Former senior national team captain Márton Vas has been named the new head coach of the Hungarian U20 national team that will be participating in the Division 1/B World Championships that will be held in Tychy, Poland in December.
After spending last season as an assistant coach on Glen Williamson’s U18 national team staff the former forward and defenceman has been promoted to being the head coach of the U20 team. Vas also worked with the U13, U14 and U17 teams along with being one of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federations mentor coaches. Vas closed out his professional career after the 2016-17 season when he played for Freiburg. During his pro career he had also played in Dunaújváros, Vanersborgs, Grums, Fehérvár, Briancon, Frankfurt and Fassa. With the national team he had represented Hungary at the U18, U20 and senior level playing 75 senior World Championship matches. This will be his first head coaching position.
What does it feel to be named the U20 national team head coach?
It is a great honor to be named to this positions, I am lucky to be in this position so early in my coaching career. A national team head coaching position is always a big thing. This will be a challenge that I am looking forward to do and I am proud to have this position.
What are the early goals that you have set set for this upcoming season?
We are still at the beginning of the season, clearly we would like to have a great showing at the World Championships, but we want to start with the new direction that the federation is going in with this elite player development. We want to prepare the players that we are working with to be successful in making the next step in their careers.
What will be your first move as the U20 head coach?
My team manager and myself are working full steam ahead as we are preparing for the first camp if the season. We are hoping to have everyone that we would like have in camp actually be able to make it. We want to get to know the players better and to see what they can do and where they can fit into the team. We want to start to build the environment within the team as well since we do not have that much time before December.
What did you experience in the past season that will prepare you the upcoming season?
I had a chance to see everything that went on during this past season in the youth system, between U13 all the way up to the oldest age group. I took part in every minicamp and I had the opportunity to see how everyone prepared and what went on in the background. I learned a lot from Glen Williamson, I saw how he got everyone involved and kept an eye on everything. I am still at the start of my career but I hope to meet the expectations that I have set for myself. I am expecting a great season.
What you lack in coaching experience it is safe to say you made up for with your playing career. What can you draw from your playing career that can help you in your new position?
I think that I can pass on a lot of what I learned as a player to these guys such has performing under pressure. If you have the skills and the knowledge everything will come down to what state you are in mentally. This is where you find out who can become a really player when the pressure is on. I have had the opportunity to play in a number of countries and have seen a large number of hockey cultures, worked with a number of coaches. There are a number of things that I have experienced that I can teach the players but I can also help them try to avoid the mistakes that I have experienced as well.
Where are you with putting together your staff?
I have handed in the list of coaches I would like to have on my staff, this will now have to be approved by the technical committee.
