Poland are back in the big time after a six-year break to play in the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship top division for a seventh time.

In those previous attempts, they won bronze in both 2012 and 2014 before their best ever run in 2016, taking silver in Minsk.

Star shooter Amelia Katerla, Paula Slawinska and goalkeepers Marta Kucharska and Anna Gabara link that generation to this one.

Dutch-based Katerla was one of the most exciting performers at the women’s Hockey 5s World Cup in Oman in which Poland won a bronze medal, scoring 10 times.

That tournament has been celebrated properly with the players meeting new young fans to try and inspire more to get involved. To that end, the Polish men’s stunning run to Euro silver last weekend has added to the excitement.

The entire 10-player panel from Oman is included for this event with just Russelheimer RK’s Viktoria Zimmerman and SV Blankenese Hamburg’s Dżesika Mazur joining the party at a special time for the sport.

Indeed, they are among a healthy group of German-based players with Kucharska, Sandra Tatarczuk and Julia Balcerzak all at Grossflotbeker in Hamburg.

Of the home-based players, Gabara, Monika Polewczak and Paula Sławińska are all with national champions KS Hokej Start Brzeziny.

HC Tilburg’s Marlena Rybacha brings a huge body of experiences from her years in the Hoofdklasse while coach Norbert Nederlof also knows the rigours of tournament hockey.

They finished third in Championship II in 2022 in Ourense and will be hoping to ride that feel good wave into this week’s action.

** 28 of the games will be streamed live from Berlin on www.eurohockeytv.org

** To find out more about the stats, fixtures and teams, click here: https://tms.fih.ch/competitions/1551