A collaboration like this rarely happens in the world of sports. Once again, the American para hockey giants are passing on their knowledge and experience to their Czech opponents alongside the IPH CUP world tournament. As part of this joint training, these two world representations and implementation teams become one and motivate one another. International Para Hockey Cup 2023 starts in 3 days!
Two very tough training sessions a day. Full ice with more action on it than ever. The coaches, goalkeepers, forwards and defenders of the two national teams joined into one big team. Six-time world champions and five-time Paralympic winners from the USA are once again passing on their knowledge on the ice to the Czech para hockey national team. “For us, and especially for our young players, this is very beneficial, because the pace of the training is completely different. The Americans are faster and have better skills, and so that motivates us, and at the same time it makes us skate much faster too,” commented Jakub Novotný, the coach of the Czech para hockey national team. “We can see that we have definitely made progress since last year. If I compare how we didn’t keep up to them last year; now the jump is not so striking, but of course we still have a lot of work to do on the physicality aspect of this sport,” added Novotný.
Young reinforcements and a completely unusual roster in the Czech national team
elite teams are at the venue of the tournament IPH CUP 2023. Starting tomorrow, players from Italy and Germany will also train on the ice, and they will form a team called the IPH team under the Italian coach Mirco Bianchi. The Czech para hockey national team also presented the nomination of players for the tournament. In addition to the pros Kubeš, Hábl and Geier, the roster also includes the Czech team’s youngest reinforcements Vrubel and Kapko. “We take it as the first tournament of the season, a preparatory one, so we wanted to test these players. The fact that Lukáš Kapko is now at an age where he can participate in official tournaments, we wanted to test him and use this opportunity,” coach Jakub Novotný commented on the involvement of their young players. The fans are also in for a surprising change within the Czech para hockey team; Patrik Sedláček moved from the position of a forward to the position of a goaltender and will defend the goal at the IPH CUP 2023 together with the team regular – Martin Kudela. “It’s unusual,” goalkeeper Patrik Sedláček briefly commented, in his full goalkeeper gear with a smile on his face after training with the Americans. While he used to be expected to score goals, now he’ll be on the lookout so he doesn’t let a single one swoosh behind his back.
Patrik Sedláček is moving from the position of a forward to the position of the goaltender of the Czech para hockey national team.
The International Para Hockey Cup 2023 starts on the 2nd of October 2023 in the Ostravar Arena. Tickets are on sale!
The International Para Hockey Cup 2023 starts on the 2nd of October 2023 in the Ostravar Arena. Tickets are on sale!
The International Para Hockey Cup 2023 will take place with the support of the National Sports Agency, the Moravian-Silesian Region, the Statutory City of Ostrava and the partners Kaufland and Komerční banka.
Text: Zuzana Martinčík Glacová Translation: Adela Katy Dawso Photos: David Handl
