There is a public debate over the abandonment of Olympic facilities in Rio but, despite some rocky months, one man is convinced that hockey’s legacy is a step closer to being achieved.
"One of the most amazing things about living in Europe is the time schedule. You turn up for a train a few seconds late and it has gone. In South America we would find that crazy."
Eduardo Leonardo could be described as the face of the Rio hockey legacy. From the first moment he discovered he had been appointed as Hockey Venue Supervisor at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007, until the final whistle blew at the end of the last game of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Eduardo has been leading, cajoling and pushing a hockey revolution in Brazil. Now he works at the International Hockey Federation (FIH) office in Lausanne as a Sport Manager, running international events across the globe. “At 38, I have just seen snow for the first time,” says Eduardo, and he is clearly relishing both the new role and the new environment, but, he says with a smile, his heart will always be with Brazil.
The past few years have been a whirlwind for the quietly-spoken Brazilian. He moved from working within football – the sport that is synonymous with his homeland – to hockey, a sport that, until the Olympics, most Brazilians thought was only played on ice. He became High Performance Manager to both the men's and women's national teams and, a short while later in 2010, he was invited to take on the mantle of chief executive officer for the Brazilian Hockey Federation.
The aim was to get the national teams to a point where one or both could compete at the home Olympics in Rio in 2016. For a nation where both the men's and women's teams were ranked in the low 40s in the FIH world rankings this was going to be some challenge.
It was a challenge that Eduardo took up with relish: "In 2007, I didn't know hockey very well but I got to know people within the sport very quickly. We realized we had to introduce an element of professionalism into the sport. Of course we couldn't pay our players to be professionals but we had to introduce an element of professionalism into their lifestyles."
This meant high quality, regular training but it also meant a change in lifestyle. The players were taught how to be elite athletes with the accompanying values and beliefs.
And it wasn't just the mindset of the players that Eduardo needed to change. For hockey to be a successful sport at Rio 2016 it had to hit two other audiences – the visiting fans and the millions watching around the world. This meant providing top facilities and creating a great experience that would draw in the spectators even if they were not already hockey fans.
Eduardo applied for, and was appointed, as Sport Manager for hockey at the Rio Olympics. He took up his role in 2012 and spent much of that year shadowing his counterpart at the London Olympics. From 2012 to 2014 his time was split between preparation for the Rio Olympics (10 per cent) and running the Brazilian Hockey Federation (90 percent). From 2014 to 2016, the Olympics became the focus of every waking hour.
"Being sport manager was more than being a person that runs the competition,” says Eduardo. "I was very involved in all the buildup, mainly because no-one knows hockey very well in Brazil, so you need to teach them and explain the culture of the sport. I had 12 paid staff and 200 volunteers: these people needed to know everything about hockey players, for example what they like to eat, how they like to arrive at the venue, the whole culture of being a hockey player. It was the same for the officials, they have ways of doing things and certain requirements to do their job effectively. I needed to drum into my team how to think like a hockey player."
Much of the role as Sport Manager is about building relationships and, for Eduardo, one of the most important sources of support came from the FIH events team. "Establishing a good relationship between the local organizing committee and the FIH is essential for a successful tournament," he says, "but equally important is your own team. You must find the right people to work with you. I have learnt that these are not always the most expensive people, but they are the right people. The most important thing is to be confident in this person; even if they do not know everything, they will do what you are requesting and they will deliver the best that they can."
A test event in December 2015 went well and allowed Eduardo and his team to address any issues. By the time August 2016 rolled around, the team was ready for their moment in the sun and, with millions tuning in around the globe, the event was a huge success.
But, with millions of pounds from the public purse being invested into the Olympics, the question of legacy will always arise. A dispute over who would pay for the upkeep of the pitch has left the Deodoro Stadium unused and looking increasingly like another Olympic white elephant. For the former CEO of the Brazilian Hockey Federation this has been a frustration, but you get the sense that it was something he felt was inevitable. "Since Rio, the Deodoro Stadium closed because there are still discussions around who will be responsible for the upkeep and running of the venue.
"It was constructed by the Minister of Sport but the place is owned by the army and used by the Brazilian Hockey Federation, so we have three different stakeholders involved in the negotiations. In the past, the Ministry paid for the infrastructure, the army supplied security and the BHF paid for running events. the three organizations have been discussing the best way to drive things forward but now they have come to a compromise and in the next month the pitch will be open again for competition, training and for schools to use."
Thus, for the immediate future, it seems as if the hockey legacy in the shape of the Deodoro Stadium will continue, although Eduardo concedes that the financial arrangements could throw up problems further down the line: "There is always the danger that the agreement will change. There might be a new general who says he wants to do something different so there might always be the need for negotiations to ensure that the Deodoro stays open."
One factor that may help keep hockey at the Deodoro is the weight of public opinion. "There is a lot of public pressure for the Deodoro to be used," says Eduardo. "There are a lot of examples around the world of Olympic venues lying empty, part of our bid was always about having a legacy. Really it is simply a case of open it and use it."
While the iconic stadium has been having its issues, the pitches constructed at the neighboring Rio University pitches have been used non-stop. The university has a specialist hockey program, which is developing coaches and players and local schools turn up in numbers to use the facilities. The national teams also train at the venue. Eduardo says he visited in December and was delighted to see just how busy the venue was. "For me, that shows that the legacy is working."
Certainly the appetite for hockey has grown in Brazil in recent years. There are two or three new clubs and the numbers of people playing hockey in Brazil has risen to between 3-4,000 people. Currently hockey is played in five main areas, with the most hockey-loving cities being Rio, Sao Paulo, Florianopolis, Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Much of this is due to the 'Olympic effect'. "The sport during the competition really took off," says Eduardo. "Many of the volunteers took up the sport. That is the benefit of watching matches. Here in Brazil people only get to see hockey at the Olympics or Pan American Games because it is not televised the rest of the time. It is only when they see it that they see how exciting it is, and how it is not that dangerous. When it is not on television, they think it is the same as ice hockey."
Eduardo expects another boom in popularity with the re-opening of the Deodoro. As an area with a high percentage of young people, an opportunity to play sport is always seized upon and, with the university producing a raft of new coaches, the time is ripe for more growth in the sport. The presence of the national teams training at the pitch and many of the athletes currently studying at the university provides yet another draw for the hockey stars of the future.
As part of its support for hockey in Brazil, FIH donated sticks and balls to the BHF, which makes playing the game cheap for the youngsters – many of who come from poorer areas.
With the memory of the Olympics fading, talk will continue about the legacy of 2016, but for Eduardo, the hockey legacy is strong. He is confident that Deodoro will continue as a national hockey center and that Brazil will continue to embrace the sport. In fact, an amazing amount has happened in a short time. When he joined the hockey organization, the idea that Brazil would be in a position to compete at the Olympics was verging on the fanciful. That they qualified via the Pan Am Games was a real testament to the work done in a short space of time. Now Brazil continues to move up the hockey ladder.
"We have Chile in our sights," says Eduardo with a glint in his eye. "To reach the levels of Argentina is a long way down the line, but we can certainly start to compete and win against Chile. To compete at the Olympics took a plan, now we have a new long-term plan that involves changing the public's mindset towards hockey."
But there are certain things that Eduardo never wants to see change. Since moving to Europe, he has been amazed and impressed by the culture of detail and organization, which takes us back to the conversation about things running on time.
"In Europe the organization is of a level that South America will never reach. It is part of the European culture. From a South American perspective, we have this great celebratory attitude. It is more than a competition, it is like a party. That is something that sets South American hockey apart. It is something that inspires the athletes and the people. Even if you have the lowest level of delivery, you compensate with these things. That is why it is important to have competitions in different countries, each area will have its strengths and its weaknesses and we have to embrace and work with them."
