A touch of Abingdon at the FIH Nations Cup in Poland

Written by Todd Williams, Director of Hockey at Abingdon School

At the end of May, teams from Austria, Canada, France, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa joined the host country and arrived in the Poland's original capital city of Gniezno, to compete in the men’s edition of the International Hockey Federation's Nations Cup.

The Nations Cup is played each year between the highest ranked countries currently outside of the prestigious FIH Pro League. The winner of the Nations Cup earns their spot in the Pro League for the following year, so there is plenty to play for.

Along with this event, there were three other locations around Europe hosting international hockey tournaments at the same time, with the women's Nations Cup in Terrassa and both men's and women's Pro League rounds in Antwerp and London.

This busy schedule is of course no coincidence with each tournament featuring teams in the final stages of the preparations for the Paris Olympics. Four concurrent tournaments however also requires four sets of umpires and officials as well, as in my case, four sets of commentators.

Previously, I've only attended events for the European Hockey Federation, so it was a surprise to receive the email inviting me to Poland. The dates were not ideal, but after explaining the opportunities these events offer to the Head, I was pleased to accept the invitation with the school’s blessing.

After 24 matches, New Zealand emerged as the winners, booking their place in next season's pro League with a hard fought shootout win over France in the final. Not surprisingly, South Africa, the other team in the draw bound for Paris, edged out Pakistan for the bronze medal.

Off the pitch, and as you can see in the image, with my Abingdon hat literally on, the tournament proved to be the usual coaching and networking feast that these events always are. There really is nothing like describing to a TV and online audience how international teams are playing to help you pick out the important bits of what top teams and players are doing.

Similarly, talking to the coaches, many whom I either played against or have known for years, is also great for hearing about what they have been focusing on with their teams and players leading up to Paris and, in some cases beyond, to big tournaments like the Asian Games.

Another bonus was that many of the nine teams in Gniezno are not only ideal locations for tours but also to provide potential gap-year opportunities for our players. Needless to say that in the small world of Hockey, the idea of "who you know" is inevitably the best starting point for these conversations.

Cape Town, Vancouver and Johor in Malaysia are all great options, with the latter especially appealing as their national coach, a great playing opponent from way back, reminded me that the hockey-supporting Sultan, is now also the King of Malaysia!