The EuroHockey Institute Youth Leadership Festival brought together some of our sport’s brightest sparks aged 18-30 from all across Europe to share, learn and showcase new ideas in Mönchengladbach.
Throughout the week the youth leaders took part in workshops on a range of topics including leadership, inclusion, marketing, officiating and wellbeing.
Through this, over 32 fantastic people with an incredible passion for hockey engaged with a marketing session from EuroHockey partner Osaka and a mental coaching workshop from Den Bosch coach Marieke Dijkstra along with meeting some of the world’s top officials among other sessions.
The festival is co-ordinated by Youth Leaders from previous events; this year was a particularly emotional one as Cedric Vermeiren, Sergio Ollés and Harri Evans who are stepping back from the organising committee after several years involvement.
Each of the participants in the festival was nominated by their national association. In turn, they had the opportunity to present about a project they have enacted recently to enhance hockey in their area.
Six of these initiatives were selected as finalists to present in front of members of the EuroHockey board and staff as well as their peers.
At the heart of it all was Slovakia’s Šarlota Medvikova who was crowned the 2025 EuroHockey Youth Leader of the Year. Her story reflects the passion, resilience and vision that defined this year’s festival.
Here’s a look at the projects that caught the judges’ eyes to reach the final presentation.
Building a Hockey Family in Slovakia
For Šarlota Medvikova, hockey is more than a sport — it’s a family. An active player with KPH Raca, and a Slovak international herself, she has stepped up as a coach to create opportunities for the next generation.
Her journey began modestly in 2021, taking responsibility for a small group of six Under-10s at her club
With little support and minimal resources, she quickly realised that building a team was not just about drills and matches. “I wanted to build a community that everyone wants to be part of,” she explained.
That community now thrives. Parents-versus-kids games, Halloween and Christmas parties, summer barbecues, swimming trips and even sleepovers have transformed the club into more than just a training ground. The result is a team that looks after one another, motivated and committed to improving every week.
Her vision has gone even further. After seven years without a youth girls’ national side, Šarlota spearheaded the rebirth of Slovakia’s under-16 girls’ programme, which she now coaches. Their first international target is set: competing at the Hockey5s tournament in Georgia in 2026.
The challenges are real — from limited recognition of hockey in Slovakia (often confused with floorball) to the ongoing struggle of resources. Yet Sarlota’s project has already delivered profound impact: raising a new generation of Slovak players whose “hearts beat for hockey.”
** Šarlota Medvikova presented with her award by EuroHockey Vice President Inez Cooper. Picture: Bart Scheulderman/World Sport Pics
Breaking Barriers in England
In Bradford, Harmanpreet Sandhu saw a different barrier to overcome. Playing for England in 2023 opened his eyes to the stark divide in opportunity between state school children and those from private schools. Coming from a state school himself, and as part of the Sikh community — just 1% of England’s population — he resolved to act.
The result was the Harman Sandhu Hockey Centre, launched at his local Gurdwara in March 2023. What began with 10 children exploded into 120 participants within six weeks. Entirely funded by Harman and his family, the project has since nurtured players who now challenge adult teams and even progress to England trials.
For Harman, it’s about more than hockey: “We need more inclusion of state school children and more representation of BAME athletes.”
His centre is both a training hub and a symbol of belonging, showing how grassroots action can rewrite the sport’s narrative of access and opportunity.
Bridging the Gap in Ireland
In Ireland, Caoilin Dunne has focused on one of the most troubling statistics in youth sport: almost half of girls drop out of sport during adolescence. She noticed the trend first-hand as a player and coach, and decided to tackle it head on.
Her solution is the Perform Hockey Academy, designed to support girls through key transitions — from primary to secondary school, and from school into university. The first summer camp, held this year, was a resounding success: 80 girls aged 10–13 attended, including 17 who had never picked up a stick before.
The emphasis was on fun, skills, and building confidence in a supportive environment. Each participant left with details of local clubs, ensuring their journey could continue.
She now plans to expand, with senior blitz tournaments and even a digital platform to connect young players with clubs when they leave school.
As he puts it, the aim is simple: “help good players get better, and new players to keep playing.”
Building Sustainable Clubs in Spain
While some projects addressed access and participation, Jorge Villacampa Muñoz in Zaragoza focused on the foundations of club life. His medium-sized club had plenty of players but lacked the organisational structure to grow sustainably.
Jorge applied his skills to transform everything off the pitch: introducing collaborative tools like Google Drive and Trello, revamping the club’s logo and website during the Covid-19 lockdown, and creating templates for communications and merchandising. He even solved the challenge of mismatched kits, ensuring every player could proudly wear club colours for the first time.
Most impressively, he made each initiative self-sufficient, funded through merchandising and carefully managed budgets. Today, others in the club have taken on the projects he started, meaning his innovations continue without him. In a world where so many clubs rely on a few overworked volunteers, Jorge’s model of sustainability offers an inspiring blueprint.
Giving Hockey a voice in France
For Mathieu Pinet, hockey became a lifeline. Diagnosed with cancer as a teenager, the sport gave him purpose and community. Today, he channels that passion into storytelling, determined to give hockey the recognition it often lacks in France.
His creation, Hockey Magazine, is more than just a publication. It shines a spotlight on the overlooked: referees, volunteers, small clubs, and Hockey-ID. “Everyone has the right to be in this magazine,” he insists. With powerful photography and thoughtful journalism, it captures both the action and the emotion of the game.
Currently run by volunteers, Mathieu dreams of professionalising the project, securing resources to expand and strengthen its reach. For him, it’s about ensuring hockey heroes — whether players or volunteers — are celebrated and seen.
Starting from Scratch in Norway
In Bergen, hockey did not even exist — until Janina Wildermuth decided it should. A German who only discovered the sport after moving to Norway, she found herself missing hockey when she relocated to Bergen in 2024. With no local club, she set out to build one from the ground up.
Armed with borrowed sticks and balls, she recruited through social media, learned how to navigate local sports councils, and even used a public library’s Cricut machine to make club merchandise. The club now has around 20 members, has competed nationally, and contributed players to a women’s European club tournament.
The challenges remain — especially recruiting local Norwegians rather than relying solely on international students — but Janina’s project has already achieved what many thought impossible: Bergen’s first hockey club, and a foothold for the sport in western Norway.
Different Paths, Shared Vision
From Slovakia’s family-style community building to Norway’s pioneering club foundation, from tackling access and dropout rates to strengthening club structures and giving hockey a voice, the six finalists embodied the festival’s spirit.
Common threads run through them all: inclusion, sustainability, and the belief that hockey can offer belonging and opportunity to anyone. Yet each project also reflected its unique context — proving there is no single way to grow the game, only a shared commitment to do so.
