Hoci Cymru are pleased to announce the Senior men’s and women’s squads who will participate at the EuroHockey Qualifiers in Dublin and Glasgow respectively.
The women’s 18 player squad remains unchanged from their recent victory against Malaysia in Hoci Cymru’s Summer Series, hosted at Sophia Gardens.
The senior men’s squad will be looking to build upon their summer series win against Austria when they travel to Dublin.
Each game the squads will play is a knockout structure with the overall winner qualifying for the European A division in 2025.
Both sides face ‘must-win’ first matches on the 22nd August. The men’s squad will first compete against Luxembourg at 11am with the women playing Croatia at 16:15 to secure their spots in the semi-finals on the 24th August.
Both squads could celebrate significant milestones during the competition with Women’s goalkeeper Ella Jackson in line to receive her 50th International cap and Owain Dolan-Gray on track to receive his 150th cap for Wales.
Speaking on his selection Men’s Captain Ben Francis said:
“We are really looking forward to the euro qualifier in Dublin. We have an exciting young squad, who have put together two very good series wins against Austria and Scotland so far this summer. We have a tricky route to a potential final with Ireland, but the possibility of another A division in 2025 is a huge motivation to put in some big performances next week.”
Men’s head coach Danny Newcombe added:
“We are excited to represent Wales in the EuroHockey Qualifiers next week in Dublin. The team is in a really positive space following back to back series wins against Scotland and Austria. With lots of new caps this summer the squad has a fresh feel and a great balance of youth and experience. We honestly can’t wait to get started.”
Women’s head coach Kevin Johnson commented:
“The selected group has a fresh feel about it with 8 players who have 5 caps or less included and they will be looking to build on some encouraging performances across last week’s summer series of matches against Malaysia. I am hoping we continue to take a positive approach to the way we are trying to play the game and use this tournament as a key stepping stone towards further progression for a group whose potential is exciting to work with.”
You can watch all of the games on Youtube and Eurohockey TV.
By Hockey Wales
