At a time when many countries are looking to reduce the number of junior representative competitions it seemed strange that the International Hockey Federation (FIH) opted to make their four yearly Junior World Cup tournaments biennial.
This took place after the 2021 Junior World Cups and has seen events held in 2023 and in 2025. The 2025 events also saw an increase in teams participating in the finals. The number rising from 16 to 24.
While this was promoted as being a positive step it can easily be argued that it in fact had the opposite effect on the game. Scores of 17-0, 13-0, 12-1 11-0 and 10-0 which were witnessed in the men’s event are never good to see. In fact in the men’s tournament ten of the 36 pool matches saw teams win by scores of 7-0 or more. One of the leading nations even pulled off their goalkeeper in search of more goals to improve their goal difference against a team that they were already assured of beating. They had a valid reason as it would impact whether they topped their pool or not.
In the women’s event 12 times was a team beaten by seven goals or more in the 36 pool games. That can never be good for a game or a sport,. In fact it made a mockery of the event being a World Cup Finals event where the best in the world are supposed to be competing.
If that was not bad enough we also witnessed the team that finished 17th receiving a trophy of their own. Each team at each event that finished 17th winning the the inaugural “Challenger Trophy,” a supposed incentive for the teams in the 17-24 place playoffs. At a prestigious World Cup event this is akin to giving every participant a medal, as we frequently see today in Junior sport. Is this really the direction the sport should be going?
The biennial Junior World Cup was panned by many in the game the minute it was announced, especially by development coaches as they warned that it would result in teams having little time to prepare and bring players through. It would appear that many of those who spoke out may well be vindicated five years on, although a major contributing factor is the lack of an international calendar to allow the coaches and the high performance programs to plan adequately for such an important tournament.
Whereas with a quadrennial tournament nations had three years to prepare and bring through players, now they essentially have a year. Obviously they need matches to prepare their players, but at under 21 level these are few and far between, unless you are in Europe where the distances are shorter. In Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania there is a huge cost to arrange u21 international games.
This is why events such as Malaysia’s long-running Sultan of Johor Cup are so important. They give under 21 teams the opportunity to gain tournament experience and play against varied opponents all at one time. Yet as we witnessed in 2025 New Zealan’d’s players had to fund their own way to not only the Sultan of Johor Cup but also the World Cup. So having an event every two years is going to place a huge financial demand on the parents of those aspiring players.
For over ten years the International Hockey Federation has said that they are going to put in place an International calendar. One that it was hoped would be created in conjunction with the various national associations and would result in the least disruption to their domestic competitions.
Certainly with World Cup Tournaments one would hope that the dates are locked in well in advance, but that does not appear to be the case.
Nations looking to compete in the next edition of the Junior World Cup in 2027 have no idea whether it is going to be held in July or December of 2027. If it is July that is only 13 months away! Of course efforts are being made to determine who will host the men’s and women’s events and where, but it is leaving it very late.
That of course creates problems when trying to plan ahead within their own programs, and also to some extent in their confederations.
To add to the frustration of many involved in bringing the next generation through via the Junior World Cup is the fact that following the 2025 event in India it is claimed that the various teams were asked to complete a questionnaire and provide feedback on the tournament. Many who took the time to give feedback have claimed that they have not received any response on that feedback from the FIH, not even a “thank you” for taking the time to complete the said questionnaire and provide feedback.
Could this be because from what NTFS has been advised many aired their view that holding the competition every two years was going to have a negative impact on the game, both in terms of funding the programs and developing players?
However, from what we have been able to gather there were some suggestions put forward that have merit, such as the top eight teams at the Junior World Cup winning the right to play in a Champions Trophy style competition every four years, in the second year between the four-yearly World Cups.
It is believed that many also felt that increasing the size of the junior World Cup to 24 teams was simply too much as the gulf between the top teams and the lowest ranked teams was simply too big, hence the high scoring encounters. The belief being that 20 teams should be the maximum, but that 16 at this age level was preferred, and that a seperate competition be arranged for the teams 17-24, with the winner possibly earning a place at the next World Cup. All appearing to be suggestions which make sense, but sadly appear to be opposed to what the decision-makers came up with.
The other problem with the Junior World Cup being held every two years is that the International Hockey Federation expect National Associations to bid to host the tournament, and also cover the cost of the broadcast of the games.
Regrettably, there is little return on such an investment. So the question is why would a nation bid to host the tournament? It is alleged that the FIH wanted the next event to be held in Europe, and approached three of the top national associations in Europe to host the event. All declined to host it independently due to the cost, but offered to be joint hosts. This it is claimed was rejected.
As was witnessed in India adding the cost of the broadcast to the host nations responsibilities is another expense that few can afford. So what happens? They find the cheapest option, simply to meet their obligations. As a result the coverage is not of a standard that Hockey fans expect, and viewing figures are low, which in turn makes it hard to attract sponsors the next time around.
When one takes into consideration that New Zealand were not the only team that saw its players have to pay their own way to a World Cup, is it really fair to ask them to be finding NZD13,000 or the equivalent every two years? If they do raise that money to attend then they deserve a top class event with a top class broadcast.
The problem with a lack of a Calendar at the highest level is it filters down and impacts all levels of the game.
The two dominant nations in Oceania are New Zealand and Australia. Despite not knowing when the Junior World Cup is going to be next year Oceania has to organise a time when the World Cup Qualifiers will be played. Not The Footy Show has been advised that both nations had told their Confederation that July would be the best month for them.
Oceania has since advised that the games will be played from the 10th-13th of December 2026 in Queensland! Allegedly this is because this is the only time that the venue they are looking to use is available. Then surely if the venue is not available during the best times for the member nations of the Confederation, you have to change the venue? After all the Confederations are there to serve its member nations, this is not good customer service!
As a result of this obstinacy and all-powerful attitude it has been claimed that New Zealand has said they will not be playing, as the dates clash with their National competition. They are to be applauded for taking such a stance. It is a shame that Australia has not stood next to them and also said that the timing does not work for them. Sadly the New Zealanders may feel a pattern is developing with both teams allegedly agreeing to withdraw from the Pro League together, but Australia then doing a backflip.
Sadly the ones who lose the most are the young aspiring players.
When one hears of these types of situation brought about by a clear lack of planning in terms of calendars internationally, regionally and domestically, one can understand why some players in this cohort have said they are “burned out,” “there is too much hockey,” or they are “no longer enjoying playing.”
While there has always been a belief that to make it to the top you need to have passion and drive along with a desire to play, you also need a break. One player who played at the Junior World Cup in December last year had just three days off after returning home before they were back training with their club side! They are still playing, and have been playing the one sport for over 12 months.
In Australia if you are in this under 21 group and have aspirations to play for Australia you know that you have to be playing to be seen. Yet these players play for their clubs, they then leave the club to go and play in the National Under 21 Championships mid season, they return to their clubs and play through to the end of that season. Before that ends they are training with their Hockey One side, and when the club season ends the Hockey One season starts. Some may be fortunate to attend an Under 21 invitational event in Europe or Asia as well and also attend a national training camp. They may also be asked to play for their state in a meaningless under 21 or under 23 foray into Asia. These are games that they could easily miss, and one suspects that the National coaches are telling the players that, as they have seen what they need to see from them. However, the State bodies tell the players that they need to play if they want to play in the Hockey One league, which they have been told is where the national selectors are watching to select the national team squads for the next year. So they agree to go for fear of not being in the shop window for national selection. Understandably this current set-up is draining some, and clearly killing the drive in others.
Having spoken to some players in this group it has been interesting to hear that many have said if they were allowed to skip one event it would be Hockey One. The main reason being that it comes at the wrong time being contested, at the end of the Club season, when players want to have a break or go and play another sport without the same pressure or expectation; and being under 21 it would be in their interests to do so. Being so young many are at University or part of an apprenticeship and many have said tutors and employers are sick of having to keep giving time off for hockey. One player revealing that his lecturer said that they may want to decide what their priority was in life, they degree or sport. (All We Want For Hockey Is...)
There are many who have been around the game for a very long time who have stated since the creation of Hockey One that the scheduling of the competition comes at the wrong time. Why could it not be spread throughout the Club season? This would probably boost crowds as many are then in Hockey-mode.
One of the reasons given to Not The Footy Show was ‘this window is the best because Hockey does not have to go up against AFL or NRL. This is truly a laughable reason. With all due respect the sport is no where near competing with those two dominant sports. There is no reason to worry about them. Hockey has a loyal following of its own, the key is trying to grow that. Focus on what you are doing and do it well. Currently the timing of the competition impacts those who watch it as the regular season is over and many are taking a break or have moved on to another sport.
Like so many things in sport it all comes down to communication. Sitting down and talking through the various calendars with the stakeholders, the National associations, the state bodies and the clubs. The dictatorial approach and a belief that because you are the governing body and you know best just does not work, and it never has. With a little effort and some give-and-take all of these events can be staged, but all within a timeframes that protects the athletes and benefits the sport as a whole. .
Also moving forward the sport has to look at who should pay for tournaments such as these. Should the onus really fall on the National Associations to bear the costs of hosting such tournaments? Or should this be a joint effort? After all how much benefit is there to a National Association to act as host? With very little mainstream coverage they are certainly not going to benefit from television exposure. If no one is prepared to put their hand up and cover these costs what is the future of these tournaments? It is time to be realistic, park egos at the door, and work together for the good of the game globally.
