Gaétan Derenne had the intuition that some of his friends were able to create a hockey-field team in their respective companies. He proposed the development of an innovative formula :

• Playing matches with 7 players per team of both genders on the pitch, as it is often played in the summer tournaments
• Compete at least 2 other teams during the same evening as those matches generally last only 30 minutes
• Propose a tournament in a 4 hours schedule

Still a pitch to find and the invitations could be launched !

2008 // An innovative idea

Ixelles, through its president Daniel Jourde, proposed to settle the tournament in its installations. The event could be launched and rapidly, 10 teams were registered: 5 with a good hockey level and 5 with a more fun spirit.

Moreover, an original idea was to invoice the subscription fees to the companies using the entity of the Ixelles Hockey Club. Corporate teams were ready to compete each other during one evening.

2009 // An unexpected success for edition #1

What a surprise by the atmosphere lived on that day !

Participants were extremely well prepared and arrived with inventive equipments and supporters.

Teams composed of Flemish, Walloons or foreigners, defend together the colors of its company with this unexpected fighting spirit. There were no longer colleagues but only friends on the pitch.

The Hockey Corporate concept was born.

2010 // Edition #2 and the start of a concept

Thanks to this success, the tournament could rapidly grow up.

By word of mouth, an increasing demand of corporate teams proposed to participate at this tournament.

To bring up some more intensity, game schedules were organized as much as possible between opponent corporate teams.

Pictures and catering became important elements of the concept.

2011 // With edition #3, an association is born

From that day, 3 differents game levels were offered as well as more professionalism. As there were works in progress in Ixelles, the location should necessarily move and a new independent entity was born : the Hockey Corporate Association.

To help them in this creation, they asked the help of a law expert, Gregory Uyttenhove, one of the most promising Belgian top referee. Thanks to his precious help, the entity was rapidly created.

With this new entity, the Hockey Corporate could from that moment take place everywhere in each clubs. It could centralize the subscriptions of all teams and was administratively easier for everyone.

Thanks to the positive image developed during the previous editions, up to 52 teams could be welcome in 4 different evenings. 100% of the teams that have participated in the previous editions returned.