Portugal
D-3 with David Teiga : « No Worlds before 2023, would be a great loss for UWH »
Three days before the announcement of the vote on the new format of the world championships, David Teiga, captain of the Portugal hockey team, gives us his vision of the future of our sport.
When we have the chance to meet David, one thing immediately jumps out at us … David is passionate, he LOVES hockey, it is not for nothing that he is captain of his team and also of the national selection. As a true adventurer of swimming pools around the world, David gives us his point of view about the future of UWH. Him, the player of a « small » hockey country which is still tending to develop. Interview without stick infringement.
For you what is the best decision for the hockey worlds?
For me, the best decision is to continue to do worlds every two years. It is important to maintain this cycle, to continue to fuel our sport and allow the registration of new players. Just look at other sports, for some Olympics that have worlds every two years like handball, for example. We could simply make changes to the current system :
- Make the continental events the new qualifying events. For example, by playing euro hockey, we would also play our qualification for the worlds. The defending World cup champion would be directly qualified, which would give an other spot. Also the top seeded from each continent at worlds will be directly qualified for next worlds (but they still have to play their zone comp). This may allow more chances in continental events.
- Create a world cup with two divisions of 8 teams each. A group A and a group B, like what is done in rugby 7 for example.
If the option would go to qualifying stages, do you think that would be a good thing for Portugal and the « small » hockey nations?
The question of the qualification phases is a more sensitive question where the answers must be more nuanced. What will be the qualification areas? How many teams will be able to qualify? If we take the America zone (Canada, United States, Colombia and Argentina), how many teams will be selected? In addition, we risk having a system where the same teams will always be qualified… As for Portugal and Europe, this could have a beneficial effect. A kind of super event, very competitive with a lot of teams. Except that currently, many countries are sacrificing the Euro, to participate in the world, because they do not have the funds to participate in both … This raises the question of the possibility of competing in pools of 25m and a reduction of the duration of the competition… In all cases, an appropriate system must be set up, from a financial point of view. From our side we see the possibility of the qualifying phases as a good thing …
If the World Cup does not take place before 2023, what will be the situation in Portugal, for experienced players?
Without a world before 2023? For me the biggest loser will be underwater hockey. How many people will give up hockey? How many clubs will cease to exist? In Portugal, we were up to 7 clubs with 10 teams in our championship and our championship had a lot of game weeks … On the national team side, we have a young team, only 5 players are over 28 years old. So, I wonder if the players will still have great motivation to come to the national camps, knowing that they will have to wait another two years, until 2023, to participate in the worlds. This is THE problem that can happen to our sport! If the World Cup takes place every 4 years… What you have to understand is that hockey is an AMATEUR sport and that evolution goes through people who are passionate about our sport. What motivates people to come and play hockey? It is to find their friends at the end of the day and to have fun for 2 hours. However, external motivations (championships, Euro, world …) are also needed to allow these people to continue to be motivated in the goal to develop underwater hockey …