WHPP Erasmus+ project kicks-off in Ljubljana

27^th January 2023, Ljubljana – The three day Consortium Meeting kicks-off the Women’s Hockey Partnership for Progress (WHPP) project with a gathering of all the participating partners. 

WHPP is a joint effort of national ice hockey federations of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia joined by the Sport Institute of Finland and University of Ljubljana, as well as the Ice Hockey Federation of North Macedonia and the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Co-Founded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union the project aims towards indicating challenges and barriers for girls and women in ice hockey focusing on the Danube region. Nevertheless the conclusions and lessons learned would be applicable also in the development of women’s hockey in general.

Bearing in mind the male hockey players are presented with more chances to reach a professional level in their sport careers the main goal of the WHPP project is to close the gap between male and female players and work together towards equal opportunities for young girls who decide to start to play the game and those who want to develop their skills further.

However, the female ice hockey players will not be the sole focal point of the various activities in this three year project, ranging from ice hockey tournaments, seminars and workshops to educational materials. The project is set out to also target the supporting staff (coaches, team leaders, management, volunteers) as the partners of the project believe that only through the comprehensive approach a real and sustainable progress in women’s hockey can be achieved.