Unterland's youth ice hockey is causing a sensation

The two presidents Matthias Bertignoll (Neumarkt) and Roman Terzer (Auer), together with the sporting directors Paolo Bonazzo and Hansjörg Bampi, have achieved something that other clubs envy. They collected championship titles non-stop. This season, all three Italian youth championship titles went to the lower country.

“Before every season we set ourselves the goal of winning a title. Before the season that just ended, we decided to get all three teams into the play-off, which began with the semi-finals. We succeeded,” says Matthias Bertignoll modestly and adds: “The fact that we win all three championships fills us with pride. It's something special. To become a champion, everything has to come together.”

The U16 team made everything clear last Monday.

The junior teams currently look after around 175 children and young people from U6 to U19. “Most of the children up to U12 come from Neumarkt and Auer and the surrounding area. From the U14 onwards we also have players from away. Away means from Bolzano to Trento, although we also have a player from Meran,” explains Bertignoll.

When asked about the secret of success, the President says: “We try to always work consistently, from the smallest to the largest. That means: We don't neglect anyone and don't put any pressure on them. With the 2 ice rinks in Neumarkt, where the teams from U14 to U19 train and play, and Auer, where the children from U8 to U12 are based, we have ideal conditions. We also have a certain continuity with the trainers: Tomas Ebel has been working with us for 5 years and Tuomo Harjula for 9 years. In the last 10 years we have had at least 20 players in each category, which is why we have been able to work and train well.”

Until 2018 there were 2 senior teams in the Unterland. Since 2019 there has only been Hockey Unterland. “Since separating from the senior area, our focus has been even more on the youth. We have trained many good players over the last 10 years. But we're still missing a really good player," says Bertignoll, speaking of a great advantage in the fact that there is a local AlpsHL club where the young players are carefully integrated and developed.

In addition to numerous national championship titles, the Neumarkt/Auer junior teams have won 23 Italian championship titles in the past 13 years: 3 each in the U17 and U16, 2 each in the U19 and U14 and one each in the U18, U13 and U12.

Under 19 The U19 team finished the regular round this winter with 79 points behind the HC Aosta Gladiators (80 points) in second place. In the semi-finals, coach Tuomo Harjula's team defeated Cortina/Alleghe 2:4 and 1:3. In the final there was a 2:2 defeat against Aosta, before the tables were turned with a 5:6 and 2:5 victory. This is the squad of the U4 Italian champions:

Gate: Matteo Sulmona, Samuele Pepi, Ilaria Girardi, Manuel Bampi; Defense: Nicholas Tessadri, Matteo Andoni, Alessio Guerra, Matthias Bonazzo, Benedikt Zemmer, Fabian Prossliner, Alex Curti, Franziska Stocker, Daniel Kaswalder, Luca Santin; Attack: Villi Pisetta, Samuel Sanoll, Thomas Pisetta, Fabian Pichler, Patrick Cont, Ruben Brancaglion, Jakob Untersalmberger, Egor Surkov, Fabian Glöggl, Oliver Fränzl, Nicolò Remolato, Niklas Albertini, Alex Giovannini, Maximilian Dalvai, William Moletta, Christian Inama. Trainer: Tuomo Harjula; Assistant coach: Dietmar Werner; Goalie coach: Alex Tomasi; Athletic trainer: Alex Doliana; Supervisor: Giada Nardelli, Josef Untersamlberger, Stefan Albertini, Danilo Tessadri.

Under 16 The junior teams finished the basic round in first place in the U16 championship, but fell back to fourth place in the master round. In the semi-finals, coach Tomas Ebel's team defeated the favored HC Eppan with 1:4 and 6:2 nV. In the final this was followed by a 2-4 and 3-1 win against Cortina/Alleghe. “We least expected this title,” says Bertignoll. This is the squad of the U5 team:

Gate: Fabian Bertignoll, Manuel Bampi; Defense: Luca Pomella, Tobias Spacil, David Abram, Tristan Pellegrini, Manuel Trebo, Philipp Heinz, Jonas Waldthaler, Laurin Alber, Daniel Barchetti; Attack: David Bertignoll, Christian Inama, Simone Allegri, Giacomo, Paviglianti, Aaron Jamin Vedani, Filippo Bonelli, Daniele Moscara, Alessandro Moretti, Florian Brugger, Max Gallmetzer Telch, Alexander Bamhackl, Alex Abram. Trainer: Tomas Ebel, Assistant coach: Tuomo Harjula, Johannes Bertignoll; Goalie coach: Alex Tomasi; Athletic trainer: Alex Doliana; Supervisor: Monika Gasser, Claudia Weber, Bettina Pernstich.

Under 14 The U14 junior team finished the championship undefeated and celebrated 33 wins on the way to the Italian championship title. This team has now been undefeated for 2 years, having won the U13 Italian championship without defeat last season. This is the squad of the successful U14 team:

Gate: Manuel Cavallari, Adrian Mader, Mathias Reifer; Defense: Alex Abram, Daniel Barchetti, Laura Desiree Faustini, Eric Fiaccadori, Simon Gardener, Jonas Moro, Tristan Pellegrini, Toni Pichler; Attack: David Bertignoll, Jakob Großgasteiger, Thomas Inama, Alessandro Moretti, Giacomo Paviglianiti, Laurin Peterlini, Leon Probst, Liam Pürgstaller, Elias Simonazzi, Hannes Stedile, Aaron Jamin Vedani, Riccardo Zeni, Philipp Angeli. Trainer: Thomas Ebel; Assistant coach: Egon Dalvai, Markus Simonazzi; Goalie coach: Werner Weiss; Supervisor: Elke Tamanini, Sybille Bertoluzza, Elvira Penz, Monika Stürz.

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Unterland's youth ice hockey is causing a sensation

The club's name alone suggests that youth support is very important here. The two Unterlandler clubs HC Neumarkt and SC Auer decided in 2001 to jointly promote youth and merged to form the Neumarkt/Auer junior teams. What happened in the following years is unique.

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