(Fisg press release) – The Olympic dream of the women’s ice hockey team has died in Füssen . A tournament that ended with three defeats in three games, but with many interesting ideas for growth for an Italy that had not faced such high-level opponents for years.
The balance of coach Max Fedrizzi , after having disposed of the disappointment for the collapse in the third half against Austria, is in fact positive, especially in the future. “Our realistic goal – comments the Italian coach – was to make life as difficult as possible for better equipped opponents than us, and I would say that we have achieved it.
For those unfamiliar with our reality, the defeats against Denmark (4-0), Germany (4-1) and Austria (6-1) might seem disappointing, but for the Italian movement these performances certify the enormous progress made compared to the recent past. If we exclude the third half against Austria , where fatigue and frustration emerged, for the rest of the tournament we managed a pace of play to which the girls are not used to, often putting their opponents in difficulty.
We paid the price mainly for the mistakes made, those small details that can make the difference against more experienced teams . Let’s not forget that this national team has an average age of just 22, and that 16, 18, even 15 year old girls took to the track ”.
Group photo for team and staff at the Füssen tournament (Photo DEB / Linda Maier)
The confirmation of the progress was received by Max Fedrizzi from the compliments of Pat Cortina , former coach of the Hungarian women’s national team.
“He asked me if we were the same team that lost 11-1 to them at the World Cup in Budapest in 2019. They are certificates of esteem that make you happy “.
With the pre-Olympic commitment filed, the Azzurri head coach looks to the future. “We have only taken the first step of a project that aims at the 2026 Olympics . We have several very young talented girls ready to land in blue, and this will help increase the competition within the team. The Federation he understood that there is the material to get good results, and he is giving us the opportunity to work in an ever more professional way.
What is needed is a general growth of the women ‘s movement , increasing competition and level even at the club level. The players with dual nationality ? There are some athletes who have contacted us from overseas and we are monitoring, but we need to carefully evaluate the individual situations, because we only need grafts if they make us make a qualitative leap “.
The very young Laura Lobis, awarded as MVP against Austria (Photo DEB / Linda Maier)
The women’s national team, after the Beijing 2022 dream has been archived, will now get back to work in view of the Group B First Division World Cup scheduled from 8 to 14 April in Katowice , Poland.
The goal, in the tournament which will see the participation of Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovenia, South Korea and China, is the promotion and return to the First Division Group A. The same level currently occupied by the under 18 women’s national team , which instead it will play from 9 to 15 January in Györ against Hungary, Japan, Slovakia, France and Norway.
Franziska Stocker, Italy’s strength for women (Photo DEB / Linda Maier)