Haitian Hockey Federation Joins ICSSPE

ICSSPE met Aubens Henker Fermine, President of one of ICSSPE’s latest members from the Caribbean, the Haitian Hockey Federation (HHF). Founded in October 2013, it is a relatively young federation, but HHF is already a member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), member of the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF), member of the Haitian Olympic Committee (HOC) and recognized by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action (MJSAC).

ICSSPE: Can you introduce yourself and your Organisation?

Aubens: The HHF having as its main or ancillary purpose the practice of Field and Indoor Hockey, as well as any derivative of this sport, as the FIH decides from time to time. In the country, we practice sport on the football field and in gymnasiums for indoor practice.

Some facts and figures about HHF:

- 175 Level I and II coaches certified in France and 38 of them have technical training

- 15 clubs affiliated and recognized by the HHF and ten (10) club membership requests

- 25 Referee / Judges certified on the national territory

- 4500 Practitioners approximately on the national territory

- 100 male athletes of all ages in training for the Men's Olympic Games, July 24-30, 2021 in Tokyo 2021

- A national men's and women's hockey selection training.

ICSSPE: What are the aims and vision within your Organisation?

Aubens: Our aims and vision within HHF areꓽ

(a) Promote and develop field and indoor hockey, both female and male, in Haiti, both in high-level practice (as a professional / Olympic sport) and as a mainstream sport. This includes the development and organization (and / or assistance in the development and organization) of equipment, training structures as well as competitions which offer as many people as possible access to the practice of sport and which give players, referees and officials opportunities to develop towards a very high level of sport participation; and to this end;

(b) Act as the sole national governing body for field and indoor hockey, female and male, in Haiti, under the authority of the FIH and the Pan American Hockey Federation. Exercise in this sport and in accordance with this authority, and this without any discrimination based on race, sex, political convictions, religion or beliefs;

(c) Administer and regulate sport at the national level and delegate, as it considers appropriate, its authority to regional, departmental and local bodies to administer and regulate sport at regional, departmental and local level, subject to of the supreme authority it holds over sport in Haiti;

(d) Represent Haiti as a member of the Pan American Hockey Federation for continental level activities, and as a member of the FIH for international activities, in particular by organizing the engagement of teams to represent Haiti in international events;

(e) Preserve and protect the safety and integrity of sport;

(f) Perform any other function or responsibility delegated to it by the FIH and / or the Pan American Hockey Federation. Encourage cooperation between scientists in the fields of sport in Haiti, athletes, coaches and other sports professionals;

(g) Integrate research in the field of physical activity and sport, mainly hockey in Haiti and support the application of its results in Haiti;

(h) Disseminate and promote scientific knowledge in the field of sport and physical activity in Haiti.

ICSSPE: Can you tell us briefly about the ongoing projects at the HHF?

Aubens: Summary of the main development programs run by the FHH between 2019 and 2024:

1. Athlete development

The FHH works with three training centers. The high-level training center, Center Sport for Hope, which is preparing athletes for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) men in 2021. Two other centers (Center Sport Dadadou and Center Sport Henfrasa) focused their efforts on the development of other athletes and other centers of the departments on the national territory.

2. Coaching training / Itinerant training program

The HHF has defined a framework for the training of coaches at all levels. The athlete-focused and coach education programs include active collaboration between the FHH and the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAFH). As part of the itinerant training program, hockey experts from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and international level coaches organized programs (athletes and training) for the HHF in Haiti.

3. Traveling demonstrations

This program favors the creation of new projects in the country / regions where hockey is not yet established or which require additional resources to promote the sport. This program targets schools, teachers and coaches. Aid for the acquisition of equipment or material donations are linked to the sustainability of the program in Haiti.

4-Hockey, a sport for all

Promotion of hockey as a sport practiced by all ages, all sexes, indoors and outdoors, on large and small fields, in competition or as an amateur.

5- Talent identification program (PIT)

A talent identification program has been put in place to attract the most promising athletes in Haiti to the Training Centers.

6- A new game format

A 5-on-5 competition will allow clubs and schools to involve more teams in national events.

7- The High Performance Coaching project

Enables second-tier clubs to benefit from high-level training, services and tools designed to help them become serious competitors. The ultimate goal of this project is to close the performance gap between the top second tier clubs.

ICSSPE: What are the future plans and goals?

Aubens: The Haitian Hockey Federation has big goals:

Youth sports development programs

• Youth development programs aim to encourage young people to play hockey by developing their leadership skills, in order to rejuvenate the image of the sport.

• The main objectives of the youth programs are:

Retain young players (aged between 16 and 20),

Improve the level of players,

Promote youth leadership and training,

Set up training platforms and opportunities for knowledge sharing.

The 2021 Hockey Program

The Haitian Hockey Federation, and Haitian hockey as a whole, must meet the new demands of a rapidly changing environment by adopting a perspective of economic and sporting development. To do this, the HHF intends to involve the entire “hockey family”, in order to establish and implement the main axes of this development, which should also allow the emergence of a new form of participatory governance. Participating in the 2021 Olympic Game is a goal, but it is obvious that we will not wait for this term to, step by step, implement these essential reforms by involving all the stakeholders of Haitian hockey (managers, employees, players, technical executives, referees ...) and its environment (private and public partners, parents of young practitioners, etc.). First step: important background work, gathering information, debating ideas with all of you, which will be punctuated by the organization of the Haitian Hockey Conference.

Internationally, the International Federation (FIH) is implementing a 2010-2016 development program, in which the HHF and its project must be part: increase the influence of hockey throughout the world, rationalize the calendar of international competitions, improve the level of play around the world, etc.

At the national level, the project must fit into the sustainable development strategy for sport desired by the Haitian State. It is therefore necessary to take into account the responsibility of sports organizations, for their decisions and activities, on society and on the environment, but also to integrate sustainable development into the strategy and operation of sports federations through their objective agreements.

On the other hand, the expectations and profile of practitioners are changing. Beyond competition, practices are increasingly oriented towards leisure, and female and senior practices are developing while taking into account the importance of developing the practice of young people for the renewal of generations without which a discipline is in danger.

The expectations of advertisers are also evolving, sponsors are increasingly seeking to assert their citizenship and social responsibility, but also to develop their sales by directly reaching practitioners and / or spectators.

The considerable changes in the media landscape and in consumer behavior offer less exposed disciplines possible windows of visibility. The need for sports content programs is created by the proliferation of thematic sports channels and the rise of the media.

Finally, in all disciplines, the performance of national teams (or the organization of events) must remain a major objective: good sporting results drive practice upwards.

Women and sport commission or initiatives

The HHF has a program for women coaches and referees. The development project for women referees is intended to increase the number of referees at the national level, not only for the major HHF tournaments until 2020 but also to ensure the implementation of a strategic plan for their personal development. In the years to follow. This project started in January 2015. Each female referee selected as part of this project works on her personal development plan with a chosen supervising referee and mentor and also participates in a supervised fitness program. Women referees participating in this program also receive job offers corresponding to the objectives of the project.

ICSSPE: As a new ICSSPE member, what do you envision for future cooperations/collaborations with ICSSPE?

Aubens: As a new member of ICSSPE, we envision mutual and close collaboration in the future for a good cooperation / collaboration between ICSSPE and HHF while respecting each other's goals and values. We hope that the ICSSPE can help us achieve our visions, our projects etc.

We also hope for a frank collaboration based on trust between the two parties.

ICSSPE: Has the current situation with COVID-19 impacted the HHF? If so, how?

Aubens: Yes, the year 2020 has been a dreadful year for the Haitian Hockey Federation, almost no activities have been carried out, the school program / competition, national training courses, international competitions that we intend to participate in are postponed to a later date and our training is disabled.

ICSSPE: What can the ICSSPE membership jointly do to help in this context?

Aubens: The members of the ICSSPE can help us in two ways.

What is lacking in our country are concerted medium and long-term policies between communities and regions, between public authorities and private investors, all with a master plan that says what we want to do and for what purpose. Our various sports ministers, their administrations and the Haitian Olympic Committee do not coordinate and put common initiatives in place. If its two structures unite, it would advance sport in Haiti.

The lack of financial means is also often put forward to explain our results. We need the money to run our programs and projects, but the state and the private sector are not investing in sports.

The ICSSPE can help us train more coaches either at the international or national level. We want to have more top level coaches that is why international training can be useful to us.