The 2023 EuroHockeyID Championship came to a joyous conclusion on Wednesday with all the teams playing their final fixtures on the main stage at the SparkassenPark before returning to Gladbacher HTC for the after-party.
It concluded three wonderful days and 44 games, featuring 10 different nations and 109 players and 20 officials.
Irish player Matthew Burke said of the festival: “I had an absolute ball and I am going to do it next time and the year after that because it is so much fun. It is an absolute pleasure!”
EuroHockey Vice President and the event’s representative Inez Cooper added: “It has been amazing, every year gets better and better in terms of standard but one thing that is always the same is the spirit, the heart, the fun, the camaraderie – just how everyone gets on together, from the officials to the teams. That makes it!”
This event was a special return to Mönchengladbach, the first venue which hosted such a competition back in 2011 in conjunction with the EuroHockey Championships.
Sabina Zampetti was the technical delegate; she said she was “super privileged to be here for the third time. This has been another level – it really has been fantastically organised and the players have enjoyed it enormously. We have been blessed with fantastic weather so it has really been a party for life!”
Czech coach Karolina Krizenecka added that the value of the tournament goes far beyond the results but has a vital role to play for each athlete’s development.
“It’s not just sport but social! HockeyID players are becoming more and more confident, not just playing more and more hockey but they really like being in this environment,” she said. “They learn how to treat others, how to make new friends and be happy.”
Italy took the laurels in Championship I with a 6-2 final win over Belgium while in Championship II home side Germany won 7-1 against England.
** To see all the results from the EuroHockeyID Championship, click here
