FITB President Chris Huang recently attended the the SportAccord Convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was the 5th time he had taken part and the 3rd time the FITB had exhibited at the convention. The FITB had successfully obtained support from the Taiwanese Government to attend and President Huang was able to show the major achievements of the FITB since his last visit.
China hosted the 1st East Asian Tchoukball Championships and International Invitation Matches on 25 to 27 March 2016. 4 countries were involved with nearly 20 teams participating. Singapore was also invited to join the matches. It was a big step for China who are increasingly taking up tchoukball. Elementary, junior and senior high schools from China were involved.
Following the coaching course run the by the FITB in the Czech Republic, President Chris Huang and his delegation visited Switzerland from 01-03 February. President Huang was joined by Pierre-Alain Girardin, the current Swiss Tchoukball President as well as Chiara Volonté, FITB Vice President. During their stay, the group met with Michel Favre, the former President of the FITB and discussed the origins of tchoukball.
The FITB held a C Coaching seminar in Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic on January 30th to 31st. Most of the participants were from Czech Republic with the notable exception of a Polish player taking a 10 hour trip for the qualification and take it back to his country!
The FITB today releases rankings for men and women. Part of the ranking calculation known as the 'Time Weighting' is based on how long ago the ranked event or match took place. With each calendar year, results achieved 2, 3 and 4 years ago become worth less. The 2016 rankings now released no longer include points scored in the 2011 World Tchoukball Championships in Italy.
Jeff Ang, Director of the Technical Commission of the FITB spoke in more detail.