Final Four nominees for Kånken Youth Retention Award
The Alliance of European Hockey Clubs and Fjällräven are proud to announce the finalists for the 2024 Kånken Youth Retention Award:
Barani Banská Bystrica (SVK)
Jar Idrettslag (NOR)
IFK Grankulla (FIN)
IF Troja-Ljungby (SWE)
The Kånken Youth Retention Award jury had the difficult task of determining the Final Four from multiple excellent applications from around Europe. All applying clubs have strong merits that reflected the below criteria, but the jury finally decided on the quartet from Slovakia, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The criteria for the award, which was introduced in 2019 by the Nordin family, the majority owners of Fjällräven, is as follows:
To be awarded annually to a European ice hockey youth program which emphasizes sustainability through social responsibility and high retention rates among its participants.
Fenix Outdoor / Fjällräven contribute €5,000 and the same amount comes from the E.H.C. Alliance which means that €10,000 will go to the winning club/program. A representative of the winning club will be invited to the Fenix Outdoor European Hockey Awards in Prague on 11 June to receive the award from a representative of the E.H.C. partner.
The jury, which consists of executives from Fjällräven and the E.H.C., put considerable weight on how the clubs explained in their application how they plan to use the €10,000.
A short presentation of the finalists:
Barani Banská Bystrica: The Slovak club, which only started in 2019, tries to get away from the stereotype that every young hockey player tries to become a pro. The slogan of Barani is “Best Club in Developing People”, and the main focus points are: Responsibility, Teamwork, Respect, Openness, Growth and Joy, Love & Passion. The club puts a strong emphasis on retention.
https://barani.sk
Jar Idrettslag: Jar is a district in the municipality of Baerum some ten kilometers west of Norway’s capital Oslo and ice hockey is one of six sports on the club’s program. The club’s motto "As many as possible, as long as possible, as good as possible" reflects very well the spirit of the Kånken Award.
Jar follows a long-term player development plan with an individualized, player-centred approach to development to ensure that every player in our club is catered to.https://jaril.no/ishockey
IFK Grankulla: The name sounds Swedish, but IFK Grankulla is a club from a bilingual area in Finland, some 17 kilometres northwest of Helsinki. The club’s most important task is to support the physical, mental, and social well-being of its players. IFK tries to minimize drop-out through several admirable actions, like keeping expenses low for families, parent education and qualified coaches.https://grifkhockey.fi/
IF Troja-Ljungby: The club from south-central Sweden has a long history of developing talent. Troja-Ljungby has around 390 active players from the age 5 and upwards and the club puts extra emphasis on recruiting girls by holding girls-only practices on weekends. The club also offers boys and girls, regardless of talent level, the opportunity to combine their studies with training during school hours. https://troja-ljungby.com/
Former winners of the Kånken Youth Retention Award:
2020: Pilsen Wolves, Czechia
2021: EC-KAC Klagenfurt, Austria
2022: Pelicans Lahti, Finland
2023: Kárpáti Farkasok, Hungary
The winner will be announced on 11 June during the E.H.C. European Hockey Awards Gala Dinner in Prague.
