The European Hockey Podcast

In this episode, we delve into the inspiring journey of Marlena Rybacha, the trailblazing captain of Poland's national field hockey teams. Marlena shares how her determination led her to the Netherlands, Marlena's perseverance earned her a spot on the team, marking the beginning of her influential presence in European hockey en route, eventually, to Indoor World Cup gold. Join us as Marlena discusses the challenges she faced, the cultural transitions she navigated, and how her experiences have shaped her both as an athlete and as a person.

In this months episode, former Irish hockey player Matthew Bell shares how hockey became his lifeline after a devastating brain cancer diagnosis in 2019. From early symptoms to a remarkable recovery, he reflects on resilience, the power of sport, and the support that helped him through.You can purchase his book here; https://excaliburpress.co.uk/product/second-chances-by-matthew-bell/

Emily Defroand, the former England and Great Britain players shares how her school experience shaped her both on and off the field en route to Euro and Commonwealth bronze medals. From developing her hockey skills to gaining an outlook on life inspired by her family, Emily reflects on the profound role sports play in her personal growth. Today in her working life with West Ham United Football Club's communications crew, she applies the lessons of teamwork, resilience, and leadership gained as an athlete to her professional career, proving that sport is about much more than what happens on the pitch.

Joost van Geel is November's feature interview on the EuroHockey Institute Podcast, speaking to Jack Rolfe about elite performance. Joost is an experienced leader in sports management and talent development, currently working with NOC*NSF and TeamNL. Before that, he has held a number of roles at the highest level of Dutch hockey, including national indoor coach and seven years - up until earlier this year - as the KNHB performance manager. With over a decade of expertise, he specialises in coaching, leadership training, and building development programs for athletes, coaches and organisations. He has also founded his own consultancy, delivering workshops and guidance on team and talent growth. His dedication to advancing sports excellence is rooted in his vision for fostering teamwork, strategic thinking, and critical leadership. Tune in to hear the ideas and actions that he uses for shaping players to who they are today.

Tom Drowley is this month's guest on the EuroHockey Institute Podcast. He is an elite physical preparation coach with over a decade of experience in international hockey with England and Great Britain and subsequently with Malaysia. He has worked with some of the top athletes in the sport, helping them achieve peak physical performance on the global stage. Drawing on his extensive background in strength and conditioning, Tom shares his approach to training, the mental and physical demands of high-level competition, and what it takes to excel in elite sports. If you're interested in the science of athletic performance or the behind-the-scenes, this episode is a must-listen.

On this month's EuroHockey Institute Podcast, our special guest is Helen Lejeune-van der Ben, a former Dutch player, a World Cup winner; an Olympic bronze medalist and a European champion. Following her international playing days, she has coached extensively in a wide variety of youth development roles in performance settings. This has included working with the Dutch underage girls teams to being the programme manager of Missie 1 of 1000, a movement to give children a push to a healthier lifestyle. She is also an FIH Academy and EuroHockey Institute Educator and she spoke with Jack Rolfe about her life in coaching.

Two-time FIH Goalkeeper of the Year David Harte is globally recognised as one of the world's best between the posts for the past 15 years. A leader and a culture-creator with the Green Machine, he has traversed the Irish men's two most recent Olympic appearances in 2016 and this year in Paris. In this month's EuroHockey Institute Podcast, he spoke with Jack Rolfe, sharing insight from his journey, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and triumphs that shaped his career.

Getting ready to shine at the Olympics, we chat to Irish umpire, Alison Keogh, taking a look behind the scenes to see what it takes to be an international umpire and look back on some of her biggest milestones en route to the stage in Paris!

In June's EuroHockey Institute Podcast, we are thrilled to talk to Paul Bower, a distinguished professional in sports science and physical performance. Paul has an extensive career spanning over a decade, highlighted by his role as Head of Physical Performance at Huddersfield Town Football Club, helping establish the DNA of the club amid big changes, including promotion to England's Premier League. With experience at Barnsley FC, The Football Association, and Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge in athlete development, performance optimisation, and sports science innovation. Tune in to hear his insights on driving success in competitive sports environments!

In this month's EuroHockey Institute Podcast, our EuroHockey President Marcos Hofmann is in the hot seat, speaking to Jack Rolfe. 10 questions and fascinating insights into the business mind of Marcos as he sets out to deliver, with the Board, a legacy for hockey in Europe.

Stunning victories and raised a lot of silverware! He now heads up the coaching team of the Spanish men's team. Listen here to discover more about his passion for instilling a love of the game in others and how his experience has enabled him to apply the lessons he has learnt during his career and his aspirations for this young ambitious Spanish team

To begin the 2024 series of EuroHockey Institute podcasts, Jack Rolfe speaks to Tom Kirby about his journey since his first taste of Hockey ID eight years ago to travelling around the continent, embracing a number of EuroHockey ID championships and all the laughs in between. They talk about what are key parts of an inclusive coaching session and how does an organisation create opportunities for Hockey ID players.

Olympic, World and European champion Thomas Briels talks to Jack Rolfe about the elements that made him the player he is, from learning to do the "ugly metres" that became intrinsic to his hockey DNA to coming around to what he saw as an unlikely captaincy role during the Belgian Red Lions' golden era. Tune in for this fascinating chat with one of the latest entrants into the EuroHockey Hall of Fame in our October EuroHockey Institute Podcast!

To start the fifth series of the EuroHockey Podcast, Mike Hughes speaks to Stephen Findlater this month about the incredible rise of Old Georgians, creating the culture and environment to get from relative obscurity to the very top of the English hockey tree and how he looks to try and bring that magic to new club Indian Gymkhana. Recorded earlier this summer, he reflects on how this journey was inspired by his time on the EuroHockey Top Coaches Programme (TCP) and the challenging environment which helped develop his approach. Applications are currently open for the TCP via your Member National Association. It is an international coaching programme which is designed to support coaches who want to work at an elite level within the game. Exploring the principles of coaching, devising and developing strategic nous, evolving a coaching philosophy and understanding the management of teams and individual athletes are all part of this comprehensive, world class programme. For more information, click here: https://eurohockey.org/programme-session/top-coaches-programme-tcp

Later this month, Marijke Fleuren's tenure as EuroHockey President comes to a close following a remarkable 12-year spell in the role. As such, who better to be our EuroHockey Institute Podcast guest as we look back on an incredible leader and game-changer for our organisation and our sport. She speaks to host Jack Rolfe who says of this edition: "I reflect on this podcast with Marjike about how she embodies so effortlessly two words I always associate with our wonderful game of hockey: people and passion. "You will listen to this episode and hear the lessons of a leader that puts people first and brings ideas from reality to the real world; lessons that could have a profound effect on bringing people together with the game of hockey in your club, association or organisation."

Marieke Dijkstra is this month's EuroHockey Institute Podcast guest, speaking to Jack Rolfe about her diverse and fascinating career in coaching. Following an international indoor and outdoor career, captaining the Dutch side to a first World Cup title on the boards in 2007. She then repeated the trick in 2015 as coach. Around that, she has been something of a game-changer. She made her way into the Hoofdklasse as a rare female coach of men's side, breaking past initial resistance to make her mark with promotion with Voordaan. Since then, she has numerous key roles, salvaging a rough season for SV Kampong's women at short notice, working with Pinoké's rising stars to working with the Dutch senior men's setup for the past two years. She tells Jack about those experiences and how it has shaped her thinking, particularly when taking on the top job with Den Bosch dames side in transition after a decade under Raoul Ehren, landing a Dutch championship in 2022 and then, leading them to the Euro Hockey League at Easter this year.  A fascinating chat, have a listen here!

For Pride month's EuroHockey Institute Podcast, we have the incredible Nikki Symmons. A groundbreaker in numerous realms; a Yahoo & Involve Outstanding LGBTQ Role Model 2021 & 2022, a dual Irish international across hockey and cricket, an ambassador with Athlete Ally, an inclusion and diversity advisor and, of course, a EuroHockey Hall of Famer. Nikki speaks to Jack Rolfe about her career, the devastation of missing out on Olympic qualification, her subsequent attempts to escape those memories only to end up in Lausanne, face to face with the five rings at each turn. She gives a fascinating insight into life first playing the sport and her subsequent role as a thought-leader in hockey's adaptation to the digital world for five years and how the sport battles to make its mark in that realm.

This month, we turn the tables with regular EuroHockey Institute Podcast host Jack Rolfe receiving the questions from the EHF's Stephen Findlater. The Englishman talks about his coaching journey and expanding his horizons through the Coaches 4 Europe program. It is an adventure which has also seen him found the Coaching Lab and the innovative Match Play Cards which are now used in over 50 countries and by many elite clubs outside of hockey such as Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham. Now based in Perth, he also reflects on the differences in hockey cultures between Europe and Australia and what it was like to share a bench with Jamie Dwyer, Blake Govers, Eddie Ockenden and Tyler Lovell!

Series 4 Episode 6 - This month on the EuroHockey Institute Podcast, we have an extra special guest with FIH World Cup winner Christopher Rühr talking to Jack Rolfe. They discuss coaching creativity, motivation and how this marries with the high-level tactical awareness that is synonymous with German hockey. Have a listen to this fascinating chat with one of the sport's current superstars!

To celebrate International Women's Day, we have a special EuroHockey Institute Podcast this month with Shirley McCay, Ireland's most capped sportsperson who is now making a major impact on the next generation. Her story is symbolic of the “Green Army” and their rise from nowhere to the top table in the world, reaching the 2018 World Cup final. She speaks to Jack Rolfe about growing up far from the hockey hubs of Ireland but how her background helped shape her, how her ‘stubbornness and steeliness' drove her to never wonder ‘what if'. Beyond her playing days, she has had a direct influence in guiding and inspiring the next generation. She has been involved for almost a decade as a talent coach with Ulster Hockey, the northern province in Ireland, overseeing programmes from primary school level up to Under-21 level. Her approach is very much a player-centred one, making sure to listen to athletes and observe the new evolutions in the sport rather than hark back to the elements which influenced her early career. Enjoy episode five of this fourth series of the EuroHockey Institute Podcast.

Series 4, Episode 4: Norman Hughes talks to Jack Rolfe about his remarkable life in hockey, from a reticent 16-year-old who took up the game when he "wasn't big enough" for football. From the sulphur-fumed pitches of northern England, he would soon travel the world, winning Olympic and World Cup medals as a player and then coaching the Great Britain senior men on the highest stage. Hughes went on to use those experiences in his role as the EHF's Education and Development Manager and playing a pioneering role in the growth of Hockey ID in Europe. With candour and humour, he speaks to Jack about his love affair with the sport.

Series 4 Episode 3: In our first EuroHockey Institute podcast for 2023, Jack Rolfe speaks to the wonderful Cecilia Rognoni. She reflects on an outstanding playing career, highlighted by Argentina's breakthrough Olympic silver medal and the “best tournament of my life”: World Cup gold in 2002 in Perth when she was named player of the tournament. The journey took her to the Netherlands to initially play and then coach. Cecilia talks about those experiences - and playing with Luciana Aymar - and how they have informed her coaching, specifically on the importance of giving freedom to players and the tools to solve problems on the field as well as the separation between the role of a coach and trainer.

Series 4 Episode 2 - “I don't find it my work! I can do this 24 hours a day with zero remorse. I love it. It's a full time hobby!” Tin Matkovic speaks to Jack Rolfe about his journey in hockey, from its beginnings in Croatia to playing, coaching and umpiring across Europe. It has been a hugely varied set of experiences, feeding his “addiction” to the sport and has taken him to the EHL Men's KO8 with SV Arminen, the Junior World Cup with Austria and, most recently, to Berliner Hockey Club where he is currently the women's first team coach. He reflects on the challenges of coming from a smaller nation on the hockey scene and how the EHF's education programmes - Coaches 4 Europe and the Top Coaches Programme - had an influential role in his personal evolution. Despite his many adventures, though, he reckons he still has some catching up to do to his star umpire girlfriend Ivona Makar when it comes to major tournaments!

Helen started her international career in 1999 at the age of 17 and became the youngest ever woman to represent GB hockey at an Olympics in Sydney the following year. She went on to compete at four Olympic Games and as part of the senior leadership group played a central role in propelling the women's game to victory on the world stage at Rio 2016. As she stepped on to the podium alongside her team mate and wife, GB captain Kate Richardson-Walsh, they also entered Olympic history as the first same sex married couple to win an Olympic medal playing for the same team. Tune-in to Helen in conversation with Jack Rolfe, as they discuss the exciting journey and where and what Helen is doing now in sport pyschology and team leadership.

Robin Rösch is a coach with extensive, successful, and international experience in top-class hockey. Whether as a sports director, as a coach, or even as a coach educator for the EHF and FIH. Robin is currently the sports director at SC Frankfurt 1880 and the Head Coach of the Austrian Men and U21 teams. Tune-in to Robin in conversation with Jack Rolfe, founder of The Coaching Lab, as they discuss indoor hockey, Robin's journey and more.

With more than 300 international caps for Trinidad and Tobago, Kwan Browne has had an illustrious 17-year international career. A career that has seen him represent his country at the Commonwealth games, Pan American Games and Pan American Cup. Add to this his domestic career for Canterbury, East Grinstead and Hampstead & Westminster and you begin to see why Kwan is such a stalwart of the global hockey community. Alongside playing, Kwan has become a distinguished coach, having been heavily involved in the GB junior system and Elite Development Programme. Kwan now acts as player/coach for Hampstead & Westminster, Head of Hockey for Mill Hill school and as an assistant coach for England and GB senior men's squad. Listen to Kwan in conversation with Jack Rolfe, founder of The Coaching Lab, as they discuss the dynamic of player/coach, his coaching principles and youth development.

Adam David Commens is a former field hockey midfielder from Australia, who was a member of the team that won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Commens was nicknamed Billy by his teammates, and earned a total number of 143 caps (20 goals) for Australia. Commens was named head coach of the Belgium national field hockey team on 4 July 2007. Commens was coach and a key player of the Royal Antwerp Hockey Club (RAHC). His new assistant will be Murray Richards. Commens became coach of the Australia women's national field hockey team at the start of 2011, but was stood down by Hockey Australia in 2016 after their investigation into allegations that Commens "had engaged in behaviour amounting to serious misconduct", which is reported to have involved Commens exposing himself and making lewd remarks to some squad members during the Rio Olympics. When he took over as coach, he dropped five experienced players from the national squad:Kate Hollywood, Fiona Johnson, Alison Bruce, Shelly Liddelow and Amy Korner. Since the Rio Olympic Games, Commens has been appointed as the High Performance Director of the Belgian Hockey Federation and won Belgium's first ever World Cup in 2018. In conversation with Jack Rolfe, Founder of The Coaching Lab.

Today we are celebrating International Women's Day and Siobhán Madeley took over the EHF Podcast from Jack for a special edition with Marijke Fleuren, EHF President, Executive Board Member FIH, Member IOC Commission "Women in Sport", Member of the EHL Board and we are joined by Marco Moers and Mandy Beck who are part of the ABN Amro Diversity & Inclusion policy team. The theme for IWD 2021 is “choose to challenge” so it seems fitting to discuss this topic with Marijke, Marco and Mandy as they are leading the charge to structurally change the pattern of inequality between sportsmen and women.

Dennis Bergkamp is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was moved to main striker and then to second striker, where he remained throughout his playing career. Nicknamed the "Non-Flying Dutchman" by Arsenal supporters due to his fear of flying, Bergkamp is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Upon retiring, Bergkamp insisted he would not move into coaching. He turned down an offer to scout for Arsenal and instead concentrated on travelling and spending time with his family. However, in April 2008, he began a fast-track coaching diploma for former Dutch international footballers and undertook a trainee role at Ajax. Having completed the Coach Betaald Voetbal course by the Royal Dutch Football Association(KNVB), Bergkamp was appointed assistant to Johan Neeskens for the newly formed Netherlands B team on 26 October 2008. For the 2008–2009 season, Bergkamp returned to Ajax in a formal coaching position with responsibility for the D2 (U12) youth team. Following the promotion of Frank de Boer as manager of Ajax in December 2010, Bergkamp was appointed assistant manager to Fred Grim, dealing with Ajax' flagship A1 (U19) youth team. In August 2011, Bergkamp was named De Boer's assistant at Ajax. However, after the arrival of Peter Bosz as the new head coach at Ajax, Bergkamp's role at Ajax slightly changed. He no longer sat on the bench during first-team matches, but instead focused more on field training and on helping youth players reach the first team. He and fellow assistant Hennie Spijkerman were sacked from their roles in December 2017. Minke Smabers is a field hockey midfielder from the Netherlands. Her current team is Laren. She was part of the team that won the 2007 Champions Trophy. During the Champions Trophy she became the all-time record holder in caps for the national team, wearing the orange jersey for the 235th time in her career in the final, breaking Mijntje Donners' record. She won an Olympic gold medal with the Dutch team by beating China in the final of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In conversation with Jack Rolfe, Founder of The Coaching Lab.

Sarah is a strategic consultant in innovation, business & brand strategy, specialising in the power of storytelling & cultural understanding to engage and change behaviour across a wide range of sectors and business challenges. In her 20+ years working in the industry, she have worked extensively with global brands such as Lexus, NIVEA, Johnson and Johnson, Bupa, McDonalds, Jack Daniels and Eli Lilly… Alongside her business career, Sarah have been involved in high performance coaching at international level for over 8 years currently and is in her fifth cycle as Lead Coach, England Hockey U18 Girls. This combined with her senior international playing career, spanning 10 years and as Irish Captain, provides Sarah with an in-depth understanding of what it takes to achieve and be your best under pressure. Sarah's experience has allowed her to shape a philosophy toward a flourishing model of coaching that truly looks at the holistic development of people, creating environments that allow individuals, teams and organisations to flourish.

Laurine Delforge is an international field hockey umpire and a Belgian field hockey player. She was the winner of the 2016 FIH umpire award and was one of the two first women to umpire at the Euro Hockey League. Playing career Delforge started playing hockey when she was 6. She started playing at Royal Parc Hockey Club in Brussels, but later moved to Royal Antwerp. Delforge currently plays for Royal Antwerp in the top Belgian league. She played for all the Belgian youth squads, but has never played for the Belgian national women's team. However, she has been a member of the national indoor field hockey squad since 2011. Umpiring career Delforge started umpiring serious in 2008, and received her first international appointment in 2012. In 2016 Delforge won the Golden Whistle for best umpire of the year in Belgium. The same year she umpired in the Olympic field hockey tournament at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She made history being the first Olympic debutant to also umpire the Olympic final. She also won the 2016 International Hockey Federation (FIH) Umpire of the Year award. During the 2018 Women World Cup in London, UK, Delforge umpired her 100th international game. She received the FIH 'Golden Whistle' for this achievement. She went on to umpire the final in that tournament. In 2018 Delforge made history, together with fellow umpire Michelle Meister, by being the first female umpire in the Euro Hockey League, the annual European men's field hockey cup competition.

From the beginning of his adventure with hockey, a Wart Poznań club player. He combines his field hockey adventure with a coaching career. From 2014 he was the coach of the senior team of Warta Poznań and in 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 the Savona Hockey coach (Italy) during the Indoor season. In youth groups, Mateusz Grochal worked in the Grunwald Poznań team (2013-2016) and from 2016 until today with AZS Politechnika Poznańska. In the national teams in 2009-2017, a video analyst at the PZHT central training groups, in 2013-2018 was a coach of the Polish national youth boys team U16. From 2018, he was a Polish national team coach during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The greatest successes with national teams include: 2014 - a silver medal at the EuroHockey Youth Championship U16 in Vienna; 2016 - a silver medal at the EuroHockey Indoor Women Championship in Minsk; 2017 - gold medal at the EuroHockey5s Youth U16 Championship in Wałcz; 2018 - 5th place at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Successes with clubs: 2010/2011 - Italian Indoor Championship U21; 2010/2011 and 2018/2019 - Bronze Medal of the Polish Championships; 2017/2018 - Silver medal of the National Youth Olympics; 2018/2019 - Gold medal of the National Youth Olympics and the Polish Indoor Vice-Championship for U16; In addition to professional and coaching activities in 2011-2017 - a member of the Development Committee at the European Hockey Federation, in 2014-2016 - coach and coordinator of youth staff at PZHT. From 2019 - PZHT development specialist.

In the field hockey pitch, the traveler climbs mountains invisible to others. Visiting as many different countries and cities of the world as possible is one of the Ugnė Chmeliauskaitė dreams for few last years. 2018, Ugnė visited 12 different countries of the world, and 2019 she has added nine more countries to her travel map and has planned four more routes. However, a traveler cannot just walk with her head up and admire the city's architecture - often, sometimes, she visiting the countries because Ugnė is a member of the Lithuanian women's hockey team. National women's team competitions, representation of the "Žuvėdra" club, work in the Central Project Management Agency, and many other additional activities. Ugnė admits that sometimes she would like to be in two places at the same time and keep up with everything. Ugnė have to use their freedom of choice very thoughtfully. Still, for one thing, she is sure: "Lithuania has the most charming rains, the most beautiful sunsets, the sweetest people, the greenest nature and the most delicious food. When I travel, I really understand that no one can change the house you grew up in."

Lisa Jacob is an ex-international Irish hockey player (2006-2014) who now plays her club hockey for Old Alex HC. She became the first Irish woman professionally contracted with a Dutch Hoofdklasse club, playing for SCHC in 2013. After almost a decade playing international hockey, Lisa was contracted with the Irish Women's Rugby 7's squad for 18 months. Lisa is passionate about the potential of individuals and teams and works as a high-performance business and life coach. She is also a coach developer with Hockey Ireland. Last year Lisa established ‘Raise Her Game', a female coach mentoring programme to advance female coaches in all sports in Ireland. She has been an assistant coach with Irish u16 and u18 girls teams and has been Head coach at Genesis HC, South East u16s, St. Andrews College and player-coach with Old Alex HC. Lisa has also worked for 3 years as a development coach at primary schools teaching hockey to beginners from 4-13 years of age. She is now an assistant coach at Glenanne HC, becoming the first female to coach a men's team in the top Irish hockey league. On a personal level, Lisa is authentic, honest and people-centred. She understands the process of learning, change, and working towards goals. Lisa works to create an environment where each person and the team has the right measure of challenge, support, feedback and resources to fulfil their potential. Tomislav Jamičić started his hockey career as player 1990. With HK Marathon (Croatia) men's first team he two times won National outdoor championship (2002, 2004) and fifth times National indoor championship (2000 – 2004). From 2005 Tomislav played for Arnhemse HC (The Netherlands) men's first team. As a coach, he started different youth teams in Croatia. After that, he was a trainer at SportWays camps, Croatia and International Hockey camps. At the same time as he played in The Netherlands, he coached youth and senior teams. Since 2005 Tomislav was growing as a coach and training different teams in different clubs every year: HGC, Croatian national men's team, NMHC Nijmegen, Wageningse MHC, MHC Oosterbeek, RKHV Union. Today Jamičić is Technical coordinator at MHC Oosterbeek, responsible for club development structure from beginners up to 1st senior teams, trainer's education and trainers support on all levels. Also, he is the Head coach at district East Netherlands. Tomislav is co-founder and coach at HockeyMagic, The Netherlands. Together with Dick Besters developing and executing hockey clinics for youth players. These clinics have an individual approach and offer a unique experience for developing hockey creativity.

As we are in a strange time without any hockey matches, let's try to learn some specific things about video analysis from Amber Luzar. Since 2012 Amber Luzar worked with Reading Football Club as Academy and First Team performance analyst. She was starting to provide pre-match opposition analysis and post-match statistics. Film matches from U16 – 1st Team. Live to code for U16 – U18's and providing feedback sessions to staff and players. She was involved in the club's recruitment department, helping the scouting network. After that, she provided live matchday coding and pre and post-match analysis of all 1st team performances. She produced detailed videos and statistical reports of the opposition and in-depth post-match reports of the match performance. She conducted pre- and post-match feedback sessions for both coaching staff and players. Since 2014 Amber starts to work with England and Great Britain Hockey as a performance analyst. Luzar had no hockey background and no intention of moving into the sport but, off the cuff, she landed the role and picked up the quirks of the job quickly. “It's surprisingly similar to football, though hockey is an awful lot faster,” she says. “Hockey is massively impressive. The more you watch it, the more you realise how skillful it is. But I'm going to sit on the fence on this one!”

Janne Müller-Wieland is the Co-chair of the EHF Athletes Committee. The Athletes Committee serving a link between the EHF and our Athletes and making sure the Athletes have a voice in the EHF's decision-making process. The Committee acting as a consultative body and making recommendations to the EHF Executive Board and Committees. Janne is the captain of Germany and a world-class international player with over 220 caps for her country. She is a 3 x Olympian, having represented Germany at Beijing 2008, London 2012, and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where she captained her country to a bronze medal. In 2008 she was nominated for the FIH World Young Player of the Year Award, having been the youngest member of the German squad at the Beijing Olympics, and in 2011 she was awarded Hamburg's Athlete of the Year. Janne has numerous international honors, including 2019, 2011, 2009 European Championship – Silver, 2018 Indoor World Cup – Gold, 2016 Olympics – Bronze, 2015 European Championship – Bronze, 2013 European Championships – Gold. Away from the field, Janne has a Masters in Administration from the HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration. She is an entrepreneur and has recently founded Unthink (A platform for curious people to do extraordinary things). She had also used her business acumen and her leadership role in hockey to look to build a “hockey forest” as a measure to offset the carbon footprint that is created by the demands of the sport's growing schedule. On her Go Fund Me page created along with fellow German internationals Nike Lorenz and Anne Schröder along with Delf Ness, they have already raised over €20,000 for the project and are encouraging others to support. Details of how to support the project: https://www.gofundme.com/f/hockey-forest?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet

Do you know who in 2015 received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development, in recognition of his community service efforts and work with youth? Yes, his name Santiago “Santi” Freixa.… Presented by Jack Rolfe from the Coaching Lab and powered by our partner Coach Logic, we are today announcing the third of our EHF Breakfast Club webinar series, with Santi Freixa, Head Coach of AH&BC. Club career: Freixa played in Spain for his local club Atètic Terrassa until 2006, when he joined Dutch club AH&BC in Amstelveen. In 2015 he announced his retirement from professional field hockey. He still played a few matches for Amsterdam's first team the next season because of an injury crisis. He was the head coach of the first women's team of SV Kampong from 2016 until 2019. In April 2019, he was signed as the head coach of the first men's team of his former club Amsterdam from the 2019–20 season onwards. International career. Santi earned his first Spanish cap in 2000 against The Netherlands. In 2004, Freixa was named Talent of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. He won gold at the Champions Trophy in Lahore in 2004, winning the EuroHockey Championship in Leipzig in 2005 (gleefully recalling how Spain scored a late winner against Germany in the semi-finals “just like the Germans usually do!”) and played in the Olympic final in 2008. And the most significant influence on his career? His father. Santi explained: “He showed me who I am and what I have to do. His advice was to pass the ball and enjoy the game. He kept it simple – it was never all about scoring goals.” Goal scoring is a part of the game Santi is rather good at. Finding the net four times in the EuroHockey Championship in Barcelona in 2003 against the Netherlands in the semi-finals is one of his greatest memories. “It was the start of Spain getting back on track after a disappointing 9th place finish at the Sydney Olympics.“ At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he captained the Spanish team, retiring in 2014. A testament to his glorious goal scoring ability he scored 126 goals for Spain in 193 appearances. In 2013 Santiago “Santi” Freixa was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame.

Following the success of our first EHF Webinar Series, which delivered quality content online discussions and deep-dive learning experiences into all things hockey, we are delighted that the free series is back!​ Over the coming weeks the EHF has lined up top-class presenters to look at more interesting aspects of hockey; including Back to hockey under the new Covid19 restrictions, Youth Development, Combining elite hockey and business, using data safely and a host of other topics.​ Our Education and Development Manager, Tom Pedersen Smith said “We were blown away with the goodwill out there from some really ‘top hitters' in our sport to be a part of the first EHF Webinar series was just brilliant.​ We believe that we have now put together a new series that will open up conversations around many aspects of the game which will have a wide appeal.​ Just as hockey is restarting around Europe seems like the perfect time to deliver “The EHF Breakfast Club”​ Thanks again to the expert team in Coach Logic and our facilitator Jack Rolfe of The Coaching Lab, this partnership has allowed us to deliver these quality Webinars for free to our end users.” ​ We start with the brilliant Sven van der Most, Technical Director Oranje-Rood and EHF Educator and Mentor.​

Darren Cheesman is an ex-England and Great Britain Hockey hockey International who is now a High-Performance Coach for England Hockey and the FIH, as well as a Coach Educator for FIH. ​ In addition to previously being a member of England and Great Britain Hockey Teams, he was also a member of the Great Britain U21 team that won Silver Medal at the 2007 Junior Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. ​ The Midfielder / Forward plays club hockey at Southgate, after spells at Reading, East Grinstead, and Old Loughtonians. After playing in the 2005 Junior World Cup, Cheesman was signed by Oranje Zwart, a Hoof classy club in the Netherlands. He spent a year there playing with and against the best players in the world. During his first spell at East Grinstead, Cheesman was voted 'Premier League Player of the Year.' Cheesman played an instrumental role in East Grinstead's successes both domestically and in the Euro Hockey League. ​ Cheesman came into hockey through Arsenal FC's 'Sport in the Community' program. It is a program that sees the football club send coaches into local schools and communities to teach them various sports. Cheesman attended Arsenal's 'in the community' scheme and gained opportunities and life skills to help him reach his position today. ​ ​ Kate Richardson-Walsh is an Olympic Gold and Bronze Medal winning English field hockey player. She was capped a record 375 times for her country and was the England and Great Britain Captain for 13 years. ​ Richardson-Walsh made both her England and Great Britain debuts in 1999 and has since gone on to play at the full range of international tournaments, including four Summer Olympics, four Hockey World Cups, and four Commonwealth Games. Between 2013 and 2016, she was elected to the British Olympic Association Athletes' Commission and European Olympic Athlete's Commissions. ​ In 2003 aged 23 years old, Richardson-Walsh was made captain of the senior GB hockey team, a role she held for a further 13 years until her retirement in 2016. ​ Richardson-Walsh became the most capped female in Great Britain on 20 February 2016 during test matches in Australia when she overtook Karen Brown, who had 355 caps. ​ In 2016 Richardson-Walsh captained the women's hockey team to their first gold medal at an Olympics. The team was undefeated throughout the tournament, beating the Netherlands in the final in a shoot-out. Kate was selected to be the Team GB flag bearer at the closing ceremony for the Rio Olympics. ​ Since 1999 Kate has played in 7 EuroHockey Championships, taking bronze in 2011, silver in 2013, and gold in front of a home crowd in London in 2015. ​ After 375 appearances for her country, 19 medals, 49 goals, and 13 years as GB and England Captain, she confirmed her retirement from international hockey after the Rio Olympic Games. ​ Kate is an athlete ambassador for sports website platform Pitchero and endorses Osaka hockey sticks. She currently serves as an ambassador for the Women's Sport Trust and supports disability hockey as an ambassador for Access Sport. Kate is in the EHF Hall of Fame. ​

An in depth conversation with global hockey star Maddie Hinch. Covering her learnings and her opinions on what and who has helped drive her success all the way to Olympic Gold. Maddie Hinch made her senior debut in 2008 and was later awarded a full-time contract with GB Hockey in 2010. Since then she's established herself as the first-choice goalkeeper and has gone on to represent England and Great Britain over 150 times. Maddie won gold with Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics, saving all four penalties in the final shoot-out against The Netherlands. Maddie is one of the best Goalkeepers in the world and is 3x FIH Goalkeeper of the Year. After a brief spell out of the game in late 2018 to recharge her batteries, Maddie returned to hockey in 2019, helping GB qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where history could well be made again... Other highlights so far include a European silver medal in Belgium 2013, a Commonwealth Games silver medal in Glasgow 2014, and a gold medal in the 2015 European Championships in London. In 2017, the shot-stopper appeared in the Hockey World League Final in Auckland, where England narrowly lost to South Korea in a third-place playoff. History repeated itself the following year when, at the 2018 Hockey World Cup, Maddie and her England teammates put in some stellar performances only to lose a third-place playoff on home soil to Australia. After a brief spell out of the game in late 2018 to recharge her batteries, Maddie returned to hockey in 2019, helping GB qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where history could well be made again...

What is like to umpire the Olympic Finals? How and why does the coach and umpire relationship matter. Join the conversation and engage with two of hockey's personalities as they talk through the rules, roles and responsibilities of coaches and officials. Coen van Bunge from the Netherlands has umpired at the top level of world hockey across International competitions at the 2016 Olympics, 2015 and 2019 European Championships and 2014, 16, & 18 Championship Trophies and top club competitions including the EuroHockey League (EHL) and the Hoofdklasse (Dutch Premier League). Bernardo Fernandes from Portugal has coached top level club hockey across Belgium, Netherlands and currently in Germany. Bernardo was recently appointed the Head Coach of the Portuguese National team and Bernardo also founded the company Self-Pass a social hit globally across all platforms. Coen and Bernardo are both recognised FIH and EHF Educators supporting the most up and coming coaches and umpires across the world. Throughout their careers in hockey both Coen and Bernardo are known for their wide reaching views on the development of the game. Both agree that officials and coaches can oversee a significant transformation via respecting and understanding the roles and responsibilities and pressure this brings both on and off the field of play.

Alyson shares her unique views on leadership, management, coaching, and how she deals with the intense pressure and scrutiny whilst also delivering continually on the international stage. With multiple international honours as a player and a coach over the last 30 years Alyson Annan holds many illustrious achievements. Including two (2) Gold Medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics. Having made 228 International appearances scoring 166 goal for Australia. Twice being named world player of the year. And securing two world cup gold medals as well. Since her playing days Alyson has continued to reach peak performances, firstly as the Head Coach of the AB&HC Men's team before being appointed as the Head Coach of the Women's National team for the Netherlands. Securing two gold medals at the European Championships (2o17 & 2019) and a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics. In 2013 Alyson was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame and was a a finalist in the World Sportswoman of the Year in 1998. Alyson has recently and proudly become a Dutch Citizen now as bilingual Head Coach and has had a significant impact on al teammates, players and support staff where ever she has played and coached. Find out what drives Alyson with her mind set on Olympic glory for Tokyo in 2021!

The third episode provided a unique chance to listen to Sofie Gierts and Joy Jouret both former Belgium international players whom have made impressive adaptations to top level coaching. Listen to their opinion on the values that should be embedded in hockey. Be inspired by Sofie & Joy and learn about how value driven leadership can inspire behaviours within a team. Sofie Gierts the figurehead of Belgian women's hockey for years with 140 international appearances as a player and six (6) Golden Sticks for Belgium. Plus that stunning performance that secured Belgium's place at the Olympics in 2012 and a winning season in Spain are just some of the many highlights of an illustrious playing career. But since the playing days Sofie Gierts success has followed her into coaching. As the Head Coach of the Royal Antwerp team securing title glory two years running in 2018 & 2019. Sofie is embedded into the process of value driven approaches with her team and herself learning and improving as a coach. Sofie continues to combine this career ‘hobby' of hockey coaching with her marketing and events background and has recently trained to become an EHF Coach Educator Sofie is joined by Joy Jouret who states “Looking at the psychological aspects of coaching is very important. Some people think it is a gender thing, but I believe it is more about the quality of the human being. Society teaches you to behave in a certain way, it is not because you are a man or a woman.” Former Belgian Red Panthers captain Joy Jouret was one of the coaches on the course and she has very strong views about the essential human element of coaching. Some of her opinions are borne of practical experience gained by coaching men and women at all levels from youth teams to adults; some of her viewpoints are the result of amount of time she spends looking deep into her own coaching and ways of improving it.

As a hockey player Jamilon played for Germany and in 2002 became World Champion with the team. With many international honours and fantastic moments throughout his playing career Jamilon moved into coaching. Whilst also studying a BSc in Psychology and later a masters in coaching. Over the last decade following his playing career he has worked for the DHB and the Chinese Hockey Federation. After the Olympics in London 2012 Jamilon secured the head coach role for the German women's team. Following his appointment they secured a European Hockey Championship during 2013 and then followed this up recently with a bronze medal in the Rio 2016 Olympics. Jamilon has also spent time taking on a new challenge, with the Chinese national women's team as the head coach preparing them for Tokyo 2020. Jamilon currently works for the EHF as an educator and mentor on the Top Coaches Programme and is a consultant for Mannheimer Hockey Club in Germany.

The unique chance to ask Bobby Crutchley his views on hockey, sport, coaching and the unique roles he has held throughout the sporting world. As a hockey player Bobby gained 80 caps for Great Britain and England between 1993 and 1999. As well as many International Honours and National titles he holds the unique record of having been the top goal scorer in the Australian, English and Italian National Premier leagues. Since retiring from playing Bobby coached at Olympic and World level for almost 20 years and between 2005 and 2012 he worked as an Assistant Coach for the England and Great Britain men's hockey team, helping them progress from 11th to 4th in the World Rankings. During this time England won its first major title since 1908 (2009 European Championships). In 2012 he took over as Head Coach and had to oversee a significant transformation in both the playing squad and support staff. During this time the programme continued to progress making the 2014 World Cup semi-finals and winning medals at the 2014 & 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 European Championships.