The Finnish Olympic Committee hosts the gathering of the next generation sport leaders

The Finnish Olympic Committee hosts the concluding forum of the New Leaders Sports Leadership Programme aimed at promoting equality, good governance, and responsibility in sports leadership. The forum brings together top European sports leaders, including President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach and President of European Olympic Committees Janez Kocijancic.

During the past year, 30 young European sports professionals have taken part in the New Leaders training programme, organised as a joint effort between the International Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committees, and run by the Finnish Olympic Committee. As part of the programme, the participants, many of whom are former professional athletes, have designed action plans on a personal and an organisational level to implement the IOC Gender Equality Recommendations into practice.

What the Game-Changers learned

The thirty New Leaders participants – dubbed Game-Changers – come from 26 different European countries and represent a variety of different sports. During the programme, all Game-Changers were mentored by an experienced European sports leader. Much of the training took place in three workshop sessions spread out over the year.

"I applied to join the New Leaders programme because I feel sports can have a great social and economic impact on the world around us. But to keep sports attractive for future generations and to capitalise on this potential positive impact, promoting gender equality is key," says Marieke van der Plas, CEO of the Royal Dutch Gymnastics Federation and participant in the New Leaders programme.

"One of the main takeaways from the programme for me was the importance of communication and public speaking skills in stating your case and convincing others. If you are the right person for leading a group, you must speak up and take your place as leader," says Daniele Facchinetti, a New Leaders participant from the Italian Roller Sports Federation.

"A part of my New Leaders action plan was promoting equal bonuses for the women’s and men’s national football teams in Finland. I was active in promoting the matter, and this September the board of the Football Association of Finland decided to award the women’s national team the same bonuses as the men’s team," says Katri Mattson, a New Leaders participant from the Football Association of Finland."

Concluding forum in Helsinki on 18–20 November

The New Leaders programme will be concluded at a final forum in Helsinki on 18–20 November. The forum will gather together both the current and the future generations of sports leaders. The New Leaders participants will be joined by President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach and President of the European Olympic Committees Janez Kocijancic.

Although the training programme reaches its conclusion, the New Leaders cause lives on. The aim is that all Game-Changers will take their learnings to their home countries and federations and continue the work of making equality a new norm in the field of sports.

For further information, please contact:

Niina Toroi

Manager of International Affairs, The Finnish Olympic Committee

mobile +358 (0)40 672 2220

niina.toroi@olympiakomitea.fi

www.newleaders.fi

@Olympiakomitea #NewLeaders #LeadtheChange #GameChangers

Mikko Salonen

Secretary General, Finnish Olympic Committee

mobile +358 40 541 0295

mikko.salonen@olympiakomitea.fi

WHAT IS NEW LEADERS ALL ABOUT?

New Leaders is a legacy project of Ms Birgitta Kervinen, 2017 IOC Women and Sport World Trophy Winner. New Leaders Programme and its forum are joint efforts of IOC and EOC, run by the Finnish Olympic Committee. NOC’s of Lithuania, Ireland and Azerbaijan are the host countries for the workshops. New Leaders Sport Leadership Programme, its three workshops and a closing forum educate 30 participants to become game-changers in the period of one year. Concrete action plans will be designed on a personal and organisational level, implementing the IOC Gender Equality Recommendations into action and creating a culture of change in Europe.

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