14th May 2018: Meet Ceclie Pieper, German Olympian and Argentinian Florencia Habif (Flo), Mannheimer HC as they prepare for their first showing in the EHCC.
EHF: What does it mean to be playing for Mannheimer in the EHCC?
Cecile: It’s a big honour! I’ve been playing for MHC since 2006 and this is the first international outdoor tournament for the first ladies team in the history of the club! Just great to be a part of it.
Flo: For me, playing for Mannheimer at the EHCC is very important. I came to the club with many expectations, but we never imagined that we could qualify for a tournament as important as this one, so I think we have to take this opportunity to demonstrate the good team that we are.
EHF: What message would you give to young female hockey players aspiring to get to this level?
Cecile: It might be tough sometimes, but in the end you shouldn’t stop enjoying playing hockey with your friends.
Flo: I would tell all the young people who aspire to reach this level, to train hard, to be persistent and always give their best in each training or in each game, because the effort brings rewards
Both confirmed ‘dog people’, believes that apart from her role on the pitch brings the fun to the team! Flo added that she is “always in a good mood and that’s good to support the team and have a great atmosphere“
EHF: What would you say to a potential new hockey fan as to why they should watch hockey?
Cecile: I can’t think of a reason why you shouldn’t give it a try:) It’s an attractive team sport, with a lot of speed and (hopefully;)) many goals!
Flo: Hockey is a very nice sport, that every time it is becoming more popular and that they should not miss the opportunity to see and enjoy this sport. In this sport you always have someone to share great moments or to support you when thing are not going as you expect. Also can give you the opportunity to meet people around the world and beautiful places
On hearing that the EHCC will be live streamed they were delighted as they believes that it’s a great opportunity to promote hockey and as many Mannheimer fans won’t be able to make the EHCC in London it means that they can still follow the team and be part of the experience! For Flo, who’s family and friends are in Argentina she was really delighted as they can watch her play!
And on the potential €5,000 winners prize money, both agreed that they would probably make use of a part of it right away to celebrate and invest the rest in our next team trip.
Thanks to Cecile and Flo for taking a few moments with us ahead of the EHCC this week. It’s great to have two German teams back in the event and Mannheimer are looking forward to their first game v last year’s finalists UHC. You can watch it live here.
But before that have a quick look at Flo’s favourite trick:
TOURNAMENT WEBSITE:
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TOURNAMENT AND SIDE EVENTS SCHEDULE:
The full schedule is available here
TICKETS:
Tickets are still available – click here
Live streaming:
All the games will be live on www.eurohockeytv.org