The newly formed PAHF Athletes Committee held its first meeting in Toronto on September 2-3, across the street from where the 2015 Pan American Games will take place. The Athletes Committee is the first of its kind for any continental federation under FIH, and PAHF has shown its dedication to putting athletes view points on the table by supporting the committee and its members.
Toronto proved to be a great setting for an exchange of ideas on many fronts. The purpose of the meeting was to take the first steps in creating a terms of reference and election procedure for the Committee. No easy task when you are starting from the beginning, but the blank slate allowed the Committee to cast its net wide as it looked to clearly articulate its purpose and mode of operation.
Over two days, the Committee discussed several opportunities and challenges in which the committee could, and should, function. Determining what issues were the most important for the Committee to address was the general theme of the two days. This quickly turned into discussions on how the Committee can ensure that the athlete's voice will be heard.
Knowing that PAHF executive board is looking for the athletes to provide more input gives the Committee a great position to work from. While there was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm in this first meeting, the true test for this Committee will be to continue the momentum from these two days and give athletes more of a voice within PAHF.
Athlete Committee members (former internationals Keli Puzo-Smith, USA, Nigel Providence, Trinidad & Tobago, and chair Scott Sandison, Canada) were joined by PAHF Board member and former international Pam Stuper, as well as PAHF managing director Julio Neves.
