety of reasons. They have planned that the Competitions Committee Indoor/Outdoor and Development Committee will look closely at how we can better support these nations, to bring participation back to usual levels.
Communications and Commercial report
Sabina Zampetti and Simon Mason reported to the Board regarding summer events and gave an overview of EHTV, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter statistics. EHTV increased its subscribers by 15,000 during the summer to 138,500 and had a 4% increase in followers on Instagram.
Sabina informed the Board that EHF had intern, Svenja Fix, for 6 weeks during a busy period of the summer. Stephen Findlater has joined the EHF as of the 1st of September as Communication Manager and will work together with Siobhán Madeley on EHL, Media and EuroHockey.
Jokko de Wit presented the Board update regarding, Busine the Business Club and various activations from our Official Partners at different events during the summer. Jokko reported that the first fully functioning automatic camera was being installed at Southgate HC. Footage from the Club will be shown at the upcoming General Assembly.
Officials and Appointments Committee report
Magdalena Nazaret reported to the Board regarding education events for the technical officials and umpires, appointments for the EHF events in 2022/2023 and appointments for European officials in international/world events.
Magdalena was happy about the officials course in Breda and informed the Board that it’s the best opportunity for the officials to start their journey at the international level.
Coaching Committee report
The Board received an overview regarding the TCP, C4E and Hockey4All courses which took place during the year and upcoming plans to continue these courses.
Director General report
Angus Kirkland updated the Board regarding General Assembly 2022 and EHL season 2022/2023. Angus also updated the Board on the ongoing discussions with Origin. The Origin Board will meet on the 28th September to confirm, or not, that they wish to proceed with the investment. All legal papers are being finalised ahead of their meeting.
Angus presented the Board with the presentation and meeting notes with DHB regarding EHC 2023. The meeting with DHB was on 8th September in Brussels where EHF staff and DHB LOC had time to go through all the various aspects related to hosting a successful on EHC 2023.
Angus reported that preparations for the online General Assembly on Oct 8th are in hand.
Finance report
Mika Rihtila and Angus Kirkland presented to the Board the year-to-date August figures, debtors list and updated draft budget for 2023. The budget outlook is conservatively in line with the approved budget despite challenges of the impact of Covid and the war in Ukraine.
Mika is working with Angus and Monika and on processes and training for the staff on the Netvisor accounting software.
The President thanked the Board members for their time, good cooperation with the staff and looking forward to meeting everyone at the last meeting of the year which will take place on 6th December online and 10th December in Hamburg at the EuroHockey Indoor Championships.
The meeting closed at 12:20.
