Luxembourg Hockey Federation and Hockey Club Luxembourg will apply the following

NEW COVID MEASURES AT BOY KONEN HOCKEY PITCH from Monday October 26, 2020:

• Every player will wait outside of the pitch until the previous team has completely left the pitch. Entrance is through the usual door close to the chalet
• Every player will leave his bag inside the pitch, 2 meters away from other bags
• Training will finish 5 minutes before time to smooth entrance and exit of players from the pitch
• Once training is finish, please take your bag and go out of the pitch through the door in the opposite side of the chalet, in the middle of the pitch (exit)
• Door fence will remain open to avoid contacts between players
• Mask is mandatory during trainings if trainings can’t be organized through several groups of 4 players (trainers have however organized trainings through groups of 4 players to avoid wearing the mask)
• Toilets will remain open
• Changing rooms will be closed
• Bar will be closed
• Only 1 parent per children can wait close to the pitch, respecting social distance and wearing the mask

Thank you for your understanding.

The Committee.

In application of the anti-covid measures announced by the government on Friday October 23, we had to adapt the outdoor training schedule. Find below the new outdoor training schedule as of Monday October 26 :

Sunday October 11, 2020.

Ladies 1 :  HC Luxembourg - Louvain-La-Neuve

Golden Sunday for the HCL!

Two hundred kilometres away, our men's and women's teams inflicted the same rate on their opponents of the day: a crushing victory, without conceding a single goal!

Our ladies continued their faultless pursuit of their championship. Impressive since the beginning of the season, the Luxemburgish players once again offered a marvellous and clearly superior hockey to their opponents of the day, namely Louvain-La-Neuve.

The perfect mix of experience and youth was still working perfectly on Sunday on the Konen field! While the strikers were having a great time in the Leuven circle, the local goalkeeper didn't touch a single ball in the first half! The opposite of Fenne (deflection on PC), Aoife (rebound from PC), Diane Krüger (powerful backhand in the side net) and Maude De Cooman (combination with Elisa) who all four comfortably protected their team from an unpleasant surprise.

After the break, the Luxemburgish players managed their lead perfectly by completely dominating the visitors, even allowing themselves to take their goalkeeper out to play with eleven players on the field! In the 42nd minute, Aoife (again) dribbled through the defence before lobbing the goalkeeper with a precise cop: Superb! At the end of the match, Romane Wilmotte made her weekly contribution by inflicting a nice "double" on Louvain-la-Neuve. On penalty stroke first, before adding to the score with a flat shot after a perfectly controlled free kick.

Our ladies are showing impressive results week after week, proving that they deserve to move up to the next division next year!

Sunday October 11, 2020.

Men 1 :  Lynx vs HC Luxembourg 

Golden Sunday for the HCL!

Two hundred kilometres away, our men's and women's teams inflicted the same rate on their opponents of the day: a crushing victory, without conceding a single goal!

Our men travelled to the suburbs of Brussels to cross swords with the Lynx club. Determined, they played an ultra offensive tactic by putting a high pressure on their opponent of the day. The strategy quickly paid off, as by half-time the blue and white team were already leading by three goals. Gratien Kangulumba opened the scoring with a sharp backhand in the 5th minute, followed by the inevitable Milan Dans who found the opponent's net twice, first with a subtle tip-in, then by dribbling the goalkeeper before pushing the ball into the empty goal. The hardest part was done after thirty five minutes of play.

The second act was to be a formality for Luxembourg. But it was not! In difficult playing conditions and against a tough and aggressive team, the events took an incredible turn. Within five minutes, the Luxembourgers were (undeservedly) given two yellow cards and even a red card for permanent expulsion! At 8 against 11, the visitors had to rely on their excellent goalkeeper who masterfully saved a penatly stroke to maintain the comfortable lead of his team!

After this period of hesitation, the Hockey Club du Luxembourg regained control of the game and scored twice more, with the same two players as in the first period! Kangulumba found the ceiling of the goal with a powerful sleep before Dans imitated him with a deflection on PC. (0-5)

Thanks to this victory, the HCL is back in the good positions of the rankings, before consolidating its position during a trip in a few days time to the Neo Club, currently last in the championship.

Maxime Halflants

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Luxembourg Hockey Club appoints a new technical director

By recruiting Maxime Halflants, the Luxembourg Hockey Federation and the capital’s club are demonstrating their ambition, on both a sporting and educational level.

It’s the 6th of September 2020, at the dawn of the new season, and the blues and whites are showing faultless determination under the watchful eyes of their new coach. In sport, as with most other meaningful human endeavour, it is total commitment which drives results that even if not translated into the score line, develop the individual and group spirit. Joining the defensive line for the last 5 minutes of the match, in order to consolidate a good draw (1-1 against Taxandria), M. Halflants demonstrates that, also with a stick in his hand, he has lost none of his touch…

“Sport has always been an integral part of my life,” says the new sports director and coach. “From the age of 5, I started playing hockey with a lot of enthusiasm. Competitiveness and passion are the driving forces that led me to emerge into the honour division with Racing (Brussels) and to achieve national selection in the under 21 age group. That was a great experience that enabled me to develop alongside the golden generation of the Red Lions, who later shone at the Rio Olympics".

You may be thinking that M. Halflants could harbour some legitimate regrets for not having continued with the Belgian national hockey team, but other sporting successes have punctuated his unusual career. Selected by the Belgian tennis federation, he has spent the last 6 years in the highly respected Serie A club (Belgian top 30) and what’s more, only 4 years after taking up the sport, he plays golf off a handicap of only -2! The icing on the cake, these achievements - which many sportsmen specializing in only one of the three disciplines would be delighted with - were obtained whilst simultaneously carrying out law studies and an internship at the Brussels Bar ...

"Maxime's profile is most bespoke", confirms the President of the Luxembourg Hockey Federation, Francis Parisis. “So, we have taken the opportunity to tailor-make his outfit (laughs). For more than three years, we have been working to develop synergies between the Federation, the Olympic Committee and the Luxembourg hockey club, with a clear focus on youth development. Our ambition must, however, conform to strict and sound budgetary management and that means we need to be very selective in the positions we fill. This is the reason why a profile of a lawyer with a deep knowledge of elite sport seemed really interesting to us, in order to work in tandem - for the facilities and youth development programme - with Ignacio Gomez. Beyond the very encouraging first results, we share a management vision that places the individual at the centre of the system”.

"It is obvious that finding each person’s place within the structure of a team requires an individual approach", replies M. Halflants. “As such, I am particularly attentive, wearing my coaches hat, to the human and athletic development of our players. Sooner or later the newly acquired skills of an individual spill over into the group. In my new professional environment, I rely a lot on the experience acquired with my previous professional exposure. By following Arthur De Greef (110th player in the world) for a few months on the ATP circuit, during 2019, I felt with particular acuity how much the mental aspect transcends technical and physical parameters. It may seem obvious but, in our results-oriented and competitive society, we often forget that emotions govern our destinies. Also, the understanding that we have of ourselves, our capabilities and limitations, are strongly anchored but not unchangeable ".

It would be very premature to make any predictions already, however the home crowd who savoured the victory in the third league game were not mistaken: the mood was, like the weather, radiant. No doubt the 4-0 defeat inflicted on Jaguars was a big contributor to the party atmosphere that reverberated around the club during the post-match barbecue. Obviously M. Halflants feels good in his conductor’s costumery. Long may it hold together and develop into a game-changing asset for the Luxembourg Hockey Federation and the bourgeoning club of our capital.