With the help of the FIH and PAHF, Jorge Querejeta, CDO for the Americas, continues his assistance to the four countries which were recently incorporated to the FIH as full members: Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The FIH has awarded for the year 2008 a Special Grant for equipment and the PAHF promotes assistance with the greatest effort. These four countries managed to organize their own Field Hockey Federation or Association. They have already received the second delivery of sports equipment for the development and introduction of hockey at schools, as well as the visit of Argentinean coaches to initiate the training of physical education teachers.

Teachers are making a great endeavor and a large number of youths are being attracted in countries where this sport has been almost unknown two years ago.

They have also received a great deal of instructions, advice and general guidelines given from the CDO to the first organizers of this sport, by means of CD-DVD, as well as manuals of Umpiring Boost and Club Development. The PAHF is reinforcing this assistance during the next period of October-November with a further visit of a coach and the CDO to the Olympic Committees, whose help has been really significant.

It is really necessary to continue giving assistance as strongly as possible since the most difficult part is organizing each Federation or Association and recruiting volunteers who may join the project, since there is obviously a lack of experience in this new sport. The economic problem for affording the payment of their memberships and Customs expenses is huge because they have had no time for the appropriate negotiations with their Sports Ministries, so they do not receive yet any economic aid. Such an aid can only be obtained with the help of parents and friends and the necessary time to increase the amount of participants.

Jorge Querejeta
CDO for the Americas