The EuroHockey Executive Leadership Forum welcomed 70 leaders from 26 nations to Brussels last weekend with countless inspiring and thought provoking moments to enact on strategy and operations.
The event is designed by EuroHockey for people from member national associations who are operating at executive or board level to exchange experiences and learn from each other in an open and collaborative environment.
The three-day event kicked off with a keynote presentation from Olympic gold medalist and Brabant TopSport Director Minke Booij on the Blueprint to Success, looking at her experiences with the all-conquering Den Bosch club with whom their mantra was “believe in your youth, develop them and be prepared to work harder than all the others.”
Day two was highlighted by Ready Sport Global’s founder and chief catalyst Lucy Mills with a focus on commercial and digital value. There followed a series of break-out sessions on international relations, organisational health and youth leadership.
Her organisation’s clear motto that resonated is “put people at the centre of everything we do”.
The afternoon session began with Marc Coudron – Olympian, private banker and former President of Belgium Hockey – presenting on Building Blocks for Success.
His final message was: “Impossible is temporary – however bear in mind our journey has been 20 years in the making!”
This was followed by the second series of break-out sessions, this time looking at strategic relations, fundraising strategies and Olympic success.
An evening panel entitled Inspire & Provoke was hosted by EuroHockey vice president Inez Cooper with EHL board chairman Peter Elders, research scientist and SWE3 leader Ella Sampers and the KNHB’s youth performance manager Jamilon Mülders.
This was followed by delegates discussing their pledges about how they will inspire and provoke their organisations.
The final day kicked off with Mülders speaking about “The Golden Corner”, drawing on his experiences with the Dutch Olympic and World Cup winning teams.
The formal activities concluded with the President’s Pledge before the floor was opened to national association delegates submitted their pledges for action.
It was forum filled with positivity and inspiration with many delegates given ample opportunity to network and share their learnings.
Putting the pieces together was EuroHockey’s Head of Strategy and Development Tom Pedersen-Smith (pictured above) who said following the event: “My heartfelt thanks to everyone that came, shared and learnt. Now it is time to act on those feelings and be proactive in our next steps.”
