Due to the FIH Calendar congestion and changes in dates to some FIH events, the EHF has reviewed its calendar to ensure a transparent and fair system for all our Member Associations.
After recommendations from the EHF Competitions Committee Outdoor, the EHF Executive Board has made the following changes:
- EuroHockey outdoor club programme for 2019
- EuroHockey U18 Championships will be held in 2020-2021-2023-2025-etc
- EuroHockey Junior Championships will be held in 2019-2022-2024-etc
- EuroHockey Junior Invitational Events played in 2020 (explanation below)
- EuroHockey5s U16 Championships
EUROHOCKEY OUTDOOR CLUB PROGRAMME FOR 2019:
The EuroHockey Club Trophy (Men) was initially scheduled for Easter 2019 but has been moved to Whitsun due to the FIH Calendar congestion. The EuroHockey Club Challenge I (Women) (usually at Whitsun) has been brought forward to Easter due to the FIH Calendar congestion.
EUROHOCKEY U18 CHAMPIONSHIPS:
For the EHF, it is clear the EuroHockey U18 Championships, after being played this summer, should be scheduled in 2020-2021-2023-2025-etc, so back-to-back events in 2020 and 2021. To have a 3-year gap for this age group would not be conducive to development. Entries and Applications to host these 2020 events will go out in the next few weeks. Exact dates for the 2020 EuroHockey U18 Championships will be announced in due course but will be in July 2020.
EUROHOCKEY JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The FIH Executive Board has decided some time ago that the FIH Junior World Cup will be changed from 2020 to 2021. This gives the EHF the opportunity to align its calendar to the old format again, having Senior and U18 events held in the uneven years and the Junior and U16 events held in the even years.
For this to happen, the following changes have been made.
In 2020, the Olympic Games in Tokyo (JPN) will be played from 24 July-9 August 2020. Moreover, the FIH Hockey Series Open events for Senior national teams are scheduled to be played in May/June and August/September 2020. The EHF believes in 2020 also the U21 teams need to play but understands that due to the busy calendar with FIH events, Olympic Games and U18 Championships, this can be a (financial) burden to most National Associations. Moreover, for many National Associations, their U21 players also play in the Senior National team who will be involved in either Olympic Games and/or FIH Hockey Series Open events.
EuroHockey Junior Invitational Events:
Therefore, for that U21 generation to still play competitive events, the EHF will schedule Invitational U21 events in 2020 so the National Associations that wish to participate with their U21 teams can do so. This event/these events would be organised as a 1-off and will have no influence on promotion and relegation.
The following has been decided:
- In 2020, Invitational events will be played in August 2020 for which all European U21 National Associations can enter.
- The number of days and number of teams per event will depend on the entries and applications to host.
- The 2019 EuroHockey Junior Championships will determine which teams will play in which Invitational event in 2020.
- There is no promotion/relegation at stake in these 2020 Invitational events.
- Entries and Applications to host these 2020 Invitational events will go out shortly after the 2019 EuroHockey Junior Championships are played.
- Entry fee and hosting fee for the 2020 Invitational events to be determined by the EHF Executive Board.
- The 2019 EuroHockey Junior Championships will be the 2021 Junior World Cup qualifying event.
- The final rankings of the 2019 EuroHockey Junior Championships will determine where teams will play in the 2022 EuroHockey Junior Championships.
EuroHockey5s U16 Championships:
As the IOC hasn’t announced yet what will happen with the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2022, the EHF has decided not to plan anything with regards to the EuroHockey5s U16 Championships, scheduled to be played after 2019. As soon as more is known, the EHF will investigate the years in which the U16 events will be played.
The calendar for the upcoming years will look like this:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Seniors | X | X | X | |||||
| Junior (U21) | X | X * | X | X | ||||
| Youth (U18) | X | X | X | X | ||||
| Youth (U16) Hockey5s | X |
* Invitational event(s)
If you have any queries, please contact our Competitions Manager, David Voskamp: competitions@eurohockey.org