
10. 6. 2025 - Pavol Humeník
Team Chemistry and Physical Fitness Are on Point — Now They Want to Sharpen Their Tactics!
It seems that a major asset for the Swiss team will be its team chemistry, as the roster will be very similar to the one from two years ago, when the Swiss U18 team competed in Liberec. This continuity could be the key to achieving the main goal of the Alpine nation's squad at the Poprad championship: to reduce the gameplay and performance gap between the Swiss team and the top-tier ball hockey nations, and to make the path to victory more difficult for every opponent they face in Slovakia.
Coach Nick van Orsouw, head of the Swiss squad, shared with us both the joys and challenges of preparing for the championship.
What stage of preparation is your national team currently in for the championship in Poprad?
We are currently training together every weekend of June in order to be ready for the championship.
Are you satisfied with the preparation so far? Is everything going according to plan?
It was a long season for a lot of players, so we did not have the possibility to train together as many times as we wanted. I think the fitness level is all right, but we have a lot of work in front of us.
What is the primary focus of your preparation for the championship – tactics, team chemistry, speed, conditioning?
The team has more or less been together since 2022 – the U18 Championship in Liberec. So team chemistry is not an issue. Our main focus is tactics. Some of the players have not played 5vs5 during this season, so there is a lot to catch up on how to play and individual tactics.
What style of play would you like your team to showcase at the championship?
Our goal is to close the gap to the top nations. In order to achieve that we have to play smart and with passion. I think our style will be determined by those aims. Play smart and hard.
Was it difficult to put together the junior ball hockey national team for the championship?
It was not difficult to put together a team. But it is difficult to put together a competitive team. There are not enough players reaching the required levels. All in all we could choose between 35 players.
Is there enough interest from young players to travel to the championship in Slovakia?
The interest is less in travelling to Slovakia then in competing on the top level of streethockey. But we are looking forward to Poprad as our host city and Slovakia as the country where top hockey is played an cherished.
Why did you announce the roster for the World Championship already in January? Isn’t that too early? Is it better for the team than announcing it two weeks before the championship?
This is a very unfortunate topic, true. We would have liked to announce the roster in June but there are some reasons we were not able to do that cut later. It is mainly because of sponsors and our school system, which has its final exams end of June beginning of July and the players need to plan for these as early as possible.
Do you plan to play any warm-up matches before the championship?
We just played the men’s national team of Switzerland on June 7 and did get a lot of valuable feedback from that game. Although we lost 2:8 there were some good phases upon which we can build.
Do you have any other activities planned in Slovakia besides ball hockey? For example, visiting interesting places in the country?
We have not made any plans to visit interesting places yet. Our focus is on preparing for the World Championship. But I am sure that there will be time to do a bit of sightseeing.
Will we see a Swiss push for the medal positions in Poprad? What are your team's goals for the World Championship?
Of course, it is after all still hockey and everything is possible in hockey. But to be more realistic, we would like to close the gap and make life for the top teams as hard as possible.
Photo: streethockeyfans.ch