FHC thanks Yan Huckendubler

November 4, 2010

Field Hockey Canada would like to thank Yan Huckendubler for his outstanding work and support to FHC both leading up to and during the Commonwealth Games.  Yan was named as the media attaché for Canadian field hockey (as well as archery, boxing, and table tennis) by Commonwealth Games Canada.  Luckily for us, Yan had already been a supporter of field hockey for many years through his involvement with the FHC Board of Directors, special events, and various committees (both domestic and international).

Yan’s presence on the ground in Delhi was especially valuable in the days leading up to the arrival of the teams when the state of the athletes’ village was drawing international concern.  The resident of Chelsea, Quebec would provide daily updates to national office staff on issues particularly relevant to the field hockey teams.  We were then able to relay this extremely useful information in order to lessen the anxiety of our coaches, athletes, parents, and members.

Not only did he provide us with this information, but Yan was also part of the Commonwealth Games Canada contingent who were personally cleaning the rooms in order to ensure they were suitable for our athletes.

As media attaché he already had many responsibilities while in Delhi, including arranging and managing all on-site media contact with the athletes.  This was compounded by the naming of a field hockey athlete, Ken Pereira, as flag bearer.  Yan provided Ken with background support, speaking notes, and prep for many interviews during the Games.

Yan then took it upon himself to write game reports, film YouTube videos, and take pictures of our field hockey teams before, during, and after their matches prior to his departure.  His work provided a more personal and in-depth look at our Commonwealth Games hockey teams not covered on any other medium.  The result of this work was a record number of visitors to the FHC website and social media platforms (the FHC Facebook page increased by over 2000 followers throughout the Games).

In order to accomplish all of this Yan no doubt had to sacrifice many hours of much needed sleep – we would still be getting emails from him at 2:00am local time!  For this, the entire Field Hockey Canada community is very grateful.

Yan, thank you once again for all the work you do for our sport.

Best regards,

Mary C., Karen, Louis, Robin, Ian, Andrea, Mary T., Todd, Andrew, Sheena, Dawn, and our Commonwealth Games athletes.