The World Cup of University Hockey is about to kick off

From 14 to 19 April, Felcsík Ice Rink in the village of Cârța will host the World Cup of University Hockey, bringing together eight major national ice hockey teams. Canada, the United States of America, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania will all be present. A press conference was held on Thursday morning to launch the event, attended by representatives of the organisers, partner organisations and teams.

The World Cup of University Hockey kicked off with a packed press conference and the puck will hit the ice on Friday the 14th. On Thursday morning, the press gathered in the main hall of Felcsík Ice Rink to get the latest and most important information.

Present at the press conference were Barna Tánczos, President of the Mens Sana Foundation, which operates the Szeklerland Ice Hockey Academy, the Romanian Minister of Environment, Water and Forestry, Attila Nagy, Executive Director of the Szeklerland Ice Hockey Academy, and the newly elected President of the Romanian Ice Hockey Federation, Paul Hebert, President of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), Craig Barnett, Executive Director of the ACHA, Tamás Horvát, President of the Organising Committee of the tournament, representative of the Romanian national team, Janka Dankova, Press Officer of the European University Hockey League, and a representative of the Slovak, Czech and Polish teams, respectively.

The atmosphere at the press conference was positive and everyone involved expressed optimism about their hopes for the tournament. The representatives of the national teams agreed that the World Cup serves three main purposes. Firstly, it provides players with quality opportunities to compete and develop, secondly, it is an important and forward-looking networking platform and thirdly, it is a platform for cultural encounters. It can build personal and professional relationships between the parties.

Barna Tánczos, President of the Foundation operating Szeklerland Ice Hockey Academy, drew attention to the fact that in just 6-7 years, Szekler ice hockey has managed to develop at a level that has put the region on the international map of the sport. The current World Cup is a culmination of this.

Attila Nagy, the director and president of the Romanian Ice Hockey Federation, stressed the significance of the event that they managed to bring to Cârța, Romania. According to him, the event is unprecedented, and it can launch new processes and new trends. At the same time, the director provided practical information. Given the popularity of the World Cup, tickets can be purchased online at www.bilete.ro to avoid queues. Of course, tickets will also be available on the spot, if not all tickets are sold online. However, live coverage will also be available at www.sport.vicket.com.

Representatives of the American Collegiate Hockey League said that it has been a very long journey, both literally and figuratively. The Americans have had a very tiring flight, and the tournament has been postponed compared to the original plans due to the coronavirus outbreak. In the light of this, they are delighted and excited to be here, and of course both the Canadians and the US players are looking forward to making it to the final.

The representatives of the European national teams have set similarly ambitious goals. For the Slovaks, for example, reaching the semi-finals is the minimum goal, but the Poles have set their sights on getting the gold medal.

Tamás Horvát spoke about the composition and objectives of the Romanian team. As he said, the team built on Sapientia U23 and the Háromszéki Ágyúsok is led by highly skilled professionals, the preparation went well, so they are looking forward to the first match against Canada.

The World Cup of University Hockey will take place at Felcsík Ice Rink in Cârța. You can buy tickets at bilete.ro or at the ticket office before the game. Live coverage of the games can be streamed online for €5 on the Vicket Sport website, where full passes with various discounts are also available. Some games will also be available on Prima Sport.

News and information about the tournament will be available in Hungarian on the social media platforms and website of the Szeklerland Ice Hockey Academy during the tournament. In English, the official World Cup website www.wcouh.org will provide updates. Live scores and minutes of the games will be available on the same website.

The tournament organisers and the participating teams welcome all those interested to visit the venue or watch the games on their screens. A real hockey festival is on the horizon at Felcsík Ice Rink.