HC Wien are back in the EHL this season after a 10-year break as they look to put it up to Royal Léopold in the KO16 next month in Barcelona.

It follows their first Austrian championships since 2015 but there are still five players to link the two generations with Marcel Hilbert, Jakob Puchhammer, Franz Lindengrün, goalkeeper Lukas Glaser (GK) and Simon Landsteiner; the latter scored their only EHL goal against Harvestehuder THC.

Assessing his squad, coach Hanno Poeschl says: “We have a very young team full of talent with a bright future, but we’re fully aware of the challenge ahead.

“The opposition has far more experience and depth, and nobody questions their quality. But respect doesn’t mean fear – it means preparation. We will focus on executing our plays, one at a time, and making the smart decisions.

“For us this tournament is about more than just winning or losing. It’s about showing resilience, fighting together, and learning what it means to compete at the highest level.”

That preparation has seen them take in a tournament in Munich featuring Munchner SC, TSV Mannheim and SC Frankfurt 1880.

They have also welcomed a few key players to the line-up; the 19-year-old Maximilian Meisel is already a senior international and he is back in Austria after a spell with UHC Hamburg.

He joins fellow Red Capricorn internationals Josef Winkler and Franz Lindengruen while Benedikt Meisel is one to watch – the 16-year-old offensive midfielder is already part of the Austria Under-21 setup.

Bringing international flavour, Spaniard Saül Esteve joins after spells with Hamburger Polo Club and Grossflottbeker THGC while American Kai Kokolakis helped his country to second place in the PanAm Cup earlier this year. Alessandro Giraudo is a former Italian Under-21 international from HC Bra.

On the debit side, Julian Kaiser moved to Oranje Rood in the Netherlands.

CAM92 is entering a new cycle this season with a lot of player changes this season as a lot of the club’s talents have moved on during the summer.

Stars like Lucas Montecot, Mathis Clément and Corentin Sellier all moved to Beerschot while Timothée Clément returned to Belgium with Herakles.

As such, they have put together an extensive plan to integrate the new players in the side which will encompass nine fixtures – five friendlies, four French championship ones – before they face Club de Campo in Barcelona.

They will looks to the international experience of Louis Haertelmeyer who played with the French national team at the Nation’s Cup and the EuroHockey Championship at Mönchengladbach this year.

They also have are four players who were World Cup silver medalists with the French Under-21 team: Tom Gaillard, Gabin Lorrazuri, Rafael Stab and Haertelmeyer who has since moved up to the senior team.

CAM92 returns for their third KO 16 at Real Club de Polo Club. There is particular pleasure to return for coach Aymeric Bergamo who played his first EHL match (and the first ever qualification for the CAM92) at this venue.

Indeed, every match the club has played in the EHL has featured Begamo, either as a player or coaching.He said of the Campo match: “The draw is a difficult one again for us this year – we will play against a very impressive European club – but as always we will give it all we’ve got to represent our club to the best of our ability and hopefully we’ll be able to accomplish a great feat.”

Banbridge begin their Irish EY Hockey League campaign with a bolstered panel ahead of a big date with perennial top four rivals Three Rock Rovers.

This season, Adam McAllister and Callum Robson join their ranks from Annadale to add more international experience to a side that already featured Peter Brown, Johnny McKee, Luke Witherow, Fergus Gibson, Luke Roleston and the Rowe twins Louis and Charlie.

They overcame a mixed regular season last year to win the Irish title, going through the EY Champions Trophy wildcard round en route before defeating Three Rock and Lisnagarvey in the finals weekend, making it three titles in a row.

This time, their panel has a typical family flavour. The Rowes are part of four brothers in the squad Jake and Edward who have both returned to the club following time in America on golf scholarships.

Indeed, they are part of an incredible sporting tradition with mum Sonya having represented Ireland at Equestrianism and father Ken playing tennis for his country.

Both Johnny McKee’s parents are former Irish internationals (John & Glenda) with Johnny matching his father’s 100 caps for Ireland. Another set of brothers are Matthew and Adam McKee (no relation to Johnny).

Captain Alex Tinney shows his commitment to the club by traveling from Raphoe in Co Donegal three times a week to train and for matches, a round trip on each occasion of over 250 kilometres.

Goalkeeper Roleston has recently taken time out from qualifying as a nurse to concentrate on his hockey career.

Recent addition Robson is the brother of 150+ capped Michael; he also spent a season at Crefelder HTC in Germany as did Johnny McKee. Bann’s assistant coach John Clarke has previously held the role of Head Coach to the Irish senior men’s team. The majority of the squad are all former pupils of Banbridge Academy who the club have strong links with.

Banbridge have had a productive preseason that included friendlies against KHC Dragons and a double header against Surbiton, now an annual fixture.

Their league season begins on Saturday against Three Rock at Havelock Park whom they drew with 3-3 in the equivalent fixture last year but crucially, Bann won the playoff battle.

Head coach Scott McCandless – now in his fifth season in the role – is looking forward to their EHL KO16 date with Bloemendaal, saying: “The draw gives the players and staff the opportunity to test themselves against one of the iconic clubs in Bloemendaal. It is the first occasion Banbridge has encountered Dutch opposition at any level in European competition and the squad cannot wait for this opportunity.”

Kampong’s women’s won the ABN AMRO Weekend final at home for the first time as they won the final in a shoot-out over near neighbours SCHC with Babette Backers the hero of the day.

The home side took the lead through Guusje Moes. The Brabant striker opened the scoring after just four minutes but Yibbi Jansen equalised in the blink of an eye.

Jansen scored again from another corner in the 20th minute but it was 2-2 at half-time, Iris de Kemp making it level once more.

SCHC led once more when Jansen completed her hat trick two minutes into the second half only for Noor de Baat – recently moved from AH&BC Amsterdam – to make it 3-3 with 25 minutes to go.

It led to a shoot-out where Luna Fokke and Guusje Moes both scored while Backers kept out two SCHC efforts for a 2-1 success in a best of three series.

The Bilthoven team played in the final without internationals Xan de Waard and Mette Winter, who were both injured. Otherwise, they have a reasonably settled panel this season with just Noa Boterman coming in after a spell in the US college system while Trijntje Beljaars has moved to Amsterdam.

Kampong have boosted their panel with de Baat, Imme van Es (from HDM) and Sophie van Grimbergen (Oranje-Rood).

Teun Beins’ double against his former club saw Bloemendaal win the ABN Amro Cup for the second year in-a-row as they defeated Oranje-Rood 2-0 in the final.

They came through the initial group phase ahead of Schaerweijde and Klein Zwitserland before defeating Rotterdam in the semis to set up the final date.

Beins fired in the first corner on the half hour and netted again in the second half from another corner as Bloemendaal were also able to give first appearances to new arrival Marco Miltkau and Sheldon Scouten.

They won the title in the absence of Zach Wallace and the slightly injured Belgian Arno van Dessel, also new to the club.

Bloemendaal head coach Michel van den Heuvel was also away; he currently combines his job as club coach with coaching the Chinese men’s national team, who were competing in the Asian Cup.

His assistants, Teun de Nooijer – back at his old stomping ground – and Piotr Mazany were on the sideline.

For this season, Elian Mazkour is another addition to the Bloemendaal outfit, switching from Rot-Weiss Köln.

On the debit side, Nathan Ephraums (Australia) and Marc Miralles (Real Club de Polo) have both returned home while Yannick van der Drift (HBS), Floris van der Kroon (HDM) and Lars Leistra (SCHC) have also moved on.

Bloemendaal will play in the EHL in October where they have been drawn against Irish side Banbridge in the KO16 and then will hope to advance to a KO8 game against either Old Georgians or HC Olten.

Antoine Kina will focus on his club career with Gantoise following his decision to retire from the Belgian Red Lions this week after a glittering career that brought Olympic, World Cup and European gold.

Announcing the news on Instagram, he said: “After many unforgettable years with the Red Lions, I want to share with you that I have decided to step away from the national team.

“It has been a true honour to represent my country all these years. Together, we have lived incredible moments and achieved everything there was to win. We became European champions, World champions, and Olympic champions. Achievements I am immensely proud of and deeply grateful for.“Still, this feels like the right moment for me to take a new path. The time has come to focus on my professional career outside of hockey, something I have been looking forward to and where I can continue to build my future.“Of course, this does not mean I am saying goodbye to hockey. On the contrary: I will keep playing with full commitment in the blue and white colours of Gantoise, and I look forward to becoming an even stronger player in the coming years. Gantoise is the club of my heart.

“I truly admire its vision, ambition, and the constant drive for improvement that define the club’s approach. Thank you for your support. You have made this journey truly special.”

Gantoise won the EHL last season for the first time and subsequently won the Belgian championship, putting them straight through to the EHL FINAL8 next Easter.