The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB), the German Ice Hockey League (PENNY DEL) and the DEL2 have completed their club certifications as part of the “5-Star Young Talent Program” and informed the clubs about their respective results. Across leagues, nine clubs can look forward to a five-star award in the 2023/2024 season. The Eisbären Juniors Berlin, the Jungadler Mannheim and the Iserlohn Young Roosters even received the rating “5 Stars Plus”. While the clubs from Berlin and Mannheim had already won this award in the previous season, it was a first for the Iserlohn team this year.
Florian Ondruschka, Uli Liebsch and Markus Gleich, the club supervisors and young talent coordinators of the three highest German ice hockey leagues, are satisfied with the general further development of the clubs after their on-site assessments and the subsequent evaluations.
The star program is a central element of the DEB-Sport concept that gives young talent clubs a structural and content-based framework for their work in recruiting and training young ice hockey players. As part of the program, the participating clubs are visited and evaluated based on an extensive list of requirements. The points distribution starts in the area of young talent recruitment and extends to the U17/U20 age groups, where the requirements for training, promotion and further development are the highest.
DEB-Head coach talent development and club support Florian Ondruschka: “This year too, the development of the young talent departments of the upper league clubs was pushed forward. We are pleased to see that the structures have continued to improve at many locations. We are already looking forward to supporting the clubs in their development in the coming season in order to be able to guarantee the best possible training for young ice hockey talent. A special thank you goes to the many volunteer trainers and those who help in the areas of support and organization who make this further development possible.”
Coordinator for the German Ice Hockey Young Talent in cooperation with the German Ice Hockey League Uli Liebsch: “We continue to move at a high level in the development of the Young Talent core clubs in the PENNY DEL. Stable growth can be seen in the lower age groups. 13 of 14 locations meet the important entry criterion for the number of children in the U11 area. At some clubs, especially in the U11 and U13 age groups, we now have the luxury problem of having too many children on the ice during training. In this case too, many trainers and helpers ensure age-appropriate, sporty, goal-oriented work. At the top level, it can be observed that clubs that initially improved structurally in the 5-star program in the past have now also reached the top in sporting competition.”
Talent and location development DEL2 Markus Gleich: “We are very satisfied with the development of the young talent departments at the DEL2 locations. Every year the clubs strive to develop within their capabilities and often go beyond. The importance of young talent work within DEL2 is highly recognized and is the result and reward of the commitment of many employees at the respective locations. In order to continue to ensure good training for young German ice hockey talent, we will tackle upcoming challenges together and support each other.”