International Canoe Federation

What is the Athlete’s Committee?
It’s a team that represents Canoe Athletes in the ICF and cooperates with other technical committees, for example the Anti-Doping, Canoe Slalom, Canoe Sprint and all the other Canoe Discipline Committees.

What are our goals?
To represent the Athletes, be their voice within the ICF and work for the benefit of each Athlete.

How do we work?
The Committee holds an annual meeting with all its members. We revise all completed action and propose actions for the coming year. The Committee also participates in meetings held by each Canoe Discipline’s Standing Committee. The Athlete’s Committee is also present at each Board of Directors Meeting where it contributes and votes. The ICF’s Athlete’s Committee also attends meetings with the IOC’s Athlete’s Committees.

How is the Athletes Committee composed?
We are 6 members and all of us are retired athletes. We have two Canoe Slalom athletes and two Canoe Sprint athletes. All are elected by Athlete’s in their respective Word Championships. The remaining two Committee members are from other disciplines, proposed by their National Federation and elected by all members of the ICF Board at the Board of Directors meeting.

Main activities to date
Starting only in 2007, the Athlete’s Committee is relatively new. The work so far has included undertaking surveys of the Athletes each year. Present at the Board of Directors meetings, at the ICF Congress and at the International Athletes Forum, the Athlete’s Committee has created and established its Statutes and organised the first election of the Athletes Representative. With a presence at the bigger events during 2009, information was distributed to and a meeting was held with some athletes.

Ongoing Activities
Going forward, the Athlete’s Committee will prepare a guide for Athlete’s about their rights. It will work towards establishing links between all the Athlete’s representatives in the National Federation and will continue to gather Athletes’ opinions through different surveys.

For more information contact Pierpaolo Ferrazzi, Chairman of the Athlete’s Committee.