Equal oppor­tu­ni­ties in ice hockey: WHPP Erasmus+ project launched

WHPP is a joint project involving the national ice hockey associations of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, the Finnish Institute of Sport and the University of Ljubljana, as well as the Ice Hockey Federation of North Macedonia and the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Co-funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ programme, the project aims to identify challenges and barriers for girls and women in ice hockey, with a focus on the Danube region. However, the conclusions and findings can also be applied to the development of women's ice hockey in general.

Given that male ice hockey players have greater opportunities to reach a professional level in their sporting careers, the main objective of the WHPP project is to close the gap between male and female players and to work together towards equal opportunities for young girls who choose to take up the game and for those who want to further develop their skills.

However, female ice hockey players will not be the sole focus of the various activities in this three-year project, which range from ice hockey tournaments, seminars and workshops to teaching materials. The project also targets support staff (coaches, team leaders, management, volunteers), as the project partners believe that genuine and sustainable progress in women's ice hockey can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach.