** Picture above features the 2022 winners of the ABN AMRO U14 EHL; picture: Arnau Martinez Benavent

The ABN AMRO EHL U14 Boys and Girls tournaments will, once again, form an exciting part of the Euro Hockey League weekend with Pinoké hosting the two six-team competitions.

Each of the top-six ranked national federations on the EHL Ranking List receive one ticket for clubs which they can subsequently allocate how they choose.

On the girls side, there will be teams from the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, England, Belgium and Ireland competing on April 8 and 9.

Portadown won Ireland’s place following a four team qualification competition, coming out ahead of YMCA, Limerick and Galway having previously won the place in the final four as Ulster winners.

“There is a huge buzz about Portadown Ladies Hockey Club at the minute. The girls are working hard with their preparations to compete in the EHL in Amsterdam. This squad is very focused, highly competitive and determined to perform to the best of their ability. 

The girls are working hard with their preparations to compete in the EHL in Amsterdam. This squad is very focused, highly competitive and determined to perform to the best of their ability. 

“Surreal times for these young girls and PLHC, we are all, very ‘Proud to be a Port’.” the club said ahead of the event.

In Belgium, Waterloo Ducks got their spot by a shoot-out after their final qualifier match with Braxgata ended in a 1-1 draw. Those two sides went into the decider as the highest ranked youth teams after the first half of the season.

HDM were the Netherlands’ Under-14 winners in 2022 to get their ticket to the event. This enthusiastic team became Dutch champions last year and will include  a number of younger players. Under the inspiring leadership of coaches Wiegert Schut – captain of HDM’s first men’s team – and Pien van der Heide, a player with the club’s women’s first team – these girls have proven to be a formidable opponent, putting fun and team spirit first. 

Harvestehuder THC got the German nomination as the current national Under-14 champion, building their game around clean defence and a winning mentality. They came through three shoot-outs, twice after scoring equalisers in the last minutes of their games, once coming back from 2-0 down in the final quarter.

The famous quote “offence wins games but defence wins championships” is the perfect description for this team.

Surbiton were nominated by England Hockey while Club de Campo will be the Spanish representative. 

Pool A features HDM, Harvestehuder THC and Waterloo Ducks; Pool B has Surbiton, Portadown and Club de Campo. They play an initial round-robin group phase; the top two in each group advance to the semi-finals with each team subsequently playing positional playoff games.

The boys competition features teams from Belgium, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, England and France.

From Belgium, KHC Dragons qualified as their national representative following a 3-2 shoot-out win against Uccle Sport in their decider after normal time ended 2-2. 

The  team consists of players of 2009 and 2010 and, for the EHL tournament, they have invited two promising players of 2011 in order to experience this unique adventure all together.

 On the coaching front, Sebastiaan Geers brings plenty of EHL know-how, playing multiple EHL games with Dragons men’s team between 2019 and 2022. 

Like their girls counterparts, current German Under-14 champions Harvestehuder THC following success in October 2022 with players ranging from 2008 to 2010.

After their win over Munich SC in the German semi-finals, they beat Uhlenhorst Mülheim in the final on Sunday after a shoot-out a day later. They also added the German indoor title this month with finals weekend victories over Uhlenhorst and Rot-Weiss Köln, again in a shoot-out.

Bloemendaal qualified by winning the Dutch 2022 championship and the side consists of players who became Dutch champions last year and a number of younger players. 

This year, they will again play at the highest national level which has just started after the winter break. The team is supported by the head coach Casper van der Veen, player in the first Bloemendaal men’s team, as well as the assistant coach and team manager. “With lots of fun and teamwork we go for the best possible result!”

Racing Club de France have been the French Under-14 winners for the past few years to be part of this line-up and the team is a bunch of friends playing since their youngest years at «La Boulie» .

Thanks to dedicated International coaches like Simon Martin-Brisac, they are part of a golden generation who won almost everything in France. “The challenge is huge but, as always, they will give everything on the field. ALLEZ RACING”.

England’s Surbiton and Spain’s Atlètic Terrassa were nominated by their national federations to be included.

It follows the same format as the girls tournament; Bloemendaal, HTHC and Surbiton are in Pool A and Atlètic Terrassa, KHC Dragons and Racing Club de France play in Pool B.

Entry for the EHL U14 at Pinoké is free of charge.

ABN AMRO EHL U14 Boys and Girls

Boys: https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/314 

Pool A: Bloemendaal (NED), Harvestehuder THC (GER), Surbiton (ENG)

Pool B: Atlètic Terrassa (ESP), KHC Dragons (BEL) Racing Club de France (FRA)

Girls: https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/315 

Pool A: HDM (NED), Harvestehuder THC (GER), Waterloo Ducks (BEL) 

Pool B: Surbiton (ENG), Portadown (IRL), Club de Campo (ESP)