ZURICH – The IIHF’s technical department is hard at work with preparations for the Olympic Games in Sochi. IT Director Martin Zoellner recently brought his 2014 HYDRA team together for the first time for a pre-integration meeting.

With the many complexities that involve setting up a software system for two Olympic hockey tournaments, it’s never too early to get started.

“For us, planning for the Olympics in Sochi started almost as soon as we returned from Vancouver. The team we have assembled has the talent and dedication we require to make sure we deliver on our promises for Sochi,” said Zoellner.

A proprietary software system designed and developed by the IIHF, HYDRA maintains player entry lists, tournament schedules, rosters, tournament progression, and all of the statistics of the tournament for players and teams. In addition, the IIHF IT department uploads the data in real time to www.iihf.com so that the world can follow the progress of their national team.

In addition to the regular members of the IIHF IT department the HYDRA team also includes key contributors who will work as operators and result managers in Sochi. This team brings together an impressive amount of experience, and is comprised of men and women from nine different hockey-playing nations. Half of the team returns from the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, and four members were also in Turin for the 2006 Olympic Games.

While the others are newcomers to the HYDRA team, none of them are newcomers to hockey, and each of them brings an impressive range of credentials. Their experience ranges from working for five years as part of the statistics team for the KHL team in Riga, Latvia, to a former Icelandic national team player.

“Each of the older colleagues have great knowledge and experience in the task we will have to do in Sochi, so I am glad that I had the chance to learn from them and to work together with them,” commented newest team member Sabine Udre.

Convened in Zurich, the HYDRA team covered a wide range of topics. The team had the opportunity to learn about recent enhancements to HYDRA as well as to conduct a hands-on exercise in the IIHF IT lab with simulated games.

Preparations were planned for test events that will take place in Sochi leading up to the Olympics, and the team viewed a presentation on the venues, accommodation, and travel in Sochi from Francesco De Rose, Olympic Project Technology and Coordination, Swiss Timing Limited. When the national teams come together for the 2014 Games, this team will be ready to bring the results to the world.