Belgium Red Panthers are sitting at the top the FIH Hockey Pro League after two wins and a loss in their opening three matches.
Of course it is very early days in the competition, with only three women’s teams involved so far, but that doesn’t stop the Belgium players from feeling pleased with the progress the team is making under new Head Coach Raoul Ehrens.
Emma Puvrez and Abi Raye joined FIH during a break in training at the new Belgium Hockey Federation Centre of Excellence to talk about the team’s performance so far and their hopes for the coming months.
‘Hockey in Belgium is moving in a very professional direction and the national teams are being pushed to achieve more,’ said Abi Raye, who moved to Belgium from Canada a few years ago.
‘The fact that we are now at our highest position ever in the FIH World Rankings and at the top of the FIH Hockey Pro League is just motivating us to do better and better,’ added Puvrez.
Reflecting on the opening match, Raye said: ’We didn’t make an ideal start [conceding a goal in the opening minute of the first match], but we showed how strong we were mentally to come back from that and not let it faze us. A big learning point was about how to start a game. We kept the game very tight after that.’
Belgium went on to lose their opening game against the Dutch 2-0, but then played two matches against Germany, winning both games.
‘For us, our aim was to play a high level and we did very well,’ said Puvrez.
‘We did have to cope with a cherry picker on the pitch and the match was delayed for an hour and half,’ said Raye, ‘But both teams dealt with that well.’
The first match against Germany saw the Red Panthers create many chances but only score one goal. It is a point that makes Raye wince as it is mentioned.
‘As a striker, that makes me cringe but yes, it is a case of building our connections a bit better. We have done a lot of drills to make those connections better. It is definitely a focus point for us.’
While the open play goals didn’t flow freely, but three goals came from penalty corners. ’We now know that if we get a penalty corner, we have a lot of faith in our penalty corner strikers,’ said Puvrez. ‘It is something that we have really worked on.’
Looking forward to the second match against the Netherlands, both players are relishing the opportunity to play the best team in the world.
‘There is always so much we can learn,’ said Puvrez, ‘technically, tactically, how to play faster, better. There is always so much to improve when you play the best team in the world. We will certainly play better than we did in the first game.’
In an earlier interview Puvrez spoke of a top three finish in the FIH Hockey Pro League. This is still very much on the team’s radar.
‘We can aim high, the team believes,’ said the defender. ‘Our coach talks about medals. he gets us to imagine what it feels like to be in a final. We can start believing we are getting there. It is not an easy goal, but it is possible.’
‘Mental training and a winning culture is also something we have been working on and it is growing and developing,’ said Raye. In a nod to her Canadian roots, she added: ‘ It is working into a snowball at the moment.’
Watch the full interview on Watch.Hockey.
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