Hockey 5s went down a storm at the Youth Olympic Games. Calling for speed, fitness and versatility, players and spectators have given it a thumbs up. Here, three of the players talk about the experience.
Mexico’s Maximiliano Falcon lives and breathes hockey. He started playing when he was 11, encouraged to do so by his hockey-mad physical education teacher. He now trains every day of the week, either for club or country.
While the Youth Olympics is not Maximiliano’s first international competition – he played a club tour in Canada and at the YOG qualifier, the Junior Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico – in terms of quality, it is the best competition he has played in to date.
“The level here is very good,” he says. “In Mexico, it’s always just boys, kids, here, it’s more professional. These players are dedicated to hockey. I expected it to be like this, fast, hard and skillful.”
In the quarter-finals, Mexico lost 8-1 to the eventual winners, Australia. But, while disappointed, Maximiliano says he loves the intensity and pace offered by Hockey 5s. And, as a forward, there is a further advantage to 5s: “You can shoot on goal from anywhere, it’s very challenging. A good scorer can score from anywhere, even from goal to goal, a good flick at the right moment. It’s fun.”
Maximiliano’s teammate, goalkeeper José Hernandez Alarcon, explains that Hockey5s offers a different challenge: “I started playing when I was 10, but I didn’t have the skills to become an outfield player, so I was put in goal. Now I am playing for my country! You have to keep up with the game at all times because possession switches so quickly. To be good in the 5s format, you always have to be switched on.”
So adept between the sticks is José, that he was voted Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the YOG qualifiers. He also played in the 2013 Senior Pan American Cup.
Canadian goalkeeper, Liam Manning, wears his silver medal with pride. Canada took the runners-up spot after a tough encounter with Australia – a close match that had to be decided in a shoot-out.
Liam got into hockey goalkeeping after a short career as an ice-hockey player. He says: “Friends back in Ottawa were playing, and they thought I might be interested because I played ice hockey, so they said ‘Do you want to try it out?’, and I said ‘Sure’. I liked it, and I stuck around.”
His international experience so far has been limited to the YOG qualifier, the Youth Pan-American Games and a three-match test series against the USA. The finals of the YOG is Liam’s sporting pinnacle to date. “We came here ready to do our best, we were going to give everything we had. But you never expect to make a semi-final, let alone the final.”
Like José, Liam feels that Hockey 5s offers the goalkeepers a more continuous challenge. “I get involved in the game and get to touch the ball a lot more than in 11s. The scores are higher, which is a downside for goalies, but on the other hand, the goalies can score if they use their stick. That’s something I enjoy.”
