Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
On Thursday 18 April, FÍF’s annual general meeting was held in the upstairs room of the ÍSF building.
Attending on behalf of the board were: Niels Jákup Jakobsen, Guttorm Sørensen, Jonhard Larsen and Hallur Holm.
Attending on behalf of Bragdið: Fríðrikur Bláhamar, Hilmar Høgenni and Herluf Jakobsen.
Attending on behalf of Roysnið: Marnar Pattinson and Arnfinn Johannesen.
Attending on behalf of Hvirlan: Tummas Napoleon Arge and Helgi Geyti
Attending on behalf of Hvistan: Eyðtór Joensen.
Attending on behalf of Treysti: board members Jonhard Larsen and Guttorm Sørensen.
The meeting opened with the chair welcoming everyone and at the same time proposing that Niels Jákup Jakobsen once again be elected to chair the meeting. He was, by acclamation. The meeting chair then handed over to the chair to present the annual report, which the meeting approved. It can be read below the meeting report.
The treasurer then presented the audited accounts. These were also approved.
No motions had been submitted.
Next on the agenda was the board election. Up for election were vice-chair Niels Jákup Jakobsen and board member Jonhard Larsen. Both had said they would stand for re-election. There were no other nominations, so they were re-elected by acclamation. The executive committee therefore continues unchanged. New substitute members are elected every year. Marnar Pattinson was elected first substitute member and Hilmar Høgenni second substitute member. Guttorm Sørensen, Tummas Napoleon Arge and Hallur Holm were elected to the competitions committee.
FÍF’s auditor for all these years, Inpact, has merged with Nota to form the new firm Januar. The annual general meeting chose to keep Januar as the federation’s auditor.
Finally came any other business. First up was FÍF’s calendar, which is filling up more and more. The clubs have many new initiatives, which make it increasingly difficult to find space in the calendar without clashing with another event. So far this has not caused major problems, and the clubs broadly agreed that at least the bigger events should be coordinated by FÍF. This means the clubs should set the dates for their planned events well in advance. FÍF’s calendar is usually published just before the Winter Series starts in October, but in future we should perhaps consider having the calendar run a year and a half ahead. In any case, the conclusion was that FÍF should be notified of all competitions.
The chair explained that with around 1,000 members by now we are among the medium-sized federations, and in reality ought to be getting a bigger slice of the pie from the government and Danske Spil. But unless we document our membership numbers in the ÍSF database, Askur, the argument falls flat. The clubs were therefore strongly urged to get all their members registered. The best way for the clubs to do this is for their membership secretary to contact Jarvin Hansen at ÍSF. Registration is also important so that we in the Faroe Islands can have statistics on Faroese people and sport.
The chair then explained that the old travel passes have in fact expired, although they can still be used on board the ferries. To get new passes, the clubs must apply to ÍSF. The new regulations on travel passes make it clear that the passes can no longer be used for training, only for competitions, national team training sessions and the like.
Arnfinn Johannesen suggested that for competitions that are not Faroese Championships, it might be interesting to have prizes other than medals. He mentioned that glasses or mugs can also be a nice memento of a good competition.
Niels Jákup Jakobsen asked how the work on international membership was going. The chair replied that when Heri Ziska stepped down as chair, he was in the middle of this work and would be glad to continue with it. Heri has links to the chair of the Icelandic athletics federation, and FÍF expects to invite him to the Faroe Islands at some point this summer. He is happy to help the Faroese move forward in the effort to gain international membership.
And then the matter of the Bingja came up once again. Fortunately, this will be the last time. The contents have been cleared out and the final bill has been paid.
The discussion then turned to equipment for Tórsbreyt. Adequate starting blocks, pole vault facilities, a PA system and so on. Who should take care of these various things? The meeting felt that Hvirlan and Bragdið, together with FÍF, should draw up a list of the expected equipment and meet jointly with Tórshavn City Council about it.
Guttorm Sørensen then took the floor. As head of the talent group, he regretted the poor support that middle- and long-distance runners show for the Winter Series. Half of all FÍF’s expenditure goes on the talent group, so FÍF should be able to ask for something in return, for example that people take part in the Winter Series. As the main organiser of most competitions, Guttorm felt there should be more order in the competition area during competitions, for example that spectators do not wander around chatting in the competition area, and that all the officials are equally diligent. He also felt that entries for the Faroese Championships and the Faroese Youth Championships have often been rather unserious, and that it should therefore be up to the club/coaches to make the entries for the whole club. That way some of the far too many withdrawals from the competitions can be avoided.
Hilmar Høgenni called for a faster results service. He suggested that someone be given the task of informing the media immediately after a competition who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category, and possibly also what the overall standings look like at that point. The many online news outlets were particularly in mind here.
Tummas Nap. Arge asked whether FÍF has any position on young athletes in FÍF’s member clubs coming into contact with an environment where doping substances are used. Apart from the fact that FÍF is against all forms of doping, there is not much FÍF can do about this. But in any case, coaches who go to training camps with young athletes should instil the right attitude in them and make it clear to them that doping is not only cheating, but also criminal and punishable.
The meeting closed at 21:31.
Chair’s report for FÍF 2013
The written report disappeared from the computer, so here is a belated report, which is also shorter and based on the oral account given at the meeting. Some things have been added, and some things have no doubt been forgotten….
With my third annual report, I stand on the threshold of my fourth year as chair of FÍF. In recent years much of FÍF’s work has settled into a fixed pattern, and this is something I helped build up, even in the years before I became chair. If the clubs want FÍF to change course in some way, or want bigger changes to be made, they should look around for a new candidate for chair for next year. And they should do so in any case, as it is not clear whether I will stand again next year. Besides, it is always good if there is more than one candidate for chair to choose from.
Just before the last annual general meeting, the first coaching course with Faroese instructors was held. The next course is scheduled for as soon as this coming weekend. It is somewhat uncertain how participation will be, as we have not yet heard anything from the clubs. (The day after the annual general meeting it became clear that the course will be postponed until October.)
We are also working on bringing Thomas Nolan to the Faroe Islands. Thomas is one of the very best running coaches in Denmark, and over the past year he has travelled around Denmark holding courses in recreational running. Given the popularity of recreational running in the Faroe Islands right now, this will certainly be an interesting course for the Faroese clubs. The plan was for Nolan to come to the Faroe Islands this spring, but it has not been possible to find a suitable weekend. Work is currently under way to find a weekend in the autumn.
I would also like to give Hvirlan great credit for taking coach education so seriously. Last weekend saw the end of the first part of “Coach 2”, organised by ÍSF. Six of the twenty course participants were from Hvirlan. Members of Hvirlan have also attended “Coach 1”, and several have taken part in the Swedish coach education programme. The result is that Hvirlan has a number of young people coaching children, and is therefore able to take on even more members. This is a success story that I think the other clubs should learn from.
Another success story is that the club in Eysturoy, Roysnið, has come back to life after lying dormant for some years. Runners from Eysturoy have mostly represented Treysti, but over time they have become so numerous that there was now a basis for re-founding the club. It is therefore very pleasing to see representatives of Roysnið at the annual general meeting tonight. It was also pleasing to see their representatives in the new green kit at the last round of the Winter Series. It was likewise pleasing to see the many orange jackets of Frælsi when they organised the third round of the Winter Series in Sørvágur in January. It is heartening to see that there is life there and that they were so well prepared to organise it. In the same way, Hvistan in Suðuroy deserves great credit for organising the sixth round of the Winter Series. They did an excellent job.
FÍF’s website has finally “come home”. Having first been called athletics.fo and then renn.fo, it is now at last named after the federation: www.fif.fo. The chair urges everyone to get used to using this address, although the other addresses are still active. This is of course a small piece of promotion for FÍF.
There is also FÍF’s new clothing agreement with Vilt. The clothing agreement includes new competition kit for both the talent group and the Island Games squad. Colourful jackets for officials and helpers are also part of the agreement.
It has gone less well with the goal of finding a main sponsor for FÍF. On two occasions we thought we had a big fish on the line, but both times it came to nothing. The work of finding a main sponsor continues.
Of the competitions abroad last year, there is little doubt which was the most important. In May, for the first time ever, a Faroese athlete ran under the Faroese flag at a Nordic Championships. That happened at Østerbro Stadion, when Bjørk Herup Olsen ran the 10,000 m.
Another notable result came the day after, when Jens Weihe, in the same area, ran the Copenhagen Marathon. He did no less than win the 65+ category ahead of 90 rivals. This is the first time a Faroese runner has won their category in Copenhagen. Jens’s time was 3:26:33. It should be added that Valborg Heinesen came 2nd in her age group.
Heri Ziska, representing FÍF’s elite group, has also competed at the European Masters Championships in both 2012 and 2013. It is only about a month since he came home from San Sebastián in Spain, where he won bronze in all three events he entered: hammer, discus and weight throw. Although Heri had to represent Denmark, this is a good opportunity for our many sturdy older athletes to take on Europe.
FÍF’s largest ever travelling team went to VU-Spelen at the beginning of July. No fewer than 22 people, including 14 from the talent group, 3 from the senior national team and 5 team leaders, took part. There were many very good results, and we also got four new Faroese records: two for Bjørk Herup Olsen and two for Øssur Debes Eiriksfoss.
The plan is again this year to go to VU-Spelen with the senior national team and the talent group. This should at the same time give the Island Games participants good competition practice two weeks before the Island Games. The Island Games team will be announced on 6 May. So far 10 have achieved the qualification standards.
Activity in the talent group has been declining. Training in the clubs is good and well organised, and it is not the talent group training that moves mountains. In the talent group we have tried various training sessions where everyone can train together. We have also had various outdoor experiences. Developing socially as a group has been/has become one of the aims of the talent group, and we think that has worked well. The plan is to hold two training camps before going to VU-Spelen.
The senior Faroese Championships were somewhat disappointing. To avoid clashing with the summer festival, we had moved them to the second-to-last weekend before Ólavsøka. But then the G! Festival also moved its event a week earlier. This may have been part of the reason for the rather poorer turnout. The weather was nothing to boast about either, and may be the reason why several withdrew at the last minute. Participation was particularly low among women.
On the other hand, the Faroese Youth Championships were once again a huge success this year. 120 participants in 450 starts was yet again a record turnout. The fact that the weather also behaved itself certainly did not make it any worse. The second day began with the clubs parading onto the field, and this was, at least for those of us who have been involved from the start, a very beautiful and moving sight.
The Track Grand Prix was also a great success. Bragdið, Hvirlan and Treysti were each responsible for one meet, and it went splendidly. Having one round of such a Grand Prix in May, one in June and the last in mid-September makes the competition disjointed. This will therefore be changed this year, so that there is one meet in May and two in June. On the last day we have often stood waiting for a long time for the final results to be calculated. To avoid this wait, no medals will be presented on the last evening. Instead, a Grand Prix Afterparty will be held the following Saturday evening with food, socialising and the medal presentation. This will be at the premises of Starvsmannafelagið.
This format leaves more room for the clubs to organise competitions after the summer holidays.
The festival runs were rather sparse this year. The reason was that the competition was not organised as a combined Grand Prix. In 2011 quite a lot of runners took part in the festival runs, but when it came to it, not many had run five of the seven races required to complete the Grand Prix. It was therefore judged that interest in the Grand Prix itself among adults was not great enough for us to organise it in 2012. But now in 2013 there will again be a Grand Prix competition at the festivals, and we hope to see more adults and children at the races.
The Winter Series, which recently finished, was the most popular ever. We must also say that we probably had the best weather ever! There were seven rounds this winter, now that Hvistan and Frælsi also volunteered as organisers. There will probably be one more round next year, which Hvirlan will host. The last round of the Winter Series was also the Faroese 10 km Championships. This has otherwise been run on the Tuesday evening of Eystanstevna, but has now been incorporated into the Spring Series. This will probably also be the format next year.
The clubs have been very active indoors this winter. And that no fewer than 80 Faroese people were in Reykjavík for athletics would have been completely unthinkable just a few years ago. But this was the reality when Hvirlan, Treysti and Bragdið took part in the big indoor competition Stórmót IR. It is also customary for the clubs to send their best athletes to the Danish Youth Indoor Championships, and so it was again this year. There Rebekka Fuglø won two golds and Marnar Djurhuus a bronze. After all the indoor competitions this winter, there are now new men’s records in the 50 m, 60 m, 1,500 m, 3,000 m and 60 m hurdles. For women, there are new records in the 60 m, long jump and triple jump.
The clubs have also been good at coming up with new events. Trail runs, men’s runs, wind turbine runs, Suðuroy 25 K and organised church runs. All new, good and exciting events, which are, however, starting to crowd the overall calendar. Should all events be coordinated by FÍF? A discussion on this is planned under any other business.
Work on the statistics database is now back on track. The Icelander Fríðrikur Oskarsson has been responsible for Icelandic athletics statistics for 30 years. He is happy to help us and will let us use his database for the purpose. It will mainly be Regin Reinert, who has previously compiled all Faroese records, and Fríðrikur Oskarsson himself who will be in charge of the work. The final scope of the work has not yet been settled, and no timetable has been set either. But we dare say that the work is now on track.
Next spring the World Half Marathon Championships will be held in Copenhagen. For the first time, the public will be able to run behind all the stars, and in that connection Dansk Atletik Forbund sold 25,000 bib numbers. Knowing that interest would be huge, FÍF ordered bib numbers directly from DAF. There was a rush in the Faroe Islands too, as it took only one day to sell the 100 bib numbers. We then got a few more from DAF, which were no problem to get rid of either. In addition, other Faroese people have bought bib numbers directly from DAF, so there will be more than 150 Faroese people going down to run the World Half Marathon Championships on 29 March next year.
FÍF’s original plan was to organise the trip. But the offer from Atlantic Airways was far from satisfactory. FÍF will therefore NOT organise the flights. Accommodation, however, will be arranged. Information about the trip will mainly be given via the group on Facebook.
In September FÍF hosted the World Harmony Run, an organisation that runs for world peace. They visited schools around the country and passed their torches from hand to hand while running with the children.
We stand on the threshold of yet another new competition year, in which conditions at Tórsbreyt will at long last be improved. The technical room is said to be ready for the first Grand Prix in May. Hopefully there will be lots of activity and lots of good results at Tórsbreyt this summer, but the biggest task lies across the sea in Bermuda in July. I will end by wishing our Island Games team good luck.
And last but not least, I would like to send a big thank you to the clubs for the past year. The clubs have been very active over the past year, and this has taken athletics yet another step forward.
Hallur
