As the rest of the hockey-playing nations dodged their teammates to prepare for the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior Hockey World, Ukrainian girls had a different task at hand.
They had to dodge bullets and bombs as they made their way into Poland en route to South Africa, where the event is scheduled to begin on April 1.
It was one of the riskiest evacuations in Ukraine where, forget winning the title, reaching Poland became a herculean task and a risk-filled adventure.
At the helm of this evacuation was the Polish Hockey Association. Poland, a country that borders Ukraine, took responsibility for transporting the Ukrainian girls to South Africa.
The Polish Hockey Association general secretary Piotr Wilkonski described how the girls were evacuated from different parts of Ukraine. “Everything went according to plan. 13 girls went moved to the Poland border from Kiev. Then there were a few more players who were safely evacuated from Sumy, while one was already waiting for their teammates in Poland,” Wilkonski told Polish Hockey Association website.
The officials from the Polish Hockey Association were waiting at the Poland-Ukraine border for the team to arrive. The Ukrainian players were then put on a bus and taken to the Central Sports Center in Wałcz. The girls will be training at Lake Raduń for the next few days.
Accompanied by the Polish hockey coach, the Ukrainian team will be taken to Berlin, where they will be picked up by representatives of the Dutch Federation. Germany has pledged to help transport Ukrainian team women to Potchefstroom, South Africa, the hosts of the Women’s Junior World Cup.
The entire evacuation operation was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, Wałcz and the Worker Service Company based in the city of Poznan.
On March 1, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) excluded Russia Women's Junior World Cup.
According to FIH, the decision from FIH came following a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to avoid the participation of Russian athletes and officials in international competitions.
“FIH is in regular contact with the Hockey Association of Ukraine and is doing its utmost to offer any support it can, in the hope that the Ukrainian team will be able to participate in the upcoming FIH Hockey Women's Junior World Cup. FIH expresses its strong hope for a peaceful resolution rapidly,” FIH had said in its statement.
Austria replaced Russia in Group C. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been placed in Group B along with England, Ireland and hosts the Republic of South Africa.
Ukraine will play the first match of the tournament against Ireland on April 1.
As for Indian women, they are in Group D alongside Germany, Malaysia and Wales. India will play their lung-opener on April 2 against Wales.
