Head of organizing committee Jiri Besser: We did our best for the tournament and the sport

The championship is back in Pardubice after three years also thanks to your efforts. It must be pleasing for you as an organizer…
Of course there is always strong competition for hosting a world event like this. There was big interest for this year’s championship by Tampere and Vancouver. These cities will get the tournament one and two years later, respectively. It was difficult to get the championship, but the experience from 2011 helped us. The tournament was rated very positively not only by IIHF, but also by teams and players. We tried to do our work in the best way we can also this year.

Where do you see main reasons for assigning the championship back to Pardubice after just three years? Was it the high attendance?
The IIHF was happy with overall organization. We managed to push games of the Czech team on TV which is not common in inline hockey. Other countries like Germany where the championship took place in last two years simply cannot do it. That´s where we have some advantage. The attendance was also important, high numbers were partly due to the success of the Czech team. It is true that even great attendance here was not enough to beat Ingolstadt where German games had 6500 on average, but the atmosphere in Dresden or Karlstad four years ago was not so good. It depends a lot on the success of a home team.

„We managed to push games of the Czech team on TV which is not common in inline hockey.“

Was there any possible host city other than Pardubice?
There are many factors in choosing the host city. First of all, we must have facilities and accommodation for all 16 teams which is a high number. There have to be two rinks with preferably ice court surface, since this is one of the main partners of IIHF. From 2011, we have this surface in CEZ Arena. We also have good relations with local ice hockey club. They allowed us to use their locker rooms which are perfect because otherwise some teams would have to dress outside in special cells.

When does the actual preparation for the tournament start?
The preparation starts approximately a year before the tournament, stepping up a month or two before the championship. By that time, you already run at 100% and don´t think about anything else other than inline. It is a big event hosted by IIHF and we try to give the sport an additional value, make it attractive for partners. With two weeks to go, some of the most engaged staff don´t sleep more than 5 or 6 hours a day.

When it comes to promotion and PR of the tournament, did everything go as planned?
We had a problem with dates of the tournament right from the start. In the original plan, the championship was due to take place in the middle of June when the World Cup is played. That would mean no Czech TV and I am convinced also minimal spectator interest. Fortunately, we were allowed to move the date forward. The promotion was focused on TV and outdoor advertising in Pardubice region. We tried to promote the event also elsewhere, but not so intensively as here.

Was there any kind of complication that occurred before or during the tournament?
There was nothing serious before the tournament, but unfortunately we had the affair with Swedish team during the tournament. We already commented that the organizing committee cannot be held responsible for player´s behaviour. On the other side we are very sorry for that because no one likes to see bad image created for the tournament. We did our best for the championship so that spectators, teams and IIHF are all happy.

Do you already have some feedback and review of this year´s tournament?
We had a directoriate meeting two days before the end where, among other things, we got some feedback on satisfaction with the tournament. All teams expressed their thanks and said they had no problem with accommodation, food or service during the tournament. Also IIHF praised our work which was helped by the TV broadcasts. We do very good promotion and advertisement to a sport that still does not reach the popularity of ice hockey.

Do you already have some hard numbers on attendance or TV viewers?
We will analyse the attendance shortly after the tournament. Of course, it was not helped by the early elimination of Czech team. The interest from abroad is not as big as the one generated by the home team, especially in this kind of sport. The attendance on Czech games in the group and quarterfinal was even better than three years ago, around 3000 spectators. We tried to make games more accessible to broad range of spectators, approached schools, local fan club and offered them special deals or some free tickets.

„The attendance on Czech games in the group and quarterfinal was even better than three years ago.“

Is it possible to predict when will the inline championship return to the Czech Republic?
The fact that we have a world championship here twice in four years is a big success, especially with strong competition from Tampere and Vancouver with stronger financial backing. I think that within next five or six years, it won´t be possible to host another IIHF inline championship in the Czech Republic. We are happy we managed to run and organize this year´s tournament with no problems and that we provided fun and joy for many people who came to see those games.

How many people are needed to organize an international tournament on this scale?
There are many people: lots of volunteers, part-time staff, 16 team hosts. If I count them all together, the sum is approximately 80 people you need to coordinate. On the other hand, they help us by being independent. We tried to have a team similar to 2011, with experience from the previous championship. They deserve huge thanks. I would like to specifically thank Petra Panchartkova, Dan Palascak, Petr Bursik, Michal Kouba and Radek Klier who all did a fantastic job.