EGCA – YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023

Picture of logo of the Stockholm Para Games that EGCA – Youth Championships is a part!

Picture of logo of the Para Sport Stockholm

Welcome to the home page of the 1st edition of the EGCA – Youth (U23) Championships that was held in Stockholm, Sweden on 2nd – 5th November 2023 organized by ,local sport clubs Hammarby IF Goalball and Aktiva Synskadade together with the EGCA. The event took place at the Stora Mossen idrottshall, Mosskroken 11, 167 56 Bromma.

Anytime if you have some questions generally about the Youth Championships please contact: egca.office@gmail.com. Specific questions about the 2023 tournament in Stockholm can be sent to Mr. Mikael Åkerberg: mikael.akerberg@gmail.com.

COMPETITION RULES & PLAY SYSTEM

EGCA – Youth (U23) Championships 2023 was played under the current 2021 – 2024 IBSA rules. Games was refereed by the IBSA level II and level III referees.

There were 2 groups with 4 teams. There was played a single round robin in both groups; winners of the groups continued straight to the semifinals, teams at places 2 – 3 played in the quarter finals and a team at 4th place played for places 5 – 8 in the tournament.

The order of teams at the group stage was determined in following system:

The final ranking of teams at the conclusion of a round robin will be determined by the number of points earned. Each team will earn three (3) points for every win, one (1) point for every tie score, and zero (0) points for every loss. If two or more teams have the same number of points at the end of the round robin, the teams will be separated by using the following methods in this order:
-Goal Difference – subtracting a team’s goals scored against from their goals scored in the total round robin

  • Number of Wins – teams will be assessed on the number of wins in the round robin. Teams with the most wins will be given the higher ranking.
  • Goals Against– the team with the lowest goals against in the overall competition will be given the higher ranking.
  • Goal Difference – The same procedure shall be used again, but this time only the games in the round robin between the teams that have to be separated shall be included.
    In the event that a tie occurs between more than two teams, the above criteria will be used, in order, until one team has been separated. The above criteria will then be used again, from the beginning and order (and will continue to do so), until all teams have been separated and ranking has been decided. In case of tie, draw will apply.

There were quarter finals between 2nd team of Group A and 3rd team of Group B as well as between 2nd team of Group B and 3rd team of Group A. Winners of the quarter finals continued to the semifinals and medal games. Loosers of the quarter finals played for places 5 – 8 in the tournament with 4th team of Group A and B.

Al the medal games, semifinals, quarter finals and placement games were played until the winner is determined; if the regular time is draw there was 2 * 3 minutes over time with the golden goal rule and if there was no golden goal during the over time the extra throw competition was organized to determine the winner of the game.

PARTICIPATING CLUBS

Following clubs participated in the EGCA – Youth Championships 2023. The groups had been drawn randomly in registration order because there was not any ranking system yet for the youth club teams.

GROUP A: BSI – Blinde og Svagsynedes Idrætsforening (DEN), FSBU Göteborg (SWE), Greifswalder Sportgemeinschaft 01 e.V. (GER), RGC Hansa (GER)

Group B: Aisti Sport (FIN), Hammarby IF Goalball (SWE), Northern Allstars (ENG), USV Hercules (NED)

You can find the team line-ups by clicking here.

Tournament games were refereed by: Alexander Knecht (GER), Patrik Larsson (SWE), Judith Oakley (GBR), and Juha Vuokila (FIN).

GROUP STAGE: UNDEFEATED RGC HANSA AND NORTHERN ALLSTARS REACHED FOR THE SEMIFINALS

In the Group A there were three big medal candidates: RGC Hansa, BSI and FSBU Göteborg were hungry for the 1st place in the group and one way ticket to the semifinals. RGC Hansa was really strong in each game at the group stage with 3 wins from 3 games with remarkable goal difference 45-19 +26. BSI and FSBU Göteborg fought hard for the 2nd place of the group but BSI managed to beat FSBU by one goal margin 7-6. Greifswalder Hechte had to meet three mercy losses at the group stage and young German club continued to the placement games.

There were four really even clubs in the Group B before hand; finally Northern Allstars performed the strongest at the group stage by beating each opponent with 5 goals margin. USV Hercules and Hammarby IF Goalball managed also to beat the Finnish club Aisti Sport whose fate was to leave at the 4th place in the group and continue to the placement games. USV Hercules was a bit stronger than Hammarby IF Goalball in the last group stage game with 10-8 final score and the Dutch club took the 2nd place in the group.

QUARTER FINALS: GROUP A CLUBS SHOW THEIR POWER

There were two quarter finals in the competition and the winners would continue to the semifinals and medal games. In the first quarter final FSBU Göteborg found great flow in their offense and USV Hercules was powerless to stop the Swedish to reach the mercy win with 14-4 final score. BSI from Denmark was also in flames in the 2nd quarter final when they led Hammarby IF Goalball at half time by 5-1 and finally reached to the semifinals with 9-2 final score.

SEMIFINALS: GROUP WINNERS DON’T FALL

In the first semifinal FSBU Göteborg put RGC Hansa to a big test; Rostockers led at the half time only by 5-4 but during the second half they managed to extend their lead goal by goal and finally the favor RGC Hansa continued to the gold medal game with 16-12 final score; John Turloff made 11 goals for RGC in this semifinal while his toughest competer for the top scorer award, Olof Ryberg sent a ball to the RGC Hansa’s net 10 times for his team.

The 2nd semifinal was also really exciting when BSI was one goal up against Northern Allstars at the half time by 6-5. The English club show their big potential on the second half and they managed to turn the course and finally defeat the favor BSI by 10-7 final score; Jack Peters made five crucial goals for Allstars as well as Sigurd Lund found the net for BSI.

MEDAL GAMES: RGC DOMINANCE IN THE FINAL, BSI AND FSBU IN THE BRONZE THRILLER

BSI and FSBU Göteborg met each other again, this time in the bronze medal game. BSI controlled the first half convincing and led at the half time by 4-1. BSI extended their lead quickly in the beginning of the second half to 6-1 until FSBU woke up to fight. Goal by goal FSBU narrowed the lead of BSI but finally the Danish were saved by the bell and once again there was one goal margin between these two great teams, this time BSI won 8-7. Olof Ryberg made 4 goals in the game and raised his total to 31 goals in the tournament, he was also awarded as the male MVP of the tournament. Sigurd Lund made even six goals in the game and finally he was at the 3rd place on the scorer list with 24 goals.

RGC Hansa from Germany and Northern Allstars from Great Britain made in the final game, the game that will be remembered for total dominance of RGC Hansa. RGC Hansa made 1-0 from their 2nd throw in the game, then the female MVP of the tournament, Megan Smithson-Booth equalished the game with her clever quick return. But after that there was only one boss on the court and it was RGC Hansa; John Turloff made 7 and Kilian Kollrep 4 goals in 6 minutes and 46 seconds to wrap up the final with the mercy win 11-1. RGC Hansa is the the first ever European Champion of the U23 goalball clubs. John Turloff became the top scorer of the tournament with incredible 36 goals.

PLACEMENT GAMES: HAMMARBY THE STRONGEST IN THEBACKGROUND

In the first placement game USV Hercules and Greifswalder Hechte played very goal rich game that Hercules managed finally to take home by 14-10 final score. Hammarby IF Goalball and Aisti Sport organized the tighest match of the tournament; the game went to the over time and finally Hammarby celebrated the golden goal and victory from the game.

Aisti Sport took their first and only win in the tournament by beating Greifswalder Hechte in the game for places 7 – 8; only 16-years-old Eemi Utriainen made 5 goals in the game and raised his total to 16 goals. In the game for places 5 – 6 Hammarby IF Goalball was in the command the most of the game; both teams received many penalty chances but the finishing was not the best neither sides. Finally Hammarby was the winner thanks to five goals of Alexander Smedberg with final score 6-3.

ATHLETE REGULATIONS

  • Athletes, who have born on 1st January 2000 and later are available to participate;
  • Athletes from each gender who comply with IBSA standards can participate;
  • Teams can be consisted by boys, girls or mixed;
  • In addition unclassified athletes and 2 foreign athletes are eligible to participate. Foreign athlete is an athlete who is not living permanently or have a nationality of a country where a team comes from;
  • In EGCA Youth (U23) Championships it is mandatory for the clubs to send with the entry form a photo of ID / passport of each athlete that we can ensure their age.

LIVESTREAM & SOCIAL MEDIA

All the games of the EGCA – Youth Championships 2023 will be livestreamed on Goalball TV YouTube channel.

All the results will be updated the fastest on EGCA Facebook page.

GAME SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Below you can find all the results of the EGCA – Youth Championships 2023. Time zone in Sweden is UTC+1.

Friday 3rd November 2023

Start Time / Game Number – Pool / Home Team – Away Team

09:00 / 1 – Group A / RGC Hansa – FSBU Göteborg 21-11 (17-10)

Scorers / RGC: : Kilian Kollrep 11, John Turloff 10

Scorers / FSBU: Olof Ryberg 9, Haoran Hyldgaard 2

10:10 / 2 – Group A / BSI – Greifswalder Hechte 11-1 (11-1)

Scorers / BSI: Gustav Norrelund Pedersen 5, Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen 3, Sigurd Lund 2, Jens Leth Dahl 1

Scorers / Greifswalder: Andrii Norenberg 1

11:20 / 3 – Group B / Aisti Sport – USV Hercules 6-7 (1-4)

Scorers / Aisti: Eemi Utriainen 4, Leo Hintsanen 2

Scorers / Hercules: Sem de Jong 5, Ronald Klaver 1, Opponent’s own goal 1

12:30 / 4 – Group B / Northern Allstars – Hammarby IF Goalball 11-6 (6-4)

Scorers / Allstars: Chris Colbert 5, Jack Peters 5, Conall Moore 1

Scorers / Hammarby: Alexander Smedberg 3, Rebekah Kreps 2, Ludvig Nilsson 1

13:40 / 5 – Group A / Greifswalder Hechte – RGC Hansa 2-12 (2-9)

Scorers / Greifswalder: Alina Börgershausen 2

Scorers / RGC: Davis Hartwig 8, Grietje Gau 4

14:50 / 6 – Group A / FSBU Göteborg – BSI 6-7 (3-6)

Scorers / FSBU: Olof Ryberg 5, Haoran Hyldgaard 1

Scorers / BSI: Sigurd Lund 4, Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen 3

16:00 / 7 – Group B / Hammarby IF Goalball – Aisti Sport 6-1 (2-0)

Scorers / Hammarby: Alexander Smedberg 4, Rebekah Kreps 2

Scorers / Aisti: Eemi Utriainen 1

17:10 / 8 – Group B / USV Hercules – Northern Allstars 8-13 (6-5)

Scorers / Hercules: Sem de Jong 3, Ronald Klaver 2, Femke van den Born 2, Sam Hageraats 1

Scorers / Allstars: Chris Colbert 8, Megan Smithson-Booth 3, Conall Moore 1, Alex Ulysses 1

18:20 / 9 – Group A / RGC Hansa – BSI 12-6 (6-3)

Scorers / RGC: John Turloff 8, Kilian Kollrep 4

Scorers / BSI: Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen 4, Sigurd Lund 2

Saturday 4th November 2023

08:15 / 10 – Group A / FSBU Göteborg – Greifswalder Hechte 12-2 (8-2)

Scorers / FSBU: Felix Rosvall 4, Olo Ryberg 3, Haoran Hyldgaard 3, Jacob Hansson Bärring 1, Hugo Axel Johannsson 1,

Scorers / Greifswalder: Andrii Norenberg 1, Kateryna Shyshuk 1

09:15 / 11 – Group B / Aisti Sport – Northern Allstars 3-8 (1-0)

Scorers / Aisti: Eemi Utriainen 3

Scorers / Allstars: Chris Colbert 3, Conall Moore 2, Jack Peters 2, Megan Smithson-Booth 1

10:15 / 12 – Group B / USV Hercules – Hammarby IF Goalball 10-8 (5-3)

Scorers / Hercules: Femke van den Born 5, Sem de Jong 2, Ronald Klaver 2, Opponentäs own goal 1

Scorers / Hammarby: Rebekah Kreps 4, Alexander Smedberg 4

12:45 / 13 – Quarter-final 1 / USV Hercules – FSBU Göteborg 4-14 (4-5)

Scorers / Hercules: Sem de Jong 4

Scorers / FSBU: Olof Ryberg 5, Haoran Hyldgaard 4, Felix Rosvall 4, Hugo Axel Johansson 1

14:00 / 14 – Quarter-final 2 / BSI – Hammarby IF Goalball 9-2 (5-1)

Scorers / BSI: Sigurd Lund 5, Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen 3, Gustav Norrelund Pedersen 1

Scorers / Hammarby: Rebekah Kreps 1, Alexander Smedberg 1

15:15 / 15 – Places 5 – 8 / USV Hercules – Greifswalder Hechte 14-10 (10-6) )

Scorers / Hercules: Sem de Jong 8, Ronald Klaver 3, Femke van den Born 3

Scorers / Greifswalder: Andrii Norenberg 9, Kateryna Shyshuk 1

16:30 / 16 – Semifinal 1 /  RGC Hansa – FSBU Göteborg 16-12 (5-4)

Scorers / RGC: John Turloff 11, Kilian Kollrep 5

Scorers / FSBU: Olof Ryberg 10, Felix Rosvall 2

17:45 / 17 – Places 5 – 8 / Hammarby IF Goalball – Aisti Sport Ot. 6-5, 5-5 (2-1)

Scorers / Hammarby: Alexander Smedberg 5, Rebekah Kreps 1

Scorers / Aisti: Eemi Utriainen 3, Leo Hintsanen 2

19:00 / 18 – Semifinal 2 / Northern Allstars – BSI 10-7 (5-6)

Scorers / Allstars: Jack Peters 5, Conall Moore 3, Chris Colbert 2

Scorers / BSI: Sigurd Lund 5, Mads Faurholt Laursen 1, Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen 1

Sunday 5th November 2023

09:00 / 19 – Places 7 – 8 / Greifswalder Hechte – Aisti Sport 1-11 (1-9)

Scorers / Greifswalder: Pia Schneider 1

Scorers / Aisti: Eemi Utriainen 5, Miina Grönroos 4, Leo Hintsanen 1, Jasmin Mikkola 1

10:15 / 20 – Places 5 – 6 / USV Hercules – Hammarby IF Goalball 4-6 (2-4)

Scorers / Hercules: Femke van den Born 2, Sem de Jong 1, Ronald Klaver 1

Scorers / Hammarby: Alexander Smedberg 5, Rebekah Kreps 1

11:30 / 21 – Bronze Medal Game / FSBU Göteborg – BSI 7-8 (1-4)

Scorers / FSBU: Olof Ryberg 4, Felix Rosvall 2, Jacob Hansson Bärring 1

Scorers / BSI: Sigurd Lund 6, Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen 2

12:45 / 22 – Gold Medal Game / RGC Hansa – Northern Allstars 11-1 (11-1)

Scorers / RGC: John Turloff 7, Kilian Kollrep 4

Scorers / Allstars: Megan Smithson-Booth 1

FINAL RANKING

Picture of the winning team RGC Hansa at the medal ceremony

  1. RGC Hansa
  2. Northern Allstars
  3. BSI
  4. FSBU Göteborg
  5. Hammarby IF Goalball
  6. USV Hercules
  7. Aisti Sport
  8. Greifswalder Hechte

STANDINGS / GROUP A

Position – Team / Games / Wins / Ties / Losses / Goal Difference / Points

1 – RGC Hansa / 3 / 3 / 0 / 0 / 45-19 +26 / 9

2 – BSI / 3 / 2 / 0 / 1 / 24-19 +5 / 6

3 – FSBU Göteborg / 3 / 1 / 0 / 2 / 29-30 -1 / 3

4 – Greifswalder Hechte / 3 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 5-35 -30 / 0

STANDINGS / GROUP B

Position – Team / Games / Wins / Ties / Losses / Goal Difference / Points

1 – Northern Allstars / 3 / 3 / 0 / 0 / 32-17 +15 / 9

2 – USV Hercules / 3 / 2 / 0 / 1 / 25-27 -2 / 6

3 – Hammarby IF Goalball / 3 / 1 / 0 / 2 / 20-22 -2 / 3

4 – Aisti Sport / 3 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 10-21 -11 / 0

SCORERS OF THE TOURNAMENT

Position – Player’s Full Name / Team / Total

1 – John Turloff / RGC Hansa / 36

2 – Olof Ryberg / FSBU Göteborg / 31

3 – Kilian Kollrep / RGC Hansa / 24

3 – Sigurd Lund / BSI / 24

5 – Sem de Jong / USV Hercules / 23

6 – Alexander Smedberg / Hammarby IF Goalball / 22

7 – Chris Colbert / Northern Allstars / 18

8 – Silas Sepstrup Friis-Hansen / BSI / 16

8 – Eemi Utriainen / Aisti Sport / 16

10 – Haoran Hyldgaard / FSBU Göteborg / 13

11 – Jack Peters / Northern Allstars / 12

11 – Felix Rosvall / FSBU Göteborg / 12

11 – Femke Van den Born / USV Hercules / 12

14 – Rebekah Kreps / Hammarby IF Goalball / 11

14 – Andrii Norenberg / Greifswalder Hechte / 11

16 – Ronald Klaver / USV Hercules / 9

17 – Davis Hartwig / RGC Hansa / 8

18 – Gustav Norrelund Pedersen / BSI / 6

19 – Leo Hintsanen / Aisti Sport / 5

19 – Megan Smithson-Booth / Northern Allstars / 5

21 – Grietje Gau / RGC Hansa / 4

21 – Miina Grönroos / Aisti Sport / 4

21 – Conall Moore / Northern Allstars / 4

24 – Alina Börgershausen / Greifswalder Hechte / 2

24 – Hugo Axel Johansson / FSBU Göteborg / 2

24 – Kateryna Shyshuk / Greifswalder Hechte / 2

27 – Mads Faurhold Laursen / BSI / 1

27 – Jacob Hansson Bärring / FSBU Göteborg / 1

27 – Sam Hageraats / USV Hercules / 1

27 – Jens Leth Dahl / BSI / 1

27 – Jasmin Mikkola / Aisti Sport / 1

27 – Ludvig Nilsson / Hammarby IF Goalball / 1

27 – Pia Schneider / Greifswalder Hechte / 1

27 – Alex Ulysses / Northern Allstars / 1

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Picture of the most valuable players

The most valuable male player – Olof Ryberg (FSBU Göteborg)

The most valuable female player – Megan Smithson-Booth (Northern Allstars)

The best scorer of the competition – John Turloff (RGC Hansa)