In June the German clubs were looking for the best junior teams. Qualified for these final rounds were the champions and vice-champions of the five regions in Germany, which already have established youth league systems.
These final tournaments were another step to bring floorball along. Last year the official youth championships were played for first time and then there were two age classes. This year, after the accomplished coordination of the German league systems, teams from four different age classes (U19, U17, U15 and U13) and from nearly every region were looking for the winners.
Two titles went to the east and the other two to the north of Germany. Some junior teams from the highest German league, the Bundesliga, were able to qualify to these championships and gain medals. But also teams from small clubs still not well known showed that they made big progress and build up a solid youth work. So MTV Mittelnkirchen, a small club south of Hamburg, was the only club, which achieved two medal positions.
The final tournaments were played each during one weekend in four different towns. The local organisers did a great job. There were quite a lot of spectators and the media coverage was really good. Regional TV stations and the press reported from the events.
U19 Championship took place in Ingolstadt (Bavaria) and was dominated by teams from North of Germany, which gained the first three positions. The title was won from TV Lilienthal who defeated Gettorfer TV with 6:5 in the final. The third place went to MTV Mittelnkirchen beating the host ESV Ingolstadt with 7:5
The Unihockey Igels Dresden made use of their home field advantage in the U17 Championship and succeeded with 8:6 win against the TSV Tetenbüll. TSV Jahn Salzwedel got the third place by beating TV Eiche Horn Bremen with 9:2.
In the excellently organised U15 Championship in Döbeln, MTV Mittelnkirchen was the strongest team and finished the season without the loss of any points. ETV Hamburg took the second place. In the bronze game UHC Döbeln won TSV Kunnersdorf and gained the bronze medals
In the U13 Championship, the youngest category, which was played in Weißenfels, the teams from the Eastern parts of Germany took all the medals. Winner was UHC Sparkasse Weißenfels, followed by Red Devils Wernigerode, Wikinger Grimma and ETV Hamburg.
Text: DUB and pictures: UHC Döbeln
