Archive for month: December, 2021

Jonny Bell has retired from international hockey having played an in crucial role for the Green Machine from his debut in 2012, encompassing 181 caps – 29 as captain – the 2016 Olympic Games, the 2018 World Cup and three European Championship A division events.

The fearless defender from Lisnagarvey says it is a natural time for him to step away following a superb career with his last formal cap coming in 2019 at the Olympic qualifiers in Vancouver against Canada.

“I can look back at all the great things we did between 2012 and 2019, it really was a magical era to be part of and I am very lucky my career coincided with that period for Irish men’s hockey,” the 34-year-old Bell said with typical modesty when reflecting on his time in green.

“There have been better players than me down the years who didn’t get that so I am very grateful. For me, it is the friendships I have taken away, getting to play with so many guys who are lifelong friends which is something I really cherish.

“There are endless coaches to thank from my early days up to the likes of Craig Fulton to Paul Revington and numerous club coaches but also the support staff – the likes of Lisa Costley, Niamh Maguire who kept my body going so long and the people in the office like Joan Morgan and Adam Grainger who booked flights and got programs organised. They don’t often get a lot of thanks but they really make an impact.

“To my own club mates who have provided that competitive edge at club training to keep me sharp over the years, Erroll Lutton who has been a source of good advice and mentorship. And, of course, to my own family, mum and dad who always helped me maintain a useful sense of perspective, and my girlfriend Ashley – who is now my wife – for her support and encouragement!”

Bell was something of a late bloomer when it came to international hockey, making his debut at the age of 24 having never played Irish underage teams.

Indeed, his early ambitions mainly zoned in on playing for the Garvey first team where he cut his teeth in the game and remains to this day. His two older sisters played at the club as juniors and future team mate Brian Waring’s mother introduced him to the sport in P5 at Friends School, giving him a strong connection from day one.

He would get a strong tutelage from the “school of hard knocks” on his way up, progressing to a second eleven team packed with legends like Alan Dowd, Dan Clarke, Jimmy Kirkwood, Julian Stevenson and Pakenham Pim, all coached by Hockey Ireland Hall of Famer Terry Gregg.

Given the nature of the team, he was often used in peripheral roles and he missed out on the Ulster-16s, partly due to his size. The provincial coach at that juncture was Drew Campbell who made that decision but he would go on to make the “masterstroke” when he took on the reins at Garvey, switching him from right-back to the centre. It proved a key moment in his development.

“He redeemed himself in my view when he had that masterstroke which really helped my career!” Bell laughs of the time.

“Growing up, playing for Lisnagarvey was always my priority. Leaving school but staying at home, a large part of it was that. I always looked up to the guys playing for the first eleven and that was my only focus.

“I never really thought too seriously about playing internationally until I got that first call-up from Paul Revington for a training session. The first few trainings were certainly a shock to the system!”

Thank you all once again for your continued support! Big win v Pakistan but big one is on Sunday #RoadtoRio pic.twitter.com/TEi0DPdNPO

— Ireland Men's Hockey (@IreMenHockey) July 3, 2015

His formal debut came in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic qualifiers with games against the Czech Republic after several test fixtures. With that cycle coming to a conclusion, Bell became a more regular feature from 2013 onwards, playing in the World League Round One in Wales before featuring in that summer’s World League Round Three in Rotterdam and the European Championships in Boom.

While that summer was hit and miss from a results’ perspective, it formed a necessary phase in building the golden era, particularly when Craig Fulton came on board as head coach in 2014.

“I played against him and knew he was a real fighter and a warrior with that South African mentality and that aligned with my own mentality. I learned a lot from him.

“His era benefited technically from the huge grounding put in place by Revington and he was able to galvanise us as a team, instilling a mentality and a way of playing that we all subscribed to.

“You could feel a real unity in the team, that we were united around a common purpose and cause with real belief building. It was off the back of the failure to qualify in 2012 that really galvanised the team. We started to have a DNA based around really solid gritty defence, providing the platform to play from.”

Bell embodied that DNA, a defender with a natural instinct for putting personal safety to one side to block that last ball, typified in the 2015 run to Olympic qualification and that famous 1-0 win over Pakistan.

A special first week in the Olympic village. The dream is starting to feel very real ahead of game 1 tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/CRDpfVsQKT

— Jonathan Bell (@Jonnypwbell) August 5, 2016

He says those interventions became second nature to the team.

“It’s a hard thing to train or develop but there is that competitive spirit and if you are passionate around a cause, that will to win and succeed – that’s when it comes out.

“Everyone was making that joint sacrifice – job promotions or whatever, that stuff can wait. You have a short window in your life where you have the opportunity and privilege to do something really special.

“It was about grasping that opportunity, knowing that you had won your preparation, doing everything within your power to do the best you could, and ultimately walking away with no regrets ”

He carried a groin injury through that qualifier series which ruled him out of the European bronze run in London. The break allowed him to be ready for 2016 and Rio – “a year like no other”.

“There was a real fervour and clamour of interest along with media interest for Irish hockey. It was uncharted waters, exciting but nerve-wracking to be part of. It was certainly a magical year and one I look back on with fond memories.

“It was a challenge to keep everyone playing for the team, because ultimately everyone just wants to be on that plane. Selection plays into the mix and made it a challenge for the unique chemistry we made within the group. You didn’t want to lose that.”

Ultimately, he made the plane to the five-ringed showpiece. On reflection, the margins were fine – Ireland were a couple of inches from a draw against India; they went into the final group game with Argentina needing a win to advance and eliminate the eventual champions into the bargain.

It was right in the mix with nine minutes to go, level at 2-2, before Gonzalo Peillat dashed that dream.

“At the time, you think about the results and could you have done better, punched more above our weight like we were used to. When time moves on, you look back with more leniency: ‘we made it to the Olympics, we are Olympians, we brought Irish hockey to the top table.”

They were back on the winning trail in 2017, reaching the World Cup with a first ever win over New Zealand to get there in trademark style, a 1-0 guts and glory effort in Johannesburg.

“It was incredible to follow up with another qualification, coming down to a game against ​higher ranked New Zealand and another heroic effort to get over the line”.

“Going to a second major tournament in three years, we hoped to make more of an impact. The team was evolving with a nice blend of youth and experience but it didn’t work out for us on the pitch. With a new coach embedding a new philosophy and way of playing, taking its time to adjust. That changeover of it, the timing wasn’t ideal. We were fortunate to have a coach of Alexander Cox’s quality but it didn’t work out for us on the pitch.”

That evolution carried through to the 2019 Tokyo qualifiers with Mark Tumilty taking the reins and the brink of a second successive Olympic spot. That went up in smoke in the most heart-breaking fashion, a controversial last second stroke and a subsequent shoot-out defeat.

It proved to be his final cap: “As a player, you want a fairytale ending. You always want more, especially when you have played at those big tournaments and it becomes a drug – not that I have taken any! “It is an addictive thing and you want to feel that buzz again. Vancouver wasn’t that and then the Covid break, along with my age, it was that natural break. When I look back, I won’t look back at isolated moments like Vancouver but the bigger picture.

“I am very proud of all the achievements we had. Getting to captain the team was an incredible privilege, something I never thought would happen.

“I remember being given the armband for the first time in Bisham Abbey and being surrounded by guys in that room who I looked up to for years and I saw as being legends of the game. It was a surreal moment. I will always cherish that.

“I’ve taken a good bit of time away and over the summer I came to the conclusion it was definitely time to retire. Qualify or not for the 2023 World Cup, my decision was already made.

“If we had qualified, it would have made it even easier, knowing we were in a good place and back at that top table. Besides, the result in Cardiff, I am delighted to see a crop of young players taking up the reigns and I wish Tum and the team every success in the future.

“For me it’s time to focus on other things in my life. Work, married life, club hockey and, down the line, I wouldn’t mind getting involved in coaching and giving back to the sport in Ireland because I got an awful lot out of it and feel I can make a contribution which I am keen to do.”

Nicci Daly has announced her retirement from international hockey following 200 caps and playing a dynamic role in the Green Army’s golden period since making her debut in 2010.

It included that famous 2018 World Cup silver medal, five European Championships and this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo while her goal against South Africa in 2015 in Valencia will be forever remembered as one of the greatest ever in an Irish outfit.

It is a career that the now 33-year-old scarcely envisaged during her school days. Introduced to the sport at The High School in Rathgar, her earliest years were spent more around the track at Mondello with her father Vivion and uncle Derek who were among Irish motorsport’s leading lights.

Indeed, she only had a fleeting engagement with club hockey at Diocesan while she also involved in ladies Gaelic football to a high level, playing with the Dublin senior panel.

But Graham Shaw suggested she had far more potential than she ever realised and nudged her in the direction of Glenanne – scoring on her Leinster Division One debut – and then on to Loreto where she was soon tearing it up with her raw pace and stick-speed.

That unique threat brought her to the attention of national coach Gene Muller, making her debut in 2010.

“I was awful; I really don’t think I touched the ball once – not with my stick anyway,” she remembers of the time and her first beginnings in the team.

“It was important though because at that time, I thought how am I ever going to be able to make this team? Now I can look back and know that it was the start of a really exciting journey and that it takes time to get where you want to go.

“The first big high for me with the team I feel was 2014. It was the Champions Challenge in Glasgow in 2014, we were the second lowest ranked team and we finished second – a bit like the World Cup”

“The year before, we had been relegated from the A division Europeans and didn’t even make the second round of the World Cup qualifier so this really was a turning point for the Green Army. It was all down to the coaching of Darren Smith when we started to play some really good hockey.”

Wins against higher ranked South Africa and Korea were formative moments and they carried that belief into the 2016 Olympic qualifiers where they would initially top their group.

In that run, Daly’s breathtaking goal against South Africa typified that new-found swagger.

“That goal was so important for me, not just because it was a good goal but because of the deeper meaning of it. I struggled with confidence as a player and had struggled to unlock my potential in games.

“Leading into the Rio Olympic qualifier, it was my uncle Derek who helped me. I knew I was better than I was showing.

“Derek gave me a book called ‘Performance Thinking: Mental Skills for the Competitive World’. It was about understanding and training your mind for better performances and it helped me so much. That goal felt like the moment it all clicked for me and gave me the confidence and reassurance I needed to believe I was good enough.”

From that pinnacle, though, came the crash as the width of a post put the Olympic dream abruptly on hold.

“Then came the rock bottom low when we didn’t qualify for Rio. It was devastating because we were making the most progress we had seen and we achieved things that had never been achieved before.. It felt like it was our time and to lose out the way we did was just heart-breaking.

“I remember feeling like I gave everything I had and another cycle seemed impossible. I struggled with it and took the opportunity to go to the States to explore my other passion, motorsport. It was definitely the break I needed.”

It helped Daly rejuvenate, recalibrate and play an ever-present role in the Green Army’s groundbreaking 2018 run to World Cup silver on those hazy summer days in London.

“London was a fairytale. Second lowest ranked team and in the World Cup final. It’s dreamland stuff but we went in knowing we could cause an upset (maybe just not quite as big as the one we did). It was great to put hockey on the map back home and inspire a whole generation at the same time, that’s been our legacy I feel, showing the youngsters that anything is possible and that if they can see it they can be it”

She did entertain the notion of stepping back at that stage, finishing on an incredible high, but there was still one ambition very much still to be fulfilled.

“The dream was always the Olympics, ever since the first training camp I went to, when Gene Muller told me hockey was in the Olympics. I didn’t even know that it was an Olympic sport at that stage [in 2009], but hearing my name and the Olympics in the same sentence was the only thing I remember from that conversation.

“Scoring a goal in the shootout against Canada during the Tokyo Olympic qualifier was another important moment for me, not just because of what it meant for the team. It gave me a feeling that I could still offer something, and gave me a boost when I really needed it the most.”

With qualification achieved, the Covid year was a rough one. While her inspiring skills videos were blowing up on social media, managing a niggling knee injury and the time stuck up the Dublin mountains was another big test to get right for a huge 2021.

“It’s been a battle for the last few years. This year was one of the hardest between the injuries and the level of competition within the squad.

“It’s at that point you think – I can either choose to make excuses here or I can continue to take on the challenge and do everything I can to put myself in contention.

“I have so much respect for every player in the squad who took on the same challenges and made that choice to give it absolutely everything and, whatever the outcome, at least we know we gave it everything. Being selected for Tokyo really was the dream come true.”

Her 200th cap came in the final game against Great Britain in the closing fixture of the group stages, the closing chapter to her international career.

In the time since then, it has given plenty of pause for thought about what it meant to be part of the Green Army.

“When I reflect on my career, there were definitely an even share of highs and lows both personally and collectively with the team.

“There are so many things I could talk about over the 12 years but I think one of the most important things I can take away is how much sport can teach you about yourself. It forces you to discover who you really are.

“You learn to understand how you behave when you’re challenged, how you deal with your emotions under pressure and how you choose to approach those challenges.

“You have to be honest with yourself; you have to be willing to have a growth mindset so that you’re always learning and always growing not just as a player but as a person.

“That’s one of the biggest takeaways I can take from my career. How it forced me to discover who I really am and why I was doing it.

“It wouldn’t have been the journey it was without the group and the team of players around me. The different coaches provided something different and I either learned something about myself or my hockey from each of them.

“I have made some of the best friends over the 12 years and I couldn’t have kept going without them pushing me and supporting me along the way.

“My family and very close friends have been the backbone of my support system. I could not have done it without them, especially my mother who shows me what resilience really is.

“I like to think I get my drive from my dad and my strength and resilience from my Mum. My uncle Derek was hugely influential, having had a career at the top level himself, I trusted him and looked up to him. He helped transform the mental side of my game and I am so grateful for his support. A special mention to my nana, an unrelenting energy and inspiration.

“A massive thanks to all our sponsors and individual sponsors who supported and continue to support me.

“It has been a special journey and I feel so lucky to have been part of such a great team for as long as I have. I won’t miss the sore body and aching joints but I will miss the team and the feeling of walking out to represent my country. 200 appearances and every single time I got butterflies when the national anthem played.

“It’s been special, it’s been emotional and it’s been a dream come true.

“Thank you 💚”