The head coach of the Kyiv Capitals women’s team spoke about their upcoming participation in the Sostine Hockey Girls Cup, roster changes, and expectations for their performance.
Yevhen, tell us how the option for our team to participate in the Sostine Hockey Girls Cup came about.
Unfortunately, for several reasons, we were unable to participate in the Ukrainian Championship. The club management proposed this option, and we agreed to it. The core of our team remained intact. We added a few more hockey players to it. We aren’t taking girls away from anyone, but we’ve integrated players into our team who, just last year, didn’t even know how to skate or hit the puck. There are three or four such players. Now they can do it all, and we need to take a step forward. At the tournament in Kaunas, we will evaluate how the Kyiv Capitals look in a slightly different roster.
Tell us, how did you prepare for this tournament in general? A rather tight schedule awaits the team.
We found ice for the girls where the training sessions took place. We added players from Dnipro, Poltava, and Kremenchuk. We held a short training camp in Kyiv, where we played against boys born in 2013-2014. The girls held up quite well against these opponents.
What can you say about your future opponents?
For the first time in my coaching career, I will be going to such a club tournament. This has a slightly different dynamic than working with the national team. Without a doubt, we expect interesting matchups against our future rivals. For our girls, this will be a necessary test. We should perform quite well. We intend to play strongly against every opponent and are setting our minds only on winning. Step by step, we hope to reach the final.
How important is this international experience, especially for the young players who have joined?
In our roster, only three national team hockey players have this kind of experience playing against girls from other countries. The majority of the other players will be performing at this level for the very first time. Some of the girls are traveling abroad for the first time. We will see how everything turns out. I’m convinced it will be interesting for both us and our opponents.
