Monique Scheier-Schneider
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Monique Scheier-Schneider (born 15 October 1954) is a
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...
ice hockey administrator. She has served as president of
Tornado Luxembourg Tornado Luxembourg is a professional ice hockey team in Luxembourg City. The team sometimes plays in FFHG Division 3. However, they are not eligible for the championship because they are a foreign team. Tornado also participates in the Luxembou ...
and negotiated the team's entry into the French Division 3. She became secretary of the Luxembourg Ice Hockey Federation, managing the Luxembourg men's national ice hockey team at international competitions. She was later elected to the
International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...
(IIHF) council, oversaw the 2010 Winter Olympics Women's ice hockey tournament, and presided over the
2011 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship was the 13th edition of the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was held from April 16 to 25, 2011 in Zürich and Winterthur, Switzerland, and t ...
. She was honored by the IIHF with the Paul Loicq Award in 2015 for her contributions to international ice hockey.


Early life

Schneider was born on 15 October 1954, and is a native of
Schifflange Schifflange (; , , , ) is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette. , the commune has a population of 11,363. Schifflange was formed on 15 August 1876, when it was detached from the commune of ...
, Luxembourg. She first became involved in ice hockey as a volunteer scorekeeper in 1974, remaining in the game since.


Luxembourg club ice hockey

Schneider has served as the team president of
Tornado Luxembourg Tornado Luxembourg is a professional ice hockey team in Luxembourg City. The team sometimes plays in FFHG Division 3. However, they are not eligible for the championship because they are a foreign team. Tornado also participates in the Luxembou ...
since 2001. Schneider has operated the Tornado as an amateur team which does not pay its players, and covers its costs by a sponsorship from
Škoda Auto Škoda Auto Akciová společnost, a.s. (), often shortened to Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer established in 1925 as the successor to Laurin & Klement and headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. Škoda Works became State ow ...
. When her tenure as president began, the team played in the fourth German division. When rinks in the
Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...
region closed and the level of play declined, she looked for an alternate solution as opposed to traveling further into Germany for games. Looking for a change, Schneider contacted
Luc Tardif Luc Tardif (born 29 March 1953) is a Canadian-born French ice hockey executive, and former professional ice hockey player. A native of Trois-Rivières, he played junior ice hockey in Quebec, then was an all-star player for the Université du ...
, the head of ice hockey at the French Federation of Ice Sports. In 2005, Schneider negotiated permission for Tornado to play in the French Division 3. As part of the agreement, the team is eligible for promotion to the top
Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...
tier, but cannot become the French champion and represent France at international competitions for club teams. Schneider commented on the agreement by saying, "I think it's fair since we are already Luxembourg's champion by regularly beating our only competitor, the Beaufort club". Since transferring to the French Division 3, Schneider has arranged exhibition games for Tornado in Germany, traveling with them to "Traditional Night" for the
Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany, that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their ho ...
in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
.


Luxembourg national ice hockey

Schneider has served as the general secretary of the Luxembourg Ice Hockey Federation since 1992. Her tasks have included being an off-ice official for games, and building up
minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...
programs in her country. She has participated in congress meetings of the
International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...
(IIHF) as the representative from Luxembourg. Schneider also served as the manager of the Luxembourg men's national under-18 team, and the Luxembourg men's national junior team, in addition to the Luxembourg men's national team. During her tenure, the men's national team won a bronze medal at both the 2005 IIHF World Championship Division III and 2007 IIHF World Championship Division III events. Her Tornado team has supplied many of the players on the national team, and she has stated that "our goal is to continue the history of hockey in Luxembourg and to pass on our passion for this sport to future generations". In 2022, Schneider served as the manager of the Luxembourg women's national team which won a bronze medal at the IIHF Women's Development Cup held in
Kuwait City Kuwait City (; ) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...
.


International ice hockey

In 2008, Schneider became only the third female elected to the IIHF board of directors. She served as a director from 2008 to 2012, and sat on the IIHF's competition and in-line hockey committee. Her duties included supervising the 2010 Winter Olympics Women's ice hockey tournament, and presiding over the
2011 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship was the 13th edition of the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was held from April 16 to 25, 2011 in Zürich and Winterthur, Switzerland, and t ...
. At these events she enforced IIHF regulations, investigated complaints from participating teams, ensured proper advertising procedures, and oversaw the medal presentation and flag-raising ceremonies. She also helped revise and expand game regulations for the
Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...
. The IIHF honored Schneider with the Paul Loicq Award in 2015, for her contributions to international ice hockey. She formally received the award during the 2015 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague. She was surprised to be given the award, considering that she represented a nation in the third division of IIHF competition. She stated that, "You can't ask for more than receiving an award for something you're doing with love and passion. I hope I can still go on some more time because hockey is my life". In 2014, Schneider announced plans to retire from hockey in 2016, stating that she was "proud to have seen hockey in Luxembourg go a long way". She later withdrew as a candidate from the elections for the 2016 IIHF council.


Personal life

Schneider worked as an executive secretary at
ARBED The Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange ( French; literally "United Steelworks of Burbach-Eich-Dudelange"), better known by its acronym ARBED, was a major Luxembourg-based steel- and iron-producing company. Created in 1911 after the merg ...
, then worked in the family's mechanical workshop. She was introduced to hockey in the late 1960s by her husband, Nico Scheier, who was a goaltender for a team in
Beaufort, Luxembourg Beaufort (; ; ) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune and town in eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Echternach (canton), Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher (district), Grevenmacher. Commune In 2024, the town o ...
. Their two sons began playing hockey at ages four and five, and the oldest son Ronny, served as team captain of the Tornado. Her sons and three of her nephews played on the Luxembourg national ice hockey team. Schneider's brother Alain has served as the president of the Luxembourg Hockey Federation.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheier-Schneider, Monique 1954 births Living people 20th-century Luxembourgian women 21st-century Luxembourgian women International Ice Hockey Federation executives Luxembourg national ice hockey team Luxembourgian ice hockey people Luxembourgian sports businesspeople Luxembourgian sportswomen Paul Loicq Award recipients People from Schifflange