Camaraderie and growth: Norway and Great Britain wrap up final camp ahead of Worlds

Norway hosted Great Britain for a final training camp ahead of the World Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships later this month in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia. 

The three-day camp, held in the city of Moss from 1 to 3 August, gave both teams a valuable opportunity to fine-tune their preparations, exchange experiences and build camaraderie. 

Led by Norway’s Team Manager Espen Hedge, the camp also welcomed players from Latvia and Finland and was open to new female athletes interested in trying the sport. 

The Women’s World Championships will be Norway’s debut at a World Para Ice Hockey tournament. The newly formed women’s national team features a mixture of seasoned players like Lena Schroeder and newcomers such as Celine Halvorsrud. 

Schroeder competed with the Norwegian team at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in South Korea. She is one of only three female players to have participated in the Winter Games, alongside  Norway’s Britt Mjaasund Oeyen (Lillehammer 1994) and China’s Yu Jing (Beijing 2022). 

“This weekend we had our last gathering before the World Championship in three weeks. Our newest members have only played for three months, while others (🙋‍♀️) have played for 17 years. But the team as a whole made great improvements just over the weekend,” Schroeder posted on social media. 

The “newest member” Halvorsrud also reflected on her experience at the camp and her excitement for the upcoming tournament.

“Shift by shift I felt myself taking more space, throwing a few bumps, and letting that fearless version of me come out. My coach even noticed the progress – faster turns, smarter plays, and finally daring to be that little ‘troublemaker’,” she posted.

Norway's Lena Schroeder is more used to playing para ice hockey against men.

But recent competitions like the @paraicehockey’s World Challenge are trying to change that, by encouraging more women to take part in the sport. pic.twitter.com/q2ufFYC3ja

— DW Sports (@dw_sports) October 30, 2024

Team Great Britain brings experience from all three editions of the Women’s World Challenge, the competition that paved the way for the inaugural World Championships. 

Several players also competed in open World Para Ice Hockey tournaments, including the 2022 C-Pool World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, and the 2023 B-Pool World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. 

One of them is Stacey Quirk, who shared the importance of the camp in Moss to the development of women's Para ice hockey.

"I look forward to the next step in growing the women's game later this month at the World Championships in Slovakia," she wrote on social media. "Long may this mutual support and positivity continue so we can all keep growing as athletes and developing opportunities for the next generation."

In Dolny Kubin, the two teams are placed in separate groups and will begin their campaigns on 27 August, day two of the Women’s Worlds. Norway will face fellow debutants Australia in Group A, which also includes the United States. Great Britain will open against Team World, a squad composed of players from different nations. Canada rounds out Group B.

Group winners will face the second-place teams from the opposite group in the semi-finals on 30 August, with the medal games scheduled for 31 August. 

The tournament will be held at the Dolny Kubin Winter Stadium and will feature an all-women officiating crew. All games will be streamed live on the Paralympic YouTube channel.