The Regions’ Cup sacrificed ?

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The new year is often associated with good resolutions, but as you know, they only last a short time ! The year 2022 will not even have had time to start when we already knew that it would be experiencing the same mistakes as in recent years.

After a reorganisation of the Regional Cup last year, which only allowed one day for this competition, this format, which aims to create regional poles of young high-level players, will probably not take place this year… According to our information, only one women’s team is registered for this tournament which will take place at the same time as the Masters Cup … A situation which is not surprising … Imagine, succeeding in mobilizing a team which comes only to play on one day is utopian, adding the factor of the underage players and the supervision of these …

A fantasy, which turns into a nightmare for the benefit of what ? For the benefit of whom, more playing time for the Masters ? An extra court for the Masters Cup ? No disrespect to this competition, which is awaited by the whole hockey community.

In many sports such as handball or basketball, regional teams are part of a process of detection and training of the future elites of the sport. In hockey ? A few training camp per year and then what ? Imagine a huge talent playing on a small team, how can he show his abilities ? By competing with the best of his region and the best players in France, it’s easier, isn’t it?

What is the message, if this Regions’ Cup does not take place, that the past of our sport must be more important than the future of it ? However, we should not oppose the two competitions, the Masters Cup is very important, but why not spread it over several dates as in ALL other sports in France, why not propose a Masters championship, rather than a cup ? We can already hear « difficult to have pools« , « no time to spread it over several weekends« , « the teams won’t come » « the COVID doesn’t help us » …

Our sport needs to be reformed, because we are certainly missing out on talent today ! So yes, more national youth categories, more training camps, but let’s not forget that everything is currently played out over a weekend. In one training camp, a talent can lose a lot of chances to join the French team … So without the Regions Cup …

We need a total rethink of our program, because every decision taken today will impact our hockey for at least a decade.

As for the fate of the Regions’ Cup, see you in a few days and above all, happy new year on our hockey planet.