Women’s EuroHockey Club Challenge I – May 22nd to 25th (Brzeziny, Poland)
KS Hokej Start Brzeziny host a women’s Euro club competition for the second time in three years as they welcome seven other sides hopeful of making their mark in women’s Challenge I.
For most, this fourth tier of competition represents a big opportunity to break new ground and push for promotion for their country in Trophy II for 2027.
It follows the eight-team format with two initial groups of four with the top two going into one of Monday’s finals.
Pool A has Gibraltar’s Europa, Croatia’s Mladost, HC Luxembourg and Penarth from Wales while Pool B has Danish duo Orient Lyngby and HC Copenhagen, IFK SumDPU from Ukraine and the host club.
** Click here to see the full schedule while you can also keep up to date with the live scores on the Altius website.
Pool A
Europa HC (GIB)
Gibraltar champions return to this stage for a second season having finished in seventh place a year ago in Alanya and are looking forward to a return to Brzeziny where they ended third in Challenge II in 2024.
It will be their fifth year in succession playing in Europe with Eva Silva, Ashley Garcia, Cara Macleod, Kayleigh Sanchez, Lorena Garcia and Louise Valarino being ever-presents on the journey thus far.
An interesting addition this season to their ranks is Kate Gourley, a former Irish youth international who was also part of their Olympic preparations through her strength and conditioning work before moving to the Red Bull performance centre.
HAHK Mladost (CRO)
The Croatian champions are looking to continue their run of success having won Challenge III in 2023 while they were fifth in Challenge I in 2024 in Vienna – their first time competing at that level.
There is a high level of experience in the line-up with Martina Petretić, Kaja Vitas and Monika Jajdić playing over 20 games in Euro club competition. Lucija Čepo has been a rich source of goals in their last two campaigns, netting 11 times in seven matches.
HC Luxembourg (LUX)
For Luxembourg’s only club, their mix of youth and experience sees the likes of goalkeeper Geraldine Berre back for a sixth Euro campaign while leaders like Heather Yanusas and Diane Krüger are in their fifth event.
On the flip side, they have several players making their debuts in Europe. They also have their usual mix of international flavour with players from Uruguay, Belgium, Italy, South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany and USA.
It is their second consecutive appearance in Challenge I following their fifth place finish a year ago in Alanya.
Penarth (WAL)
Runners up a year ago in the Hoci Cymru National Championships, they bounced back this year to land the Welsh crown with resounding 4-0 final win over Howardian. It completed an unbeaten season in both the championship and the league.
Hatty Mercer, Gwen Richards, Katrin Budd and Millie Bushell were among the scorers while player-coach Carys Gordon has a huge influence on the side.
They have a long history in Europe, dating back to the early 1980s when they finished fifth in the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup. More recently, they ended in fifth in Challenge II in 2023 in their most recent outdoor club appearance.
Pool B
Copenhagen HC (DEN)
The Danish champions were runners-up a year ago to their country rivals Orient Lyngby on the European stage, missing out on Challenge II in a final shoot-out.
As such, Denmark’s oldest club will be eyeing up that group stage game with relish. The side is captained by Caroline Mourier who is looking forward to a fourth Euro club outdoor competition, as is Katja Chirstensen and Antje Hofmann. Fleur van der Meer was their main goalscorer a year ago when they hosted with four goals in four games.
IFK SumDPU (UKR)
Ukraine’s second team are playing in this competition for a third successive season after a third place in Alanya last year and fifth in 2024 in Vienna.
The majority of the side are available once again and they bring a very young squad together, captained by 21-year-old Sofiia Kalynychenko. Indeed, only seven of their wider panel of 32 players is over the age of 20 and so this is very much a side in development for coach Olena Svystiur.
KS Hokej Start Brzeziny (POL)
The 2025 Polish champions (pictured above) come into the weekend with back-to-back wins in their domestic competition which keep them right in the mix for honours this season, sitting in third behind AZS Politechnika Poznanska and UKS Swarek Swarzedz.
They were winners of Challenge II in 2024 on home turf and now get to enjoy their first appearance at this level since 1994. International goalkeeper Anna Gabara is a stand-out name on the squad list along with Nataliia Kucharska while Belarus’s Dzyiana Voronovich could be a key source of goals.
Orient Lyngby (DEN)
The 2025 EuroHockey Club Challenge II winners in their debut Euro outdoor club campaign are looking to continue their recent rise. Indeed, between them and Copenhagen, it is the first Danish representation in Challenge I since Gentofte in 2009.
There is continuity with the majority of last year’s panel still in situ with the club, a cosmopolitan mix of players hailing from Argentina, Germany, England, Chile, Spain, India, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Czechia across the wider panel.
They are coached by former Danish international and top level TD Casper Guldbrandsen.
