AHF: Hockey’s first ever participation in Olympic Solidarity Youth Athlete Development Programme

The International Hockey Federation (FIH), with the support of Olympic Solidarity, the Asian Hockey Federation, the Malaysian National Olympic Committee, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation and the Raja Ashman Shah Hockey Academy will be delivering the FIH World Youth Hockey5s Festival from 16-21 December 2024 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

The project, made possible through the Olympic Solidarity Youth Athlete Development Programme, is supporting over 500 young athletes to participate in National Training Camps and the FIH World Youth Hockey5s Festival.

24 teams from 17 nations will participate in the programme including Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Zambia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, Brunei and Thailand.

FIH President Tayyab Ikram said of the project: “This marks the first time the FIH has had the privilege to conduct the prestigious IOC Olympic Solidarity Youth Athlete Development Programme. This initiative is a significant investment in the future generations of emerging nations and will provide immense benefits to young athletes.

What makes this programme particularly special is that it caters to two continents simultaneously, bringing them together under the guidance of our qualified experts. We are confident and hopeful that this initiative will play a vital role in ensuring the sustainable development in these regions. Regular follow-ups will be conducted as part of the FIH Empowerment and Engagement Strategy to ensure its success and impact.

We also plan to expand this programme to remaining continents starting next year, enabling even broader participation and benefits.
Our heartfelt gratitude goes to the IOC for their special initiative for emerging nations and NOCs, as well as to our gracious hosts in Ipoh and Malaysia for welcoming participants from two continents and supporting this meaningful endeavor.”

The objective of the Olympic Solidarity Youth Athlete Development Programme is to offer assistance to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to identify and train young athletes for youth competitions as part of the pathway to participation in the Youth Olympic Games. For this particular project, the offer is to support NOCs to access International Federation (IF) Training Opportunities. The programme is specifically for nations with a low representation level in the Olympic Games (based on Tokyo 2020).

Boys and girls teams from the under 16 age groups, together with young leaders/umpires and team coaches will participate in National Training Camps in their home nation, and in the World Youth Hockey5s Festival in Ipoh. The Festival will include a range of learning opportunities for all participants, including classroom based workshops, pitch sessions and festival competition. FIH Academy Educators will facilitate all sessions in collaboration with National Coaches.

FIH Head of Education Development Mike Joyce added: “The project is a great opportunity for us to support many of our smallest hockey nations with youth talent identification and development. The financial support provided to NOCs by Olympic Solidarity has made this fantastic project possible.”

Source: FIH.hockey