Dragun: I am pleasantly surprised by the large number of spectators and the quality of the tournament

The third day of play is underway. How would you rate the tournament so far?
I am very happy that we also managed to organize this tournament in cooperation with the ISBHF. Three days have gone by smoothly and the tournament had its birth pains, but we managed to handle them right from the beginning in cooperation with the great ISBHF team. The championship is going as it should, the games have been very interesting, whether in the U18 or U16 category, so I am satisfied.

Have you been surprised by the excellent attendance in Žilina?
I am pleasantly surprised by the large number of spectators – hundreds of fans turning up at the games. We realize that it is a junior championship of the U16 and U18 categories, which will really appeal more to the families and friends of the players who are here. However, I believe that even in this way we might be able to improve some things towards next year’s men’s and women’s U20 championship, which will 90% be held in Poprad, and we too might be able to work a little better with spectators.

Organizing a big tournament is difficult. How many people are involved?
From the point of view of the SBHU, up to 20 people are involved in the organization of the championship, who are physically here directly in both arenas, plus another 10 people are provided by the ISBHF. A team of five to six people, headed by Ondrej Buday, myself, Jaroslav Mihal as general secretary, and Michal Runák worked on the preparation of the tournament itself. Of course, I cannot forget the excellent cooperation with the City of Žilina, whether specifically with the mayor Peter Fiabáne or the administrator of the local stadium.

Why was Žilina chosen as a location?
The championship in Žilina was already planned for 2020, then 2021, but there was the Covid period, and then the war in Ukraine, which delayed the organization of the event. However, we succeeded on the third attempt, when the ISBHF confirmed the organization of the tournament, so our first choice was Žilina. We felt a responsibility towards the city, the mayor and the strong ball hockey community in the city. We considered it unfair to put this event in another city because the City of Žilina created excellent conditions for us.

How would you evaluate the performance of the Slovak teams here so far?
In the U16 category, we have a very high-quality Slovak team, which I firmly believe is on its way to winning the group. The U18 national team works as hard as it can, some games turn out better, some worse. The coaches have rolled up their sleeves as needed, and I believe that the whip will crack at the end. So we'll see at the end whether we will evaluate the tournament as a success.

Which teams surprised you with their performance or approach?
I was very pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Hungarian team, which for the first time fielded a team in the U16 category. This team has a very positive attitude towards the tournament. I was similarly interested in the British team, and of course, the group of top teams that’s here:having Canada, the USA, Czechia and Slovakia truly guarantees excellent ball hockey.

Today there is an exhibition game between the Legends of Slovakia and the Legends of the local HBC 07 Žilina club. How did this end up on the schedule?
The idea for a Legends’ exhibition game came from Róbert Kašša, who is a legend in this sport. He’s a member of the ISBHF Hall of Fame, a member of the SBHU Hall of Fame, and a multiple world and Slovak champion. He came up with the idea of bringing these players together, 25 years after winning the first title, to meet and celebrate in this way. It’s a nice change to the championship.

What awaits you and the Slovak national teams after the tournament in Žilina?
After the World Junior Championships, I will take 10 days off because the season was long and difficult. In the last three weeks, my colleagues and I were at home for one day, because on Sunday we returned from the championship in Switzerland, then on Tuesday we already went to Žilina. So at home we spent a pleasant time with our families, washed our things and continued to work. So we need to rest a bit and then we will start preparing our national leagues and some regional leagues, which we cooperate on. At the same time, we are starting to prepare for the U16 and U23 World Championships, which will be held next year in Hradec Králové, Czechia, and the U20 World Championships, which will be held in Poprad.