When Junior FC step onto the court in Sant Cugat next week to host the EurHockey Indoor Club Cup, the lively home crowd will carry more than excitement.
It will be a fitting celebration of a century of hockey at the club carry and a breakthrough for the men’s section that has been brewing for a number of years.
For Spanish international goalkeeper Pablo Luna, the moment feels almost surreal: “I’ve been playing here since I was four years old,” he says. “All my hockey journey has been here in Junior.”
That journey reached a landmark no one at the club had seen before: Junior FC’s first ever men’s national indoor title last year, earning the men a European debut. In the 100th anniversary year of hockey at the club, the timing could not have been more symbolic.
Junior’s rise has not been an overnight phenomenon. It is the result of a structured, multi year project that has brought together a core generation of players who grew up winning Under-14, 16 and 18 youth titles together.
“There’s a solid group of players that have been linked together since the under 16 and under 18 teams,” the 25-year-old explains. “All these generations are now playing in the first team. Maybe that’s why the project is working.”
But the catalyst for transforming promise into a national championship reality arrived with a familiar figure: coach Federico “Fede” Gonzalez.
“He was Junior’s coach like 10 or 15 years ago,” Luna says. “Then he moved to FC Barcelona and won the national indoor championship there, and after that he came back here to start this new project. He’s an absolute fanatic of indoor hockey – he’s trying to make us be like him in that sense.”
Gonzalez, along with his assistant with the Spanish national team Nacho Usoz, is central to the revival of indoor hockey. Luna joined that panel this winter and helped propel them to a bronze medal at the EuroHockey Indoor Championship just a few weeks ago in Heidelberg.
Luna was joined in the panel by club mate Ferran Muñoz; for them and their teammates, competing internationally for Spain still feels like a minor miracle.
Junior FC’s Ferran Muñoz of Spain and Pablo Luna celebrate in Heidelberg in January. Picture: Will Palmer/World Sport Pics
The side only returned to the international arena six years ago; back-to-back promotions in 2020 and 2022 were backed up by their remarkable bronze, winning with the last play against Germany.
“My teammates were fighting just to keep the team alive,” Luna adds. “Step by step, we are being seen by the Spanish hockey public.”
Even Spain’s outdoor national coach, Max Caldas, joined the indoor team’s support group, a rare crossover in European hockey.
“It was a pleasure, of course,” Luna smiles. “He’s one of the best coaches in the world. He always said, ‘I don’t know much about indoor tactically,’ but he gave us another view of the game. If Max Caldas tells you something, you listen!”
Now, as Junior FC prepare to host Europe’s elite, Luna sees an opportunity far bigger than sport.
“It should be a party in Sant Cugat,” he says. “It’s a big opportunity to help hockey grow, to help indoor hockey grow in Spain.”
This is only the second major indoor European competition held at the club — the first being the women’s edition in 2006 — and Junior are determined to make the event a community celebration.
“Lots of players will have family members volunteering or helping around the club. For us personally, hosting will help a lot. Playing in front of friends and family, that’s special.”
He is well aware Junior’s Pool B group at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup features a formidable mix: Harvestehuder THC (Germany) – the traditional powerhouse; HK Zelina are Croatia’s representatives who have proven dangerous in recent years while England’s Old Georgians are stacked with current and former internationals.
“The first match is always the most important,” Luna says. “Against Old Georgians, it will be really tough against a team with real legends like George Pinner and Ashley Jackson.
Pablo Luna in club colours during their historic run to victory
“But we have no pressure. We’re new at this competition, so we’re just going to enjoy it as much as we can, playing each game to win, not being afraid.
For Luna, the significance of the coming week is as much emotional as it is sporting. It’s about identity – his own, and his club’s.
“Being able to host this event is awesome,” he says. “For us, the most important thing is to give visibility to indoor hockey and make the tournament a party in the city.”
A century after hockey was first played at Junior FC, the club stands on the brink of a new era. And in the eyes of one of its homegrown stars, the path forward is clear:
“We stopped looking at the big clubs,” Luna says. “We started playing against them. And now everything is clicking.”
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- The men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup runs from February 13th to 15th in Sant Cugat, Spain. The event will be livestreamed for free on www.eurohockeytv.org for registered users.
- A full preview of the event will follow in the coming days on the website. To find out more about the teams taking part, click here
