26th April 2018: With just 3 weeks to the start of the EHCC 2018 it’s time to have a look at the amazing hockey players and teams that will be on display in Surbiton 17th – 20th May.
KO format:
Similar to EHL for men, the EHCC operates under a knock out format and teams are seeded according to their current ranking.
Match Schedule:
Day 1, 17th May, sees all 8 teams in action with 4 of those teams heading to the semi-finals on Saturday 19th, whilst the losers go to KO classification games on Friday.
Click here for the full schedule
Current Champions:
Looking in as an outsider you might be mistaken in thinking that this is in fact the ‘Den Bosch’ Cup as the ladies from ‘s Hertogenbosch have lifted the title no less than 5 times since the new format of this event was launched in 2010.
Who are ‘s Hertogenbosch?
HC ‘s-Hertogenbosch, also known as ‘HC Den Bosch’, is a Dutch hockey club, which was founded on July 14, 1937 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. With over 2,500 members it ranks with some of the largest hockey clubs in the Netherlands. The army of yellow and black juniors being a familiar sight around the club, many days during the week!
There is no doubt that Den Bosch come into the EHCC as firm favourties. They have no fewer than 10 players currently in the Dutch squad all hoping for a spot in the World Cup, which will be played in London in July.
The superstars:
In a team of superstars it’s a hard job to pick out a few extra shining stars but undoubtedly Ireen van den Assem, Lidewij Welten and indeed Headcoach Raoul Ehren remain at the core to the success of the team. It will be the end of an era for the ‘elder lemon’ as Marlies Verbruggen retires at the end of the EHCC. It seems that retiring at the end of EHCC as the legend Maartje Paumen also retired at the end of EHCC in 2017. It was an incredibly memorable moment for all hockey fans as she was honoured by the junior army of yellow and black!
Record Breakers:
Den Bosch broke its own record of ‘Longest series without a loss’ in the Dutch National League this year. From 2002-2004 the team played 48 matches without a loss. Since November 2015 till April 8th the team have now won 50 games without a loss. Not hard to see why they are favourites in Surbiton!
Tomorrow we will feature some news on ParaHockey (ID) at the EHCC in Surbiton… exciting times indeed!
The EHCC is one of the 11 events we have running over the Whitsun weekend. To see where the other events are on, click below.
EuroHockey events over Whitsun:
EuroHockey Club Cup, Women, Surbiton, England
EuroHockey Club Trophy, Women, Dublin, Ireland
EuroHockey Club Challenge I, Women, Edinburgh, Scotland
EuroHockey Club Challenge II, Women, Ghent, Belgium
EuroHockey Club Challenge III, Women, Vienna, Austria
EuroHockey Club Trophy, Men, Vienna, Austria
EuroHockey Club Challenge I, Men, Geneva, Switzerland
EuroHockey Club Challenge II, Men, Lipovci, Slovenia
EuroHockey Club Challenge III, Men, Copenhagen, Denmark
EuroHockey Club Challenge IV, Helsinki, Finland
EuroHockey U14 EHCC, Women, Surbiton, England
LIVE STREAMING:
We will be announcing which venues will be Live Streamed via www.eurohockeytv.org soon.
SOCIAL CHANNELS:
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#EHClub2018 #EHCC #U14EHCC
Photograph: Maartje Paumen with the EHCC Cup, 2017 (Ady Kerry (c))