Things couldn’t be much better for Braxgata than they were in the 2024-25 season: the women’s team won their first national championship since 2017, and the men will soon play in the Euro Hockey League for the first time.

As such, it is exciting times for the club although not without a little bit of transition ahead of their return to league action on Sunday with both men and women facing Waterloo Ducks at home.

For the women, Brax will have to get used to being without Judith Vandermeiren with the Boom icon soon to wear Dragons colours for the first time.

Stephanie Vanden Borre is also returning to Gantoise while Sanne Caarls –a key player last season – will be joining Hurley.

“We’d been preparing for Stephanie’s departure for some time; it was a given that she’d return to Gantoise,” says the club’s Erik Gysels.

“Judith’s decision came later in the season. We’re incredibly grateful for what she’s meant to the club all these years. Last season, things didn’t really take off for us until after the winter break. With so many new players, the same scenario isn’t impossible.

“Braxgata players are a big part of the national youth teams,” he adds. “Don’t forget that Camille Belis and Louise Dewaet will be playing in the U21 World Cup at the end of this year.

“Among the newcomers, Marthe-Marie Geers (from Herakles) and Margaux Coudron (from White Star) are also part of the Young Red Panthers. Geers replaces Caarls, and we’ve chosen the Irish experience of Roison Upton and Sarah Hawkshaw to fill the positions of Vanden Borre and Vandermeiren.

“Finally, Scotland international Heather McEwan joins from Victory. We’ll definitely be stronger in depth.”

Brax’s new T1 will be Alessandro Geleyns: “Alessandro’s arrival was already known before the start of the Euro Hockey League in ‘s-Hertogenbosch,” says Gysels. “He did a great job at Wellington and knows the women’s league inside and out.”

On the men’s side, there are similar changes with Thomas Briels, Tanguy Clément, Anton Van Biesen and Pieter Van Straaten retiring from the top tier. They will miss out on their debut in the EHL which pits them against Western Wildcats first off.

“Their departures were known well in advance,” says Gysels. “We’ve had a very strong season, but we just didn’t score enough field goals.

“To further strengthen our attacking power, we signed Thibeau Stockbroekx and Sébastien Dockier. Two top players with impressive track records.

“’Tibi’ Stockbroekx has developed into an absolute top player at Oranje-Rood, and Dockier has no intention of slowing down. He’s hungry. It’s great that these two players, after all those years in the Hoofdklasse, are returning to the Carlsberg 0.0 Hockey League.

“Our ambition? It’s very credible to compete for the title with the men, and for the women, a place in the play-offs is the absolute minimum.”

** In interview with journalist Werner Thys

Slavia Prague captain Patrik Dubina is looking forward to his club showing their best hockey in Barcelona where they will face Saint Germain on October 9th in the EHL Men’s KO16.

They qualified for the EHL for the second time when they dethroned TJ Plzen Litice, giving them the chance to perform on the elite club stage following their debut in Hamburg in 2023.

The 23-year-old Dubina – a regular international for five years now – is one of the key figures and he is looking forward to the new term having missed last year’s Czechia final through injury.

His role in central midfield was superbly covered by the experienced duo Martin Capouch (30, former international with top-level experience since his teenage years) and Jan Brzák (23, and also a current international).

Beyond them, Slavia have some big talents that are looking to shine. One of the brightest prospects is František Toms (16), who models his game on Lamine Yamal and enjoys a remarkable on-field chemistry with fellow talent Štěpán Šmíd (18).

In goal, the side boasts Jakub Bogár, a Slovak goalkeeper with valuable international experience gained in the German Indoor Bundesliga. While the roster includes several promising youngsters, making the side less experienced overall compared to some rivals, the club views this as a clear investment into the future- blending rising talent with the know-how of seasoned internationals.

Among the most experienced figures is Martin Hanus, a veteran with seasons in the German Bundesliga for Gladbacher HTC and countless caps for the Czech national team.

He comes from a renowned hockey family: his brother Tomáš Hanus was a goalkeeper in Belgium’s top league and also appeared in the EHL.

 Together, the Hanus brothers were central to the “golden generation” of Czech indoor hockey, playing in multiple European and World Cups. They twice comped in the outdoor top division of the EuroHockey Championships (2007 Manchester and 2013 Boom).

Coach Miroslav Ludvík is in his eighth season and he does have to manage a few departures with Martin Plachý going to DTV Hannover; he was the Czech league top scorer for two consecutive seasons.

Martin Babický has retired while Čeněk Zuna and Denis Tomeš returned to their boyhood club and Matěj Remiš, joined the army.

Nonetheless, they are in upbeat form after challenge matches against SV Arminen and WKS Grunwald Poznań complementing the team’s usual summer training block. The domestic season begins this weekend with a home date against President HC.

Dubina says of the situation: “Ahead of this season we lost some key players, but at the same time we have integrated young talents who bring great potential.

“After our preparation matches against Arminen and the Polish champions, we are really looking forward to competing at the EHL in sunny Barcelona. We know we will face very tough games there, but I hope we can show the best hockey from our side.”

Hamburger Polo Club have made significant additions to their line-up as they look set to be among the favourites to win the German Bundesliga this season.

They have brought in Honamas striker Justus Weigand from Mannheimer HC and goalkeeper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji from Crefelder HTC as Jonathan Fröschle’s side look to build on their run to the playoffs last season.

They join a panel already packed with talent like Australia’s Tim Brand and Tom Craig, New Zealand’s Kane Russell, Sean Findlay and Nic Woods and German stars Paul-Philipp Kaufmann and Matthias Müller.

On the debit side, Rhys Smith has returned to England, Constantin Staib will play with UHC Hamburg and George Baker has also moved on.

Polo open up their campaign on Saturday with a local derby against UHC while their thoughts will also be looking forward to playing Wimbledon in the EHL KO16 on October 9th.

Crefelder HTC were the surprise champions last season and so are straight through to the FINAL8 of the EHL. They start their season with an away trip to Munich on Saturday without the services of Linus Michler who has moved to Klein Zwitserland this season.

Of the other major players, Mannheim have added Australian player Jacob Andersson but see Raphael Hartkopf move to Rot-Weiss Köln while Andrea Rafi returns to Barcelona.

Pasha Gademann is back in the coaching role with Rot-Weis but will not have the services of Thies Ole Prinz (Pinoké) and Elian Mazkour (Bloemendaal) who are now in the Netherlands.

Mannheim begin their season against newly promoted Gladbacher HTC on Saturday while Rot-Weiss go to TSV Mannheim on Sunday.

A range of players set to play in this season’s Euro Hockey League were honoured on Sunday night at Belgian Hockey’s Golden Stick night with Alix Gerniers and Arthur Van Doren taking the best player prizes.

Gantoise’s Gerniers took the honour ahead of last season’s club mate Michelle Struijk and KHC Dragons’ Jimena Cedres.

For Van Doren, he took the prize following Braxgata’s run last season which ended with a first place in the EHL where they will debut in October in Barcelona. He won the prize ahead of the shortlisted Tomi Domene from Waterloo Ducks and Gantoise’s Antoine Kina.

Van Doren’s club mate Pirmin Blaak took the goalkeeper of the year gong with Gantoise’s Pascal Kina winning coach of the year following his club’s Belgian championship and EHL double.

On the women’s side, Brax’s Camille Belis won the young talent (Espoir) honour as reward for her role in the club’s title win and EHL silver medal. Gantoise’s Kevan Demartinis won the coach of the year.

This prestigious gala evening rewards the best players, goalkeepers, young talents, coaches, and referees of the 2024-2025 hockey season.

The players and head coaches of all teams competing in the Belfius Women’s League had the opportunity to vote for the best player, best young player (Espoir), best goalkeeper, best coach, and best referee of the past season.

The same was done for the players and coaches of the Carlsberg 0.0 Men’s League. The voting took place in two phases: a first round at the end of the first half of the season and a second at the end of the regular season, just before the play-off semi-finals.

Tickets are now on sale for the ABN AMRO EHL Men KO16 at Real Club de Polo from October 9 to 12, 2025 with adult passes going for €23.55 and children’s tickets €13.55.

Group bookings are now also available through the Eventim link.

The draw has served up a wealth of potential EHL classics with, chief among them on October 11, home club Polo coming up against SV Kampong who now have their former goalkeeper Luis Calzado in their ranks.

The action begins with Saint Germain facing Slavia Prague on October 9, following by Wimbledon against Hamburger Polo Club. The evening session sees HC Wien play Royal Léopold for the right to play against either Club de Campo de Madrid or CAM92 from France.

The KO8 matches will be played on October 10 before the second series of KO16 matches take place. It begins with debutants Braxgata facing Western Wildcats before the Polo v Kampong game.

Then Banbridge play Bloemendaal and Old Georgians play another new side in HC Olten from Switzerland.

The competition sees each club face an initial KO16 fixture. The winners of each of those games will move on to the KO8 where a ticket to next Easter’s FINAL8 will be up for grabs.

The losers from the KO16 phase will face an important ranking match to determine the allocation of European tickets for 2026/27.

The EHL Men’s KO16 fixture schedule has been confirmed with the tournament set to be played at Real Club de Polo’s home in Barcelona from October 9th to 12th.

The competition sees each club face an initial KO16 fixture. The winners of each of those games will move on to the KO8 where a ticket to next Easter’s FINAL8 will be up for grabs.

The losers from the KO16 phase will face an important ranking match to determine the allocation of European tickets for 2026/27.

Thursday 9th October 2025 

M1 11.15h pitch 1 KO16 Saint Germain HC – SK Slavia Prague 

M2 13.30h pitch 1 KO16 Wimbledon HC – Hamburger Polo Club 

M3 15.45h pitch 1 KO16 HC Wien – Royal Leopold Club 

M4 18.00h pitch 1 KO16 Club de Campo de Madrid – CAM92

Friday 10th October 2025 

M5 11.15h pitch 1 Ranking match Loser M1 – Loser M2 

M6 13.30h pitch 1 KO8 Winner M1 – Winner M2 

M7 15.45h pitch 1 Ranking match Loser M4 – Loser M3 

M8 18.00h pitch 1 KO8 Winner M4 – Winner M3

Saturday 11th October 2025 

M9 09.45h pitch 1 KO16 Western Wildcats HC – Braxgata HC 

M10 12.00h pitch 1 KO16 SV Kampong – Real Club de Polo 

M11 14.15h pitch 1 KO16 Banbridge HC – HC Bloemendaal 

M12 16.30h pitch 1 KO16 Old Georgians HC – HC Olten

Sunday 12th October 2025 

M13 09.45h pitch 1 Ranking match Loser M10 – Loser M9 

M14 12.00h pitch 1 KO8 Winner M10 – Winner M9 

M15 14.15h pitch 1 KO8 Winner M12 – Winner M11 

M16 16.30h pitch 1 Ranking match Loser M12 – Loser M11