EUROPEAN U16 WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY CUP, Equally on the way to professional player

Project will indicate challenges and barriers for girls and women in hockey as:Social Implications: girls experience social isolation in the hockey environment;Psychological Implications – girls experience low motivation and loss of interest due to lack of girls-only programs;Structural Implications – lack of opportunities to participate in teams, leagues, and club programs; Competitive Implications – lack of events and tournaments from international to grassroot levels.The addition of the EuroCup will promote the following:-Enact a “Players are People” vision to develop future hockey players and better young women;-Build a female hockey player development pathway – create a new generation;-Create a shared place for girls to play with girls and feel the belong in hockey;-Motivate young girls through role models and leadersProject will:-Build a community of coaches who are committed to the female game from grassroots to high performance levels;-Learn on and off ice female hockey specific material;-Share ‘best practices’ during ‘real-time’ competitions.-Provide real-game learning opportunities and these would be provided by a U16 high performance competition;-Facilitate learning from other countries and an opportunity to exchange best practice.We have to promote:-Recruitment and Retention strategies and skills – share best practices among clubs – how to activate programs at the club level;-Events – organize more female hockey events - staging club tournaments for girls and hosting international women’s hockey events;-Psychological and Social Challenges for Girls in Hockey – strategies to overcome barriers and develop effective programs.Top-Down Change – EuroCup will stimulate federations and clubs to increase programs and drive participation of girls at younger levelsBottom-Up Change – will stimulate the retention of athletes along the high performance development pathway and stimulate the creation of additional U18 national teams programming.