Finnish expert Arto Sieppi takes charge of the U18 women’s national team for the 2025/2026 season

In front of a home crowd in Radenthein, the U18 national team earned promotion from Division IB to Division IA in 2022. This past January, they had to drop down to Division IB. The top priority is immediate promotion. To achieve this, they will need to hold their own against Spain, China, Great Britain, Australia and Poland in Katowice, Poland, in January 2026.

Following the senior national team’s promotion to the Top Division, Mario Bellina, the previous Head Coach of the U18 national team, will focus more closely on his role as Assistant Coach of the senior national team. The U18 team will now be coached by Finland’s Arto Sieppi.

ÖEHV General Manager for women’s ice hockey Martin Kogler: "In Arto Sieppi, we have secured an outstanding women’s ice hockey expert and leader as Head Coach of the women’s U18 national team. I have known him for many years and am very confident that he is the right person for our mission of promotion!"

The Finn is regarded as an outstanding expert in women’s ice hockey. He spent many years as General Manager of Finland’s senior women’s national team and has already stood behind the bench as Head Coach of Slovakia’s senior women’s national team and Japan’s U18 women’s national team, as well as Assistant Coach of Japan’s senior women’s national team. Most recently, he worked at the Finnish National Training Centre in Kuortane.

"I am very pleased about the opportunity to work with Austria’s U18 women’s national team in the future. We will have our first international tournament in August, and that will give us an indication of where we currently stand and which areas we particularly need to work on. Our main goal for this season is to qualify for Division IA again, which means we must be able to play high-intensity, winning international hockey at the upcoming World Championship in Katowice. I also want to help our players fulfil their full potential and reach the next level as players," explains Arto Sieppi.