From the President 23/12/2010
Dear EHFA Colleagues and Friends,
It is my pleasure to wish you the very best for the festive period. As the holiday season brings a slight pause to the pace of life, it has given me the time to reflect on the past year and the development of EHFA, our association, which we are building together.
There can be no doubt that over the past 4 years our association has developed apace. Our footprint has grown to over 9,000 facilities in 23 European countries. 2010 has been another very busy year for EHFA and it is my fervent wish that we can sustain this momentum long into the future.
I am grateful for the support and commitment that we continue to receive from the industry right across Europe, from the board rooms to the gym floors.
Whether it is the industry’s key corporate leaders coming together to strategise and chart the future growth of the industry at the Executive Leadership Forum, to 128 delegates from across the industry joining the 3rd European Fitness Forum, to the growing ranks of fitness professionals joining the European Register of Exercise Professionals, particularly in the Netherlands where the Dutch national Register (EREPS.NL) now thrives, EHFA continues to rally support for its drive to professionalise our sector and get more people, more active, more often.
It is heartening to see the growing respect and recognition that this work is gaining internationally.
A highlight of the year for me was the Global Meeting on International Standards which brought together key training, certification and awarding bodies from across the globe, with many important organisations joining EHFA from the United States, Australia, South Africa and from across Europe to identify and to discuss all matters on which they could agree, rather than major on the things that they do not necessarily agree on at this point in time. The participants agreed for EHFA to make this an annual event and to build on the cooperation that was established in London.
That this happened is testament to the fantastic work being driven forward by the EHFA Standards Council led by Prof Dr Alfonso Jimenez as its Chairman.
This is work that is only possible with the commitment and passion provided by volunteers from across Europe who are dedicated to the future development of their industry and we are extremely grateful to all of them.
It is right that EHFA annually recognise this work and I was delighted last April to present Xavier Martin Dias, of Les Mills International, with the first Standards Council Award for Personal Achievement. This very important work will no doubt continue to accelerate in the coming years.
However, without roots, no tree will ever grow. EHFA are helping to lay the foundations which will secure the success of the fitness industry for many years to come. The growing numbers of national associations which are emerging across Europe offer a stable basis on which we can grow the European fitness industry.
The emerging associations, in particular Hungary where passionate leadership is clearly having a major impact, offer rallying points in each member state around which the fitness industry can organise itself, first locally and then internationally.
It was very pleasing to host the EHFA 3rd Annual National Associations Forum in London this November and to see it grow, year on year, as more industry leaders rise to the challenge of growing the industry in their member states.
And why is this all important? If we as an industry wish to create a positive operating environment in which we can all flourish, we need to ensure that we are respected as a professional sector, now and in the future.
It is reassuring to see that the European Commission certainly believes that we are developing into a professional sector.
This year, we were supported by the European Commission to undertake the largest review of evidence of the benefits of health enhancing physical activity campaigns from the perspective of the fitness sector.
This led to the industry wide expression of the role of the European health and fitness sector in improving public health. “Becoming the Hub” was a challenging project but has been hugely rewarding, especially as we are now beginning to see the influence that it will have in the future.
There can be no doubt that EHFA now has the position as a respected partner of the European Commission; the public health challenges posed by obesity and lifestyle related conditions are societal in nature and these require a societal response. Our industry has a place in the front line when it comes to meeting these particular challenges.
Word reaches EHFA of a review in 2011, at World Health Organisation level, of the benefits of providing “exercise on prescription”; we know that the European Commission has just launched a review of VAT regulations; we know that the European Commission is looking to EHFA to lead a preventative strategy with the ambition of eradicating doping practices, where they are found to exist; and we know, that with a clear strategy through until 2016 agreed by the EHFA General Assembly in April 2010, we have a clear way to drive forward the development of our industry in Europe.
I want to encourage all of you this Christmas, to take time out to reflect about your organisation and your personal contribution to our industry. I hope that you too are able to look back on a good year, which has provided you both personal and professional fulfilment. In 2011, EHFA will be working hard to still further improve our industry and we hope that all of you will be making your contributions too. We all look forward to working with you.
I am grateful also to the EHFA Board of Directors who have so ably assisted me this year and for their wise counsel on so many issues.
And lastly, but by no means least I would like to say a great big “Thank You” to the EHFA Team as well as all of the volunteers who contributed to our work in 2010. Without you all the work could not have been done as well and certainly would not have been as much fun to do. Thank you.
Yours,
Harm Tegelaars
President
Brussels, 23 Dec 2010