The men’s EuroHockey5s Championships 2022 will be taking place on 6-9 July in Wlacz Poland, with 13 teams lining up to contest the inaugural event. 

The pool matches take place over the 6-8 July, with the matches to decide the final placements all taking place on an exciting final day of action on 9 July. Not only will the winning team make history as first ever EuroHockey5s champions but the competition will also see the top three teams qualify for the Hockey5s World Cup which takes place in Oman in 2024.

Pool A comprises Armenia, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Poland and Ukraine, while Pool B sees Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey taking to the field. 

While there will be a host of players who are experiencing senior international hockey competition for the first time, there will also be some athletes bringing a wealth of knowledge to the event in Poland. Sander de Wijn is one such player. A silver medallist from the London Olympic Games 2012, de Wijn has more than 150 senior 11-a-side caps to his name. 

Also bringing his considerable hockey CV to the event will be Belgium coach Xavier Reckinger. The former Belgium international was most recently Head Coach to the German women’s team but returned to the Belgium Hockey Federation’s impressive coaching set-up last year. He will be pushing his Red Lions to achieve as highly as their 11-a-side compatriots.

Another coach who is well known across the international circuit is Austria Head Coach Cedric D’Souza. The former India national goalkeeper has been coach to the India hockey team, the national men’s team of Greece and the Austria U18 team. His knowledge and experience of getting the best from his players will leave Austria well-placed at this event.

While the Netherlands and Belgium would be expected to be among the medal hopefuls, there are other nations with strong credentials. Poland were recent silver medallists at the inaugural FIH Hockey5s event in Lausannne, losing out in a 4-3 thriller to India in the final. Robert Pawlak and Mateusz Nowakowski were among those on the score-sheet in Lausanne and will hope to go one better this time.

Switzerland are another team who will be calling on recent Hockey5s experience as they take to the pitch on 6 July. Goalkeeper Lars Kleikemper and the experienced Patrick Kruesi will be among the players Head Coach Daniel Weisser will be looking to for inspiration. 

The beauty of the sport is its fast-paced nature and potential for high scores. As was demonstrated at the event in Lausanne, the momentum can shift from team to team very quickly and the unexpected is always just an incisive pass away.

For the uninitiated, Hockey5s is a relatively new addition to the suite of hockey formats. It has been played at international level for a number of years, notably at the 2014 and 2018 Youth Olympics. It is also popular in places where full-sized pitches are more difficult to access, such as some of the Oceania nations and many nations in the Pan American Hockey Federation. 

Hockey5s is played on an smaller pitch with five athletes from each team on the pitch at any one time. The ball is in play for about 90 per cent of the time as it can be played off the side boards and back boards. The duration of the matches is two 10 minute halves. The playing area is half the size of an outdoor field.

Players can shoot from anywhere but the ball must be touched in the attacking half by a member of the attacking team for a goal to count. 

The EuroHockey5s competition gets underway with a pool A match between Luxembourg and Belgium. The second match will have an emotional undercurrent as it sees Ukraine take to the pitch against Armenia. 

All in all, 47 matches will be played to decide the EuroHockey5s champions of 2022. 

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