The U16 National Field Hockey team is taking part in its first tournament, the EuroHockey5s U16. The team left Luxembourg Airport on Wednesday morning and will take part in the tournament hosted in Albena, Bulgaria between 4 and 6 July.
According to the Luxembourg Hockey Federation Committee, the team’s vision for the tournament is to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as their mid-term goal and thus becoming the first Luxembourgish team sport to participate in the Olympics.
Above all, the U16 team is inspired by their Belgian neighbours who managed to climb their way to the top of the sport, becoming world champions in just a few years.
The team highlighted how the Belgium Field Hockey team went from having a goal of qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, to then aspire to a podium position at Rio in 2016. The Luxembourgish U16 team hopes to follow in the Belgian footsteps.
The Bulgarian tournament will be an opportunity for the team to gain experience and examine where they need to improve. As the national trainer, Ignacio Gomez-Acebus, said, ‘any match victories will be the cherry on the cake.’
The team will play against Georgia in their opening match on 4 July, before battling Slovenia and then Finland.
Matches will be streamed live on the Euro Hockey TV website.
