Slavia controlling the controllables ahead of EHL debut

Veronika Nováková says SK Slavia Prague have been pushing themselves to the limit to be in the best possible physical shape as they prepare for their Euro Hockey League debut next week.

They will become the first club from Czechia to play in EHL Women when they take on Surbiton in Den Bosch, emulating their men’s side who created a similar piece of history in 2022 in Hamburg.

And it is a challenge they want to give themselves the best possible chance of making an impact against sides rated much higher on the EHL Ranking List.

“We know that our position is not is not super high right now,” she explained to the EHL website.

“After all these years, it is tricky to build further on the technical and skill-set so we are making sure we can have a big influence on what we can control like our athletics, our running, our conditioning – controlling our controllables.”

It is paying dividends on the domestic scene with the club rising back to the top of the Extra Liga table since the return after a busy winter period.

Indoors, five of the panel – Jindřiška Neusser, Adéla Lehovcová, Natálie Nováková, captain Nikol Babická and Natálie Hájková – landed Indoor World Cup bronze in Croatia.

Slavia then put in some strong performances at the Indoor Club Cup in Siualiai, drawing against fellow EHL side SCHC 3-3 along the way.

This latest opportunity comes following the expansion of the EHL to 12 teams from eight last season, opening up spaces for two new nations to join the EHL Women entry list.

It will be the club’s first time playing in the top division since the old EuroHockey Club Cup in 2002 and a first return to Den Bosch since 1999 when they ended in seventh place.

But they have been on a steady incline in recent years, winning the Challenge I in both 2022 and 2023 before earning a sixth place finish in the Trophy a year ago in Hamburg.

Surbiton – this week’s opponents in the FINAL12 (Wednesday, 12.30 CET) – also played in that event  and it showed Slavia they are narrowing the gap.

“In Hamburg, it was a high level tournament but saw that we can play, compete and show the best hockey that we can. This is 100% an opportunity. We went to Hamburg to support the men’s team a couple of years ago because it is such a big deal for a small hockey country like ours.”

The majority of the side have been together for many years with 13 of the panel playing in at least four European outdoor campaigns.

It is a togetherness forged by Slavia’s family ethos.

“My dad played field hockey for Slavia so I actually grew up at the club with my younger sister. There was no chance that I would play for another team. My mom tried to, you know, put me on some more girly things so I did dancing and other things but I started playing hockey when I was eight or nine.

“Especially in Prague or in Czech Republic overall, hockey and our club is family based so you can see my teammates having kids and then I would be their coach!”

“It such a nice place and maybe one day when, if we play such a high tournament again, maybe we can host this big tournament.”

There is EHL know-how in the coaching staff, too, with former Mannheimer HC player Tomáš Procházka leading the coaching team.

“He told us when we found out we were going to the EHL not to be afraid of the experience; go there with respect, control what you can control.”

“We are super excited and a huge honour to be here. Let’s see what happens”

The post Slavia controlling the controllables ahead of EHL debut first appeared on EHL.