Change to the EHF Competitions Calendar

Following the FIH changes to the International Tournament Calendar, EHF has had to make some changes to our European Calendar. The main change is the rescheduling of the Junior World Cup, from 2017 to 2016. Normally the EHF schedules its qualifying tournaments a year before.
These tournaments include:
EuroHockey Championships – qualfiers for Olympic Games 2016 & World Cup 2018
EuroHockey Junior (U21) Championships – qualfiers for Junior World Cup
EuroHockey Youth (U16) Championships – (new) qualifiers for Youth Olympic Games 2018
The Competitions Committee Outdoor, and following their recommendations the Executive Board of EHF, have reviewed the consequences of the rescheduling of the International Calendar and agreed the following changes for the various tournaments. They have kept in mind the following principles:
• If a tournament is a qualifying tournament, then it needs to be played in the year preceding the FIH tournament for which it is a qualifier;
• A qualifying tournament will be played in the same format as the tournament for which it is a qualifier;
• The U16 and U18 Tournaments need to be played in separate years to give as much chance as possible to develop the youth;
• The EuroHockey Championships and EuroHockey Junior (U21) Championships will now be played in the same year. To prevent congestion we have to schedule these tournaments very carefully.
Senior Championships
The Senior Championships will stay as they are: 2015-2017-2019.
Junior (U21) Championships
In order to have the EuroHockey Junior Championships the year before the Junior World Cups, the year in which it is played will change from even to uneven years. However to play the Junior Championships in 2015 is too short notice. As a solution to this problem the EHF Executive Board decided in March 2014 that the EuroHockey Junior Championships 2014 would be the official qualifier for the 2016 Junior World Cups.
The consequence is, that the next U21 Championships will be played 3 years after the most recent (2014) tournament.
The Junior Championships will therefore be played in 2017-2019-2021.
Youth (U18) Championships
Due to the changes made to the U16 calendar, the U18 dates will also change – from uneven years to even years.
However the U18 Championships that are scheduled for next year (2015), will take place as scheduled. To avoid a gap of 3 years until the next U18 event, the event will also be played in 2016.
From 2016 onwards the EuroHockey U18 Championships will be played every 2 years.
The Youth (U18) Championships will therefore be played in 2015-2016-2018-2020.
Youth (U16) Championships
At the recently held Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing the Hockey5 format was successfully introduced. The next event, also in the Hockey5 format, will take place in 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It has been agreed that the Youth (U16) tournaments in the year preceding the Youth Olympic Games will be the EHF qualifying tournament for these events.
The Youth (U16) Championships will therefore change from a full 11 a side tournament to a Hockey5 format.
In order to have a ranking for the EuroHockey (U16) Hockey5 Championships, it has been decided that prior to the YOG qualifier in 2017, an extra European Hockey5 event will be organised to settle a Hockey 5 ranking in Europe.
This event will take place in 2016. The EHF Competitions Committee Outdoor will look into the format of this 2016 event and will inform the National Associations regarding its decision in due course.
The Youth (U16) Championships (Hockey5) will therefore be played in 2016-2017-2019-2021.
Of course National Associations may continue to play 11-a-side hockey in this age group, but events / matches will not be sanctioned when played during or close to EuroHockey U16 Hockey5 events.
 
New Calendar

EHF Office, October 2014