The FIH Women’s Junior World Cup gets under way this morning in Santiago, Chile with nine European sides looking to make an impact in the 24-team competition.
Ahead of the event, key people from each side gave their thoughts on the challenge facing them.
Tim White, Head Coach Belgium
“The Young Red Panthers have prepared thoroughly and are eager to get started. This World Cup will be an important opportunity to measure ourselves against the best teams in the world. With several players already having gained experience with the Red Panthers, we’re setting ambitious goals — including aiming for a podium finish.”
Noor van den Nieuwenhof, Captain Netherlands
“We expect a super nice tournament with lots of strong countries and great matches. We will wear our orange shirts with pride and do everything we can to defend our title.”
Betsan Thomas, Captain Wales
“I am incredibly honoured to be selected as Captain of such an extremely talented squad of players. We are an exciting group of young players, and we are heading to Chile with the intention of putting Welsh Hockey on the map. We are ready to make our country proud, together!”
Katharina Proksch, Captain Austria
“We feel very honoured to take part in the Junior World Cup and to have another opportunity to compete against the best nations in the world. This is a unique experience for our small hockey nation Austria and we are really looking forward to this exciting event.”
Connie Roxburgh, Captain Scotland
The whole squad have put in massive amounts of work over the past few months and we are incredibly excited to show what Scotland can do on the world stage. The World Cup is a brilliant opportunity for us to test ourselves against some of the top ranked nations and we are looking to make our mark in the tournament, putting in performances that reflect our hard work and passion.
Amy Handcock, Captain Ireland
“We are all really excited to be a part of this tournament, it’s a great opportunity for us to test ourselves against the best. We as players and our coaches have worked really hard in preparation for this tournament, and this gives us the chance to show how much we’ve developed as a team. It’s such a great opportunity to represent Ireland at this Junior World Cup.”
Esther Canales, Captain Spain
“We’re incredibly excited to represent our country at the World Cup. Coming off the European Championship, where we finished as runners-up, we’ve worked even harder to take the next step. Our team has grown stronger, both on and off the field, and we’re ready to show our best version.”
Jakob Cyrus, Coach Germany
“The anticipation for the World Cup is huge. The final preparations are underway and you can tell that everyone is really looking forward to the adventure in Chile. We are highly motivated and can hardly wait. It is very special for us to meet nations from all over the world at a World Cup. We are particularly looking forward to that.”
Sienna Dunn, Captain England
“I am absolutely honoured to be selected for the Junior World Cup, and I am really excited to see what we can do out there. I think we have a really special team this year in that we have a lot of experienced players like Lottie Bingham who is in the senior centralised programme but we also have a lot of younger exciting players who I can bring a lot to this team.”
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