MEDIA KIT JANUARY-JUNE 2020 FIH PRO LEAGUE THE POWER OF HOCKEY @ HOME CONTENT 1. GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 Key resources and contacts 6 1.2 Welcome message from FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra 8 1.3 All about the FIH Hockey Pro League 10 2. COMPETITION 2.1 Competition format 18 2.2 Match schedule, venues and ticket sales 21 2.3 Teams – Women: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, USA 22 2.4 Teams – Men: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain 31 2.5 Competition officials 40 3. USEFUL INFORMATION 3.1 FIH Hockey Pro League 2019 - at a glance 42 3.2 FIH Hockey Pro League logo for download 45 3.3 FIH World Rankings 46 1. GENERAL INFORMATION KEY RESOURCES & CONTACT ABOUT THE EVENT Event name FIH Hockey Pro League When January-June 2020 Where Various TEAMS WOMEN Argentina, Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, USA MEN Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain BROADCAST AND LIVE STREAMING Global broadcast and live streaming information for each individual match will be published on the FIH Hockey Pro League website as soon as it becomes available. In territories where broadcast rights agreements are not in place, fans can watch live match ac- tion from the FIH Hockey Pro League via the FIH.live global broadcast platform. To visit FIH.live, click here. OFFICIAL WEBSITE - www.fihproleague.com The official event website provides everything that you need to know about the event, including news updates, fixtures, results, standings, live match reporting and broadcast information. SOCIAL MEDIA The FIH will provide comprehensive coverage of the event via our social media channels, includ- ing Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. fihockey fihockey @fih_hockey Hashtags #FIHProLeague FIH TOURNAMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TMS) Raw competition data including match starting line-up pdfs, pool tables, top scorers, in-match statistics and appointment sheets will be available for the media at the following links: https://tms.fih.ch/competitions/1162 https://tms.fih.ch/competitions/1163 WWW.FIHPROLEAGUE.COM 6 FIH HOCKEY PRO LEAGUE CONTACTS AND MEDIA ACCREDITATION REQUESTS You can find an email contact for each of the competing teams below. Media accreditation appli- cations for the FIH Hockey Pro League are handled by the host nation of the various FIH Hockey Pro League fixtures taking place across the world. If you are interested in attending a match, please use the below contact information. Please be aware that only bona fide members of the media will be granted accreditation to FIH Hockey Pro League matches, and that all members of the media are required to sign a Terms and Conditions form in order to secure a matchday accreditation. ARGENTINA (M&W) [email protected] AUSTRALIA (M&W) Nic Kerber [email protected] BELGIUM (M&W) Denis Van Damme [email protected] CHINA [email protected] GERMANY (M&W) Christoph Plass [email protected] GREAT BRITAIN (M&W) Craig Mortimer-Zhika [email protected] Jonny Tuddenham [email protected] INDIA [email protected] NETHERLANDS (M&W) Accreditations: Arjen Rahusen [email protected] Comms contact: Clarinda Sinnige [email protected] NEW ZEALAND (M&W) Matthew Williams [email protected] SPAIN Rafa Gandia [email protected] USA Teryn Brill [email protected] WWW.FIHPROLEAGUE.COM 7 A MESSAGE OF WELCOME FROM DR. NARINDER DHRUV BATRA, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY FEDERATION (FIH) Dear All, It is with the greatest of pleasure that I welcome you to Season 2 of the FIH Hockey Pro League, the annual global League that features the world’s best international men’s and women’s teams facing off against one another between January and June. The first edition of the ground-breaking competition took place in 2019 and featured some won- derful hockey moments, with the fans embracing the ‘power of home’ by turning out in their thousands to watch the host nations testing themselves against the finest international teams and players on the planet. The growing audiences in the stadium and via broadcast and streaming via FIH.live were not to be disappointed, as the six-month competition allowed the sport of hockey to showcase itself like never before. Shock results, stunning team performances and extraordinary individual achieve- ments became part and parcel of the weekly Pro League experience, with the speed, skill and athleticism of our athletes being abundantly clear to all who witnessed it. In the end it was the Netherlands women and Australia men who emerged as inaugural FIH Hockey Pro League cham- pions, titles they will be determined to successfully defend in the Olympic year of 2020. Whilst understandably delighted with so many aspects of the first edition, it is not in our na- ture to maintain the status quo by simply standing still. The 2020 edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League sees the introduction of a new match schedule, splitting home and away matches over two consecutive seasons to create a series of ‘double headers’ throughout the competition. This is an important move in terms of player welfare and sustainability, significantly reducing travel fatigue and environmental impact by cutting the number of flights by half, which in turn substan- tially lowers travel and accommodation costs for the competing teams. As well as the new match schedule, we are delighted to welcome another powerhouse of inter- national hockey as India men join the competition. The eight-times Olympic champions will play their home matches at the iconic Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the 15,000-capacity venue that so wonderfully staged the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2018. I am certain that India will thoroughly enjoy their debut season in the FIH Hockey Pro League, and that the fans in Bhu- WWW.FIHPROLEAGUE.COM 8 baneswar will be treated to some magnificent matches. I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to the host National Associations for their tire- less efforts in planning and preparing for the forthcoming season of the FIH Hockey Pro League. I also offer my heartfelt gratitude to all of the tournament officials – this incredible competition would not be possible without the unwavering commitment that these fantastic volunteers give to our sport. I invite all hockey fans in the world to attend the matches or watch them on TV or on FIH.live. With the FIH Hockey Pro League, you can expect hockey at its best! Yours in Hockey, Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra FIH President WWW.FIHPROLEAGUE.COM 9 ALL ABOUT THE FIH HOCKEY PRO LEAGUE THE HEADLINES • The FIH Hockey Pro League is the annual global League involving hockey’s best national teams in the world, Men and Women. • The best team of the season – having accumulated the highest number of points at the end of the League - is crowned Champion and receives the FIH Hockey Pro League Trophy. • The FIH Hockey Pro League enables fans to go and see their favourite team play 8 games at home against the elite of international hockey, something which happens rather rare- ly in hockey where most international competition games are held through tournaments played in just one country. • The competition takes place in the first half of the year. Its first edition was played in 2019. Australia (Men) and The Netherlands (Women) were the inaugural Champions. 1. WHAT IS FIH HOCKEY PRO LEAGUE? The FIH Hockey Pro League is the annual global League involving hockey’s best national teams in the world, Men and Women. The best team of the season – having accumulated the highest number of points at the end of the League - is crowned Champion and receives the FIH Hockey Pro League Trophy. The FIH Hockey Pro League enables fans to go and see their favourite team play 8 games at home against the elite of international hockey, something which happens rather rarely in hockey where most international competition games are held though tournaments played in just one country. The competition takes place in the first half of the year. Its first edition was played in 2019. Australia (Men) and The Netherlands (Women) were the inau- gural Champions. We believe the FIH Hockey Pro League is transform the landscape of international hockey be- cause hockey fans the world over are able to watch their favourite sport for an extended period on the same TV channel or on the streaming platform FIH.live each year. Moreover, those fans whose team is participating have the chance to be part of the noise and sheer excitement of watching their team regularly in their home country. The competition format is identical for the men’s and women’s leagues. 2. WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS? • There are 9 men’s and 9 women’s teams • Therefore every team plays 8 home and 8 away matches (with 2 back-to-back matches against the same team in the same venue) • That means there are 144 FIH Pro League matches altogether • Matches are being played in the first half of the year WWW.FIHPROLEAGUE.COM 10 MEN’S EVENT WOMEN’S EVENT Argentina Argentina Australia Australia Belgium Belgium Germany Germany Great Britain Great Britain India Netherlands Netherlands New Zealand New Zealand China Spain USA 3. HOW DID YOU SELECT THE TEAMS THAT ARE IN THE FIH HOCKEY PRO LEAGUE? The teams that were selected to play in the first FIH Hockey Pro League were not simply the best national men’s and women’s teams in the world. Instead, we used a much broader set of criteria as part of our application process.