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.

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.”