Prema­ture end

At the beginning of November, the Austrian youth championships in the U14, U12 and U11 age groups were suspended, with no further championship games played. However, the measures to contain the coronavirus have allowed structured training operations to continue in these performance levels to this day.

With schools set to reopen, the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation (ÖEHV) has focused on maintaining these functioning training operations without jeopardising them in any way. To avoid long journeys and keep contacts to a minimum, the U14, U12 and U11 youth championships will not be resumed. With regard to on-ice and off-ice training, the ÖEHV has recommended that clubs limit themselves to skills training in small groups and continue to avoid any physical contact.

"We are aware that youth sport has suffered the most during this difficult time. Training will remain possible in compliance with the legal provisions, so that children and young people do not lose an entire year. We fought for a long time to ensure that training could take place. That is how it should remain. With our decision, we want to keep the risk of infection as low as possible," explains Günther Ropatsch, ÖEHV Vice-President for Sport. "In addition, many ice rinks have already removed the ice and, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, have no prospect of offering ice again this season. Since we have postponed all games in the youth divisions since November, we also lack the dates to make them up. Unfortunately, we have to take this step and make our contribution to containing the coronavirus."