During the women’s final at the Rabo EuroHockey Championships, European Hockey Federation (EHF) presented on the pitch the three latest inductees to its prestigious Hall of Fame. Kate Richardson-Walsh (ENG), Maartje Paumen (NED) and Moritz Fürste (GER) were joined on the Wagener Stadium pitch by EHF President Marijke Fleuren and previous Hall of Fame inductees Teun de Nooijer, Pol Amat and Santi Freixa.
Kate Richardson-Walsh (England/Great Britain)
Few get to choose when they sign off on an international career; even fewer get to sign off with a fairytale ending. After 17 years with England and GB, four Olympic Games, 14 elite level medals but never a gold, and the guts of 13 years of captaincy, the promised land finally came in a 375th and final cap for Kate Richardson-Walsh, gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Moritz Fürste (Germany)
With his gleaming smile framing his boundless passion and energy for hockey, Moritz Fürste becomes the first German man to be inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame. Moritz on being inducted: “It’s a great honour, especially because it’s a public vote and I honestly didn’t expect it, especially because my country is not famous for voting publicly for anyone! I’m incredibly honoured and think this is a great institution that there is a hall of fame. There are many players who deserve to be part of it. I am thrilled to be one of them. Titles were never the motivation for me to compete. If that was the case, I could have stopped six years ago when we basically had every title won! I have to be very thankful to every team mate I ever played with who made it happen.”
Maartje Paumen (The Netherlands)
Maartje Paumen, a golden player from a golden generation of Dutch teams, had a glittering 11 year career in orange, winning everything possible in the world game multiple times. Indeed, her first tournament – the 2004 Champions Trophy in Argentina when still a teenager – ended with a first place finish, a sign of what was to come. She would go on to win Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012, the World Cup in 2006 and 2014 and European Championships in 2005, 2009 and 2011. During that time, she was named World Player of the Year in 2011 and 2012 as extra recognition for her incredible career, scoring 195 goals in her 235 internationals. She is also the all-time top scorer in Olympic women’s hockey. In addition, she is also the all-time top scorer in the Dutch Hoofdklasse, winning the competition 10 times along with nine European Club Championships.
About the EHF Hall of Fame
Since its foundation in 1969, the EHF has always valued its players with Best Player, Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper awards at all of our Tournaments. However in recent years, as the players, coaches and umpires have perfomed better, given more, developed themselves through their actions on and off the field of play, we feel that it is now time to honour those very special people that are involved on the field in hockey. The idea of a Hall of Fame, a place (albeit a virtual one) where people can admire, enjoy and revel in the achievements of the greatest in our sport.
The EHF Hall of Fame is our way of honouring and highlighting some of the most significant figures in European Hockey. The inaugural inductees into the EHF Hall of Fame are all International Senior players, have all consistently displayed high levels of sportsmanship, and have had a deep and meaningful impact in hockey on and off the pitch.
The official launch of the EHF Hall of Fame took place during the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships in Boom, BEL on the 23rd – 24th August, 2013. Teun de Nooijer (NED), Santi Freixa (ESP) and Natascha Keller (GER) were inducted.
In 2015, the EHF inducted two new members during the Unibet EuroHockey Championships in London, ENG. On 29th August 2015; Pol Amat (ESP) and Nikki Symmons (IRL) joined the elite group of EHF Hall of Famers.
Source: EHF/Stephen Findlater
EuroHockey Official Site
