There are just two days to go until the 20th Men's Euro Hockey League kicks off, with the first matches on Friday 9th October. The first round is being held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and Kampong are the defending champions.
1. How it works
Eight teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals. The other 12 battle it out in the preliminary round, which has four pools of three teams.
2. England's challenge
England's Surbiton and Old Georgians have already qualified for the quarter-finals, but Wimbledon must come through the preliminary round, facing Real Club de Polo on Saturday 10th October and Oranje-Rood on Sunday 11th October.
Wimbledon have plenty of Team Grays talent in their ranks, including Louis Tipper and Alex Sheldon from Inject Hockey, James Vallely and Fred Newbold.
3. Fred Newbold on the EHL
We caught up with Wimbledon's Fred Newbold to ask how he's feeling ahead of the tournament.
Heading to Eindhoven, Fred will be relying on a trusted kit bag from Grays: the ZW7 stick, the AeroCage X10 and the Touch Pro glove. He loves the ZW7's balance of touch and power, and uses its bow for both dribbling and drag-flicking.
How are you feeling going into the EHL? What's the team's mindset heading into next week?
"The EHL is a special tournament. It's the club tournament that I grew up watching and is undoubtedly the pinnacle of club hockey. Personally, I'm so excited to play in the competition especially coming back into this Wimbledon group after a year away in the Netherlands and so I can't wait to get going. It's a great opportunity to go abroad together as a club team and really buy into being together as a group to achieve something great. Our mindset is that we are going out with the serious intention of winning two games of hockey. This of course involves taking each game as it comes but we have a great chance to stamp our style of hockey in a pretty special tournament. We are just all very ready to experience this together and put on a great show."
Just how special is this tournament to you?
"Ultimately, it is the tournament that every hockey player wants to play in. Over the years there have been some incredible legends of the game that have featured and lit up the EHL and so having the opportunity to play in the tournament, especially in the Netherlands, is a very cool thing. Also, being able to test yourselves against the best teams across Europe who play different styles of hockey is a valuable opportunity. The lessons we learn from these games are ones that we can take back to England to get stronger as a team."
What can we expect to see from you and the team next week?
"Hopefully as a team we can show a very clear style and identity. For us that means being positive, forward thinking and aggressive. This will manifest itself in a lot of different ways but we aren't going to shy away from the challenges posed by either Polo or Oranje Rood. We have a seriously talented group who are aligned in how we play and so I would like this to be on show. Personally, it's a great opportunity to test myself against some of the best players in world hockey and show what I bring as a player. Playing against Oranje Rood in their own backyard will be an awesome game and I want to show my creative innovation with the ball combined with a real intensity and fighting spirit to win two competitive games of hockey."
What would a successful weekend in Eindhoven look like?
"The outcome of qualifying for the next round is obviously something we are going after as a group. However, I think we also want to put in two performances that we are proud of and can use as a foundation for the rest of the season in our domestic league. If we put our game out there then we can be happy and as a result it will put us in a place where we can challenge for qualification to the next round. Our draw is tough but this motivates us even more to give it a proper crack and see where we land."
4. Game on
The EHL brings together the best of European club hockey, and we're proud to see so many Grays athletes involved. Good luck to Fred and all of our athletes in Round 1 and follow our social channels for updates!
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