Players across the development pathway with soon be starting an exciting summer for the Hoci Cymru programme.
The Dreigiau programme have announced their squads for the men’s and women’s U21 European Championships alongside a young team announced for the Women’s European 5s tournament.
The 10 players selected to represent Wales at the Euro 5s tournament in Walcz, Poland will face Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden and Poland between the 3rd-6th July with Ava Dempsey selected to captain the side.
Head coach Wallid Abdo commented on the selection stating: “It’s a great opportunity to expose the team to this format and add to their international experience. We’ll be travelling to a fantastic venue and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to surprise a few teams.”
Meanwhile, 5 of the women’s players will also feature at the u21 European Championships hosted in the Czech Republic between the 14th-20th July. Wallid Abdo recognises that this tournament will be ‘a tough challenge’ as they face the likes of Italy, Lithuania and the hosts Czech Republic in the group stages but also ‘believe[s] [they] have the talent and personality to give a good account of ourselves’ in a young side full of potential.
On the men’s side, head coach Martin Schouten has named his 18 players who will be on the plane to Lausanne, Switzerland to face Finland, Switzerland, Scotland and Czech Republic between the 13th-20th July. The side includes 3 players who have featured for the senior men’s side including Ben Wall who made his senior international debut last weekend.
Speaking on the announcement, Schouten said:
“After a great period of preparation for the U21 Men, we’ve had an extremely competitive selection process. I am really proud of the professionalism and work put in by the entire squad and look forward to a good tournament and a bright future ahead for many of these players! We have a few more training camps to fine tune important details before what will be a tough competition. But the group is well prepared and eager to perform well and enjoy the experience.”