Slovak women’s national team is waiting for an international break, the next tournament will be played in February

Source: Hockey Slovakia

The Slovak women’s hockey team will not participate in the next international event until February 2024. Until then, the basis of the national team will be prepared under the banner of ŠKP Bratislava, which operates in the multinational EWHL. The youth girls’ national team program continues according to the original schedule.

The women’s national team played its last game at the end of August at the A-Group tournament of the Division I of the World Championship in China. The next event awaits in March and April of next year, when the team will appear at the B-group tournament of the Division I of the World Championships. In Riga, Latvia, the Slovak women will be fighting for promotion to Division I A of the world championships.

“Based on the current state the budget for women’s national teams, was decided together with the leadership of the Slovak Ice Hockey Association that the senior team will not participate in any international events until the end of the year. The World Championships in China and the preparatory camp at the venue of the World Championship drained us financially. The costs of travel, accommodation and preparation were high. That’s why we took this responsible step, similar to, the example, the Norwegian association,” said the general manager of the women’s national teams, Ľubomíra Kožanová. 

However, the best Slovak female hockey players playing on ŠKP Bratislava are also currently guaranteed an international confrontation. In the EWHL, they play against teams from Austria, Italy, Poland, Kazakhstan and Hungary. 

“At the same time, we are happy that more and more of our players are working abroad. After a long period, Iveta Klimášová became active in Finland. Lucia Drábeková and Barbora Kapičáková got an engagement in China, and we will also monitor the performance of other players palying abroad . At the next international tournament in February, which will most likely be in Bratislava, all the adepts for the WC in Riga will be able to show themselves,” continued Kožanová.

The under-18 and under-16 girls’ youth national teams will not be affected by the restrictions in the coming weeks and months. The U18th are awaiting a home tournament in Púchov in November, on the 16th they will travel to France. “In the near future, we will place emphasis primarily on the high-quality preparation of the 18-team squad, which will compete in the elite category championship in Zug, Switzerland in January,” added Kožanová.