National federations have their say at Conference for Secretaries General

The beautiful and historic city of Dubrovnik was the setting for the ninth edition of the EHF Conference for Secretaries General on 12 and 13 April 2016.

The event. hosted by the Croatian Handball Federation, attracted over 50 staff and officials from the federation’s members, coming together not only to be provided with the latest information on key issues affecting the sport and their daily work but also to provide feedback, exchange information and network with colleagues from across Europe.

The importance of the conference was highlighted by the EHF Secretary General, Michael Wiederer, in his opening address, noting the work that had been carried out at the last conference in Poland in 2014 on both the expansion of the Men’s EHF EURO to 24 teams from 2020 and also the introduction of the new playing system in Younger Age Category events.

‘We’re here to listen’

The two-day programme included a number of topics for discussion including the new EHF EURO qualification system for 2020, grassroots development, women’s handball and also an opportunity for the national federations to tell the EHF what they need in the way of support and assistance.

Federations had their chance to provide their own ideas and feedback on all of the issues in four break-out groups and then present their findings to the conference.

The many and varied inputs from national federations included issues around TV rights, challenges for nations competing in EHF competitions, a need for a greater exchange and transfer of knowledge and also examples of best practice within the national federations.

A follow up to the conference will be made by the EHF office, with all information, inputs and ideas collected and processed, which will form the basis for further work and developments in the future.

Draw events

The coming together of so many national federations also provided the opportunity for the organisation of two draw events. One the EHF M20 EURO to be played in Denmark, 28 July to 7 August 2016, and also the draw for the qualification rounds of the Men’s EHF EURO 2018, which will be hosted by Croatia in January 2018.