Women's national hockey team hoping on financial help from supporters
After a 12-year hiatus, the Estonian women's national team has once again gathered in hopes of competing at an international level soon. Team manager and player Katrin Talvak spoke to ETV's sports news on Sunday.
Four teams will participate in the Estonian women's league this year. "There were five teams last season, two teams decided to join forces this season in relation to the coronavirus situation. Perhaps there will be five or even six next season because we see that one more team is practicing in Tallinn. It is gathering popularity," Talvak told ERR of women's hockey in Estonia.
"I sincerely hope that this winter will show us where interest in hockey could lie elsewhere. Natural rinks have been made in Pärnu and Rakvere - I encourage all women to try. You might just like it!," Talvak said.
Women are mostly bothered by the offered practice times, as better conditions are provided for youth teams. "Since there are more enthusiast hockey clubs now, the rink times are not the best. If you need to work the next day, it is complicated at 11 p.m. We hope that skating halls will follow the demand," Talvak noted.
The women's national team was gathered after a 12-year pause in action. "We begun preparing for that in the start of 2020. The goal was to return to the world championship, supposed to take place March of 2021. But that was unfortunately canceled, but hopefully the pandemic will slow down next year and it will be possible then," the team manager said.
The hope is to play in a women's Baltic league. "The Baltic league was an important step in our preparation so that the national team would learn to play together. We have been opponents on the ice, now we must learn to work together. The Baltic league would give us a great opportunity. I believe it would create the right spirit in the team," Talvak said.
It is no secret that financing is a tough thing to manage for enthusiast sports. "If anyone wishes to support the women, then you can support us for another two weeks on Hooandja. We will use the financial contribution for games in the Baltic league, also a documentary on the return of the national hockey team," Talvak concluded.
Support the women's national team here.
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste
