ÖEHV launches new training compen­sa­tion system

The issue has been on the table for years and is now being implemented – a new training compensation system, which has also long been called for by various managers from the leagues. The existing systems in Switzerland and Germany were used as a guide in its development and design.

Following the new squad regulation, the return of the youth leagues and many other measures, ÖEHV is now setting the next milestone.

While transfer fees were already due at youth level under the old system, AKES is designed to ensure that clubs which provide high-quality training to young players are compensated when those players later receive a professional contract.

AKES is an evolving, rather than rigid, system that can be expanded and adapted at any time.

In Germany and Switzerland, several clubs have adopted this model in order to generate funds that are then used for successful youth development work.

The aim is to inspire more children to take up ice hockey, professionalise player development from an early age, place greater emphasis on homegrown players, and invest in youth development work and good coaches.

In countries with a similar model, such as Germany and Switzerland, it has been shown that the number of children could be increased and youth development work professionalised in general. Austria is among the first nations to introduce such a system.

Klaus Hartmann, ÖEHV President: "The training compensation system is an excellent, forward-looking evaluation system which uses the allocation of so-called training units as a form of currency for young ice hockey players to appropriately reward the cost-intensive youth development work of individual clubs, thereby creating targeted incentives to develop young players to a high standard, particularly for Austrian ice hockey."