From 28 June to 1 July, the best women’s Hockey5s teams from Europe, will gather in Walcz, Poland for the EuroHockey5s Championship 2023, with three spots up for grabs in the inaugural FIH Hockey5s Women’s World Cup Oman 2024. 

A total of 10 teams will be in action at the championship, split into two pools of 5 teams in the initial round. Georgia, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, and Wales are placed in Pool A, while Austria Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and Ukraine will compete in Pool B. The competition gets underway on 28 June at 10am local time (CEST) with Ukraine taking on Sweden in the Pool A encounter. 

Each team in the pool stage will play the other teams in their pool once. The top two teams in both pools will qualify for the semi-finals. Teams placed third and fourth in the pool stage will compete in 5-8 place classification while the bottom placed teams in both pools will fight for 9th place. Following the semi-finals, the losing teams will play in the bronze medal match. The two finalists and the bronze medalist will qualify for the FIH Hockey5s Women’s World Cup 2024. 

Speaking on the eve of the event, Coach Mathias Schaeben of Switzerlands said: “Hockey5s is an interesting format that is very attractive and fast, especially for the spectators. With the possibility of qualifying for the 2024 World Cup in Oman, the European Championship in Walcz offers a great opportunity to strive for something big and of course pushes this event“.

Joanne Westwood, captain of the Wales team said: “Myself and the team are very excited to play this new type of hockey. It will be short, sharp, fast and lots of goals. New fresh face to the game so we are ready and raring to go.”

Ukrainian star Yevheiya Kernoz mentioned the difficult times her country and it's citizens are facing and said: “Because of the war, we must play in different parts of the world. But thanks to this, we became stronger and united. We fight for our victory in war and on the playing field. Now, our purpose is EuroHockey5s in Poland. It will be a fist Eurohockey5s tournament for our team. We are ready to fight and win!”

Find out more about the teams participating at the EuroHockey5s Championship 2023 Women by clicking here. 

The inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup 2024 will be played in Muscat, Oman from 24-31 January 2024, with 16 teams competing in both men’s and women’s tournaments. 

In the men’s competition Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland from Europe, and Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria from Africa have qualified for the World Cup. USA, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica have qualified from the Americas alongside hosts Oman. 

In the women’s competition Namibia, South Africa and Zambia from Africa and USA, Uruguay and Paraguay from the Americas have qualified for the World Cup, alongside hosts Oman. Apart from the three qualifiers from Europe, three more teams from Oceania and Asia will also qualify for the World Cup.