Europe shares in HatTrick bounty

The UEFA HatTrick board has approved over €6.5m worth of projects at its latest meeting.

Many beneficiaries
England, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Netherlands and the Czech Republic will all benefit from grants from the fund after the board met in Düsseldorf, Germany on Wednesday. The HatTrick programme scheme has now benefited 22 projects with an overall donation of just under €20m.

Mini-pitch progress
The UEFA Jubilee Mini-pitch Project also falls under the HatTrick umbrella, and the Düsseldorf meeting saw mini-pitch projects, each worth around €650,000, approved for England, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. Some €3m-worth of mini-pitch projects have now been approved by the board.

Urban oases
The Mini-pitch scheme aims to encourage each of UEFA's 52 member associations to build one mini-pitch before the end of 2004, offering financial assistance to the associations for their construction. The pitches are part of UEFA's grassroots philosophy of enabling people to play football anywhere and at anytime, especially in built-up areas.

HatTrick project
The HatTrick programme was launched in August 2003 and will run until 2008. It aims to assist UEFA's member associations with the funding of projects designed to develop and improve their footballing infrastructures. There are three main elements to the programme: direct financial support in the form of one-off grants, payments for the construction of mini-pitches as part of the UEFA Golden Jubilee celebrations, and assistance with education courses.

Encouraging results
At the meeting, the UEFA HatTrick Board noted that the HatTrick programme is now in full swing and has already produced encouraging results both in terms of sustainable infrastructure projects and in providing football facilities for people of all ages all over Europe.