The Women's division is the final recap, with some final EYUC thoughts thrown in for good measure!
August 27, 2025 by Benjamin Rees in Recap
The latest edition of the European Youth Ultimate Championships took place in Trnava, Slovakia, earlier this month with 31 teams across the U20 Women’s, Mixed, and Open divisions duking it out to claim the continental crown. Which nations demonstrated the depth of their development, and which players established themselves as ones to watch for the future (and present)?
Seven countries entered the Women’s division, with an initial round robin phase before the top two finishers received a bye to semi-finals, with quarter-finals between the teams ranked third to sixth to decide their opponents. From quite an early stage, the division seemed to stratify into three clear tiers, with Italy and France at the top, Belgium and Czechia a notch below, and Germany, Austria, and Great Britain a further step back.
The Italians mowed down every opponent in their path, with 15-8 wins over Belgium and Czechia their closest contests. France were pushed harder, squeaking by the Czechs 9-6, but otherwise looked very solid in taking the second semi spot. Czechia and Belgium seemed like very evenly matched opponents, with their pool play matchup going all the way to universe point as the Belgians squeezed out a 15-14 win. Austria, Germany, and Great Britain all played each other close, with GB unable to grab a victory and left on the outside looking in when the bracket phase began.
Belgium and Czechia justified their favorite status for their quarter-finals, knocking off Germany and Austria respectively for their right to take on Italy and France. While the semi-final scorelines were not blowouts, France never trailed Belgium in a game they controlled from wire-to-wire to win 15-10, while the Italians went down early to the Czechs but wrestled back control towards the end of the first half for a lead they would never relinquish, winning 15-11 to set up a grandstand final.
Having had their gold medal hopes dashed, the two beaten semi-finalists had to pick themselves back up for a bronze medal match that, if the initial meeting was anything to go by, was going to go down to the wire. So it proved, with the two teams trading leads back and forth with no side ever further than two points, but the Czechs held firm on universe point to avenge the pool play defeat and take the bronze.
Even though they ended empty handed, there’s a lot to like for Belgium, with Emma Desmet the only player aging out. Marie Frees, Sien Coppejans, and Pita D’Hespeel proved a potent offensive triumvirate, laying the platform for medal finishes in future. As for Czechia, Dominika Hadová was metronomic in driving their offense, Alena Doležalová is a matchup nightmare on both sides of the disc, and the three Čechová sisters were all making plays over the field.
Italy and France had been on a collision course for the final all week, and the gold medal match delivered on all its promise. While the previous matchup had been comfortable for the Italians, the final proved to be anything but. The Italians built an early three point lead, and while France were able to shrink that, Italy broke again before the interval to carry an 8-5 lead into half and seemed like they were cruising to gold. Nobody told France, however. Both sides traded holds after the break before France managed a four-point run to take the lead at 10-9. The Italians responded with three on the bounce themselves to go up 12-10, but the French instantly responded to level at 12s, before a hold apiece put the score at 13-13, game to 14, and a grandstand universe point finish. It would not prove to be easy, and both sides had multiple opportunities, but the Azzurri clung on with Asia Martinini finding Alice Ballista to secure the gold.
Given how the first game went, and finding themselves in a similar hole at half-time in the final, France deserve a huge amount of credit for coming so close to victory, showing great mental fortitude and determination. Gaëtane Le Pezennec-Caminade was one of the toughest covers of the tournament, using her length and wingspan to break marks at will and box out defenders, and put up a heroic effort in a losing cause in the final, with four assists and four goals to their name. Lalie Maillard and Lucie Caron were dynamite distributors with sixteen assists each. While they finished one place shy of their target, the French have shown their youth talent factory continues to pump out superb players, and they are firmly established as one of the world’s pre-eminent powers at this age group.
As for the Italians, they were clearly the class of the field this week, stepping it up when it mattered most as France pressured them late in the gold medal match. Their variety of defensive schemes frustrated and unsettled their opponents, and they were able to use their full roster throughout the tournament to keep players fresher in the bracket. Arianna Ascari dazzled for thirty goal contributions, Giorgia Pancotti was superb in the redzone when space was at a premium, and Asia Martini was an anchor for the offense. Italy, like France, does such a good job of developing their youth talent in every division, and I would expect them to be a firm medal favorite at WJUC next year.
Final Thoughts
- Belgium may have finished without a podium place1, but their whole operation was, in a word, immense. They sent teams in all three divisions, and were still outnumbered by their spectators! All the players and parents had a pizza party on the penultimate evening, and there were over 200 people there in total2, showing the concerted effort that’s being put into empowering their youth. Their sideline included a drummer and a trumpeter, and a contingent of the parents literally drank our hotel bar out of beer. A phenomenal effort from all involved, and they should be very proud of their achievements.
- Italy Women’s was the only team to go undefeated all week, and they came one point away from losing the final, showing parity at the top of all three divisions. It’s the sign of a thriving youth scene on the continent that you can go into a championship like this and genuinely not know who’s going to come away with a medal.
- The standard across the tournament as a whole was excellent. With players starting younger and younger, and more second-generation athletes coming through, teams and individuals seemed so much further ahead in their development than five or ten years ago. It was very rare to find players without at least three years of experience under their belt, meaning teams could run more detailed and complex systems.
- Romania had originally planned to enter the mixed division, but had to pivot to open late due to a lack of female matching athletes. There were still four on the roster, and they did not look out of place.
- On the subject of Romania, no offensive combo was as potent as the Schade brothers, Noah and Elisha. The two looked for each other early and often, as Noah finished with 57 goal involvements, and Eli 42. On a team that came 10th. Utterly ludicrous numbers. Get them on your fantasy team.
- It was good to see representation from countries with smaller player bases. Finland was once a juggernaut, but it’s been tougher for them to get teams together recently. Ukraine sent a team with lots of very young players, despite the war back at home. Lithuania were also able to get a team another, trying to build a larger presence outdoors in a country where the indoor game is more prevalent. Spain, Slovakia, and Slovenia all sent teams in the mixed division. Even if results didn’t go as hoped, getting players international experience and the opportunity to represent their country will stand them in good stead for the future, and gives them a nice base to build from.
- The organisation team did a great job all week, with all the games being played on natural grass, and the weather was generally favorable all week. The wind was tricky but manageable on Wednesday, but on Friday and Saturday the thermometer hit temperatures up to 35°C3, a potential worry for future events at this venue.
- Every game at the tournament was streamed, giving friends and family at home the opportunity to watch regardless of their team’s fortunes, and adding an element of gravitas to proceedings. Hopefully this is something that can continue going forward to get a wider audience on the next generation of superstars!
