The global ranking in any sport is something that should be beyond any doubt merit based, and only merit based. And the second “conditio sine qua non” is all countries/participants should get the same opportunities to earn points. No one should be excluded. I think we can all agree without these two conditions you can […]
I was already working on another opinion piece on this website about where I think some of the priorities should be for those who govern our sport of hockey. But then I got taken by surprise, as most of you I’m sure, by the next episode in this soap opera Hockey India is putting on… […]
A post Olympic year, such as 2017, usually is rather uneventful. At least for those following our sport without really being immersed in it. For the few hockey followers tracking all aspects of our game and looking beyond their own backyard this year has been “interesting” to say the least. Because most recently the FIH […]
FIH launched the Hockey Revolution some time ago and in recent blogs we talked about several of it’s components already. Last Monday we decided to talk directly to the new CEO of FIH, Jason McCracken and a president of one of the European federations, Marc Coudron from Belgium about this hockey revolution. Hockey5.TV is our […]
So the battle has begun… the first of European federation presidents to speak publicly about the changes to the FIH calendar was Marc Coudron from Belgium. Yesterday he expressed in the Belgian newspaper La Libre some interesting statements. Fight Firstly, there is a “fight” within FIH between those who defend our European “club” hockey and those who could […]
The Hockey Revolution has begun! And because I consider myself a typical product of European hockey culture I’m torn between tradition and innovation. Afraid to see our beloved traditional club culture diminish and at the same time excited to see new possibilities for the game I love. But… as Julius Caesar would say “Alea iacta […]
It’s Money time for hockey… 2017 will prove to be an important year for decisions that will change our game of hockey. Last month I wrote about the changes decided by the FIH in my blog “Sport or Entertainment“. Although we will not see all of the effects of these changes in the year to come, […]
“Panem et circenses” is the original Latin expression from back in the Roman era that will loosely translate into “Bread and Games”. It refers to politicians using diversion instead of actual accomplishments to keep the people happy. And it can ‘t be denied a lot of sports have evolved more towards fulfilling entertainment goals than […]
Allow me to postpone my Rio review until the dust has settled and emotions are not (or less) in play. But maybe just two quick observations already before I will shortly discuss the new (FIH) ranking after the Games. First: please let’s forget the experiment of the blue pitch for future tournaments. It has no advantages […]
Rio is getting close and Samba is in the air… Teams and coaches are gearing up to make the final selection for the Rio Olympics. Or as the FIH would say “The torch is lit for #sambasticks”. At the London Olympic park will be played the 2016 Champions Trophy. This once great tournament has been reduced […]
The FIH recently announced yet another event to the international calendar in line with their 10 year strategy for our sport. I can’t say I immediately felt they were on the right track and I think I’m not alone in this… So I took some time to look at their 10 strategy plan for our […]
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a column about the world ranking as it’s being used by the FIH: “Change or kill the world ranking“. As you will have guessed I’m not a big fan of the current ranking system in use. The system currently used by the FIH takes into account invitational tournaments such […]
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