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Players invited for February 13th Irish Under-16 girls assessment

The following players have been invited to the next Irish Under-16 girls assessment on February 13. The team manager will be in contact with players in due course with further details about the assessment.

1 Aliya Davis LEINSTER
2 Amy Handcock LEINSTER SOUTH
3 Anna Campbell MUNSTER
4 Annie Cunningham ULSTER
5 Aoife O’Meara LEINSTER
6 Charlie Bowman ULSTER
7 Chloe Patton ULSTER
8 Emilie O’Brien LEINSTER
9 Emma Simmons LEINSTER SOUTH
10 Grainne Molloy LEINSTER SOUTH
11 Isobel Field LEINSTER
12 Katie Herron ULSTER
13 Kia McCartney ULSTER
14 Lola Henderson ULSTER
15 Lucy McGoldrick LEINSTER
16 Maebh McLoughlin CONNAUGHT
17 Milla Fulton LEINSTER
18 Millie Jerman LEINSTER
19 Orla Young Hughes LEINSTER
20 Rachel Lennon ULSTER
21 Rebekah Lennon ULSTER
22 Roisin Heaney CONNAUGHT
23 Roisin O’Brien MUNSTER
24 Sarah Byrne LEINSTER
25 Scarlett Taylor ULSTER
26 Sophie English LEINSTER
27 Robin Caren MUNSTER
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National Indoor champions to be crowned on Sunday

The National Indoor Trophy champions will be decided on Sunday evening with four men’s and four women’s clubs vying for glory at Gormanston Park

The series starts on Sunday morning with the men’s semi-finals between Three Rock Rovers against Cookstown at 9.45am with Banbridge up against Railway Union at 10.45am. The winners will advance to the final at 3.45pm with the third place playoff on at 2pm.

The women’s semis follow on court with Muckross up against Ards (11.45am) and Railway facing Galway (12.45pm) with the prize a 5pm final with the third place match at 2.45pm.

For the men’s competition, Three Rock and Banbridge qualified as the Leinster and Ulster champions, respectively, with their opponents reaching the final four as runners-up.

Rovers were 8-3 victors over Railway Union having won all their group phases and advanced to the Leinster final with an 8-2 success over Monkstown.

In the final, it was a tight affair in the first half with Railway keeping pace in the first half with the tie 3-3 before netting five goals in succession with a hat trick from Jody Hosking.

They also feature Irish international Ross Canning while with Club an der Alster outfielder Jonas Althusmann an influential guest star.

For Railway, Stephen O’Keeffe is the outstanding Irish goalkeeper in this format, starring in the series against Scotland after Christmas while they have a wealth of experience to call on from Kenny Carroll, Brendan Parsons and Rob Abbott.

In Ulster, Banbridge took their regional crown last Sunday, winning three out of their four games in a three-team group and drawing the other against runners-up Cookstown in their final game.

The Bann line-up features outdoor international Jonny McKee who may have picked up a few tips during his time in Germany with Luke Roleston donning the pads, Sam Farson, Luke Witherow and Andrew Tinney helping power their success last weekend.

Cookstown were second in Ulster and bring with them two newly capped Irish internationals to their line-up, Jack Haycock and Mark Crooks, who will be looking to bring that know-how to bear. Their guest stars are Daniel Nelson and David Rae.

In the women’s competition, Galway were the first side to qualify for the finals weekend when they prevailed in the Tighe Cup in Connacht, winning the final five-team tournament.

Crucially, they prevailed in the final against Greenfields with Fiona Kelly’s hat trick underpinning a 5-3 success, allowing captain Elaine Carey to lift the cup. They are now looking to win the national title for the second time in their history having succeeded in 2008.

Their opponents at the reigning champions Railway who won in 2019 and 2020 and have backed that up with a Leinster victory last weekend with a dramatic 6-5 win over Muckross.

Hannah de Burgh Whyte was the game-breaker, scoring a corner in the last two minutes, crowning a big closing salvo after Muckross had led 5-4. Holly Jenkinson captains the side with fellow indoor internationals Sarah and Orla Patton and Lily Lloyd giving them plenty of options.

Muckross have internationals of their own with Irish stars Sophie Barnwell and Becky McMullen joined by Julia Balcerzak who played for Poland against Ireland in January. 

Ards – national champions from 2012 to 2018 – won the Ulster title from a three-team competition. On the opening day, they ran up 15 goals in wins over Queen’s and Coleraine and followed up last weekend with a 4-4 draw against Queen’s before getting the best of Coleraine 7-2 in the repeat fixtures.

Andrea Desneaux weighed in with eight goals with Frankie Brown nabbing seven across that series.

The semi-finals and finals will be streamed live on the Hockey Ireland Youtube channel.

 

National Indoor Trophy – Sunday 6th February 2022 (all at Gormanston Park)

Men’s semi-finals: Three Rock Rovers v Cookstown, 9.45am; Banbridge v Railway Union, 10.45am

3rd place playoff: 2pm

Final: 3.45pm

 

Women’s semi-finals: Muckross v Ards, 11.45am; Railway Union v Galway, 12.45pm

3rd place playoff: 2.45pm

Final: 5pm

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Irish senior women’s squad seek assistant coach

Hockey Ireland is seeking to appoint a full-time Senior Women’s Team Assistant Coach, to help lead the team towards achieving its strategic objectives, namely to compete at the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships. 

About Hockey Ireland 

Hockey Ireland is the National Governing Body for the sport of field hockey in Ireland. Governing the 32 counties of Ireland, the Association is responsible for the management and overall development of all areas of the sport. 

Role Summary 

  • Reporting to the Senior Women’s Head Coach, the Senior Women’s Assistant Coach will be responsible for providing world-class coaching support to the Senior Women’s team 
  • This role also involves working collaboratively and innovatively with the wider Senior Women’s management team 
  • The Senior Women’s Assistant Coach will also be required at times to work alongside the National Development Head Coach to assist in the development of these players towards Senior representation 

Key responsibilities 

  • Identify, develop and manage the current group of identified players in the Senior Women’s training squad 
  • Assist with coaching of the Senior Women’s team using modern coaching techniques, tactics and trends 
  • Monitor and evaluate player performance for team selection using relevant data 
  • Deliver and support with the delivery of regional sessions – as designated by the Head Coach 
  • Assist with the development of a group of identified players in the National Development squad (U23 downwards) 
  • Communicate effectively with staff, players and relevant stakeholders 
  • Develop and maintain strong working relationships with the Hockey Ireland Junior Age Grade National Coaches as designated 

The required candidate 

The successful candidate will be an experienced, driven, detail-focused and disciplined self-starter who is committed to bringing team success to the Senior Women’s team and developing the best of Ireland’s elite hockey talent 

Experience and credentials: 

The experiences and credentials below are a guide and are not intended to be inclusive or exhaustive and may be amended over time due to the changing needs of the organisation: 

  • Proven record of success in domestic or international hockey 
  • Experience in planning, organising and implementing a comprehensive domestic or provincial coaching programme 
  • Ability to apply the principles of coaching, sport science, medicine and technology within a high performance programme 
  • Efficient and organised, with exceptional interpersonal, oral and written communication skills 
  • Level 3 and/or FIH coaching qualifications or equivalent (or working towards them) 
  • Proven methodologies in the development of elite talent and performance  
  • Understanding of sports science principles in modern day athlete development  
  • Exceptional people skills, with an emphasis on the management of player and coach personnel  
  • A competent knowledge of the latest coaching software systems 
  • Excellent organisational and communication skills  
  • A full driving licence 
  • Capacity to travel domestically and overseas for extended periods 

Term 

The contract role will commence in March 2022 and is through to the end of the Paris cycle of 2024 (with annual performance reviews throughout) 

Reporting to: 

The process of reporting will be as determined by the Performance Director and the Senior Women’s Head Coach 

Remuneration Package 

This is a full-time position and will be remunerated in line with the successful applicants’ skills and experiences.  Relevant expenses will be covered by the programme.  It is conditional that the successful applicant must be able to live and work in Ireland. 

 Vacancy Schedule: 

Closing date for applications:  20th February 2022 (5pm) 
Expected Interviews:  24th and 25th February 2022 
Expected appointment:  Early March 2022 

 Applications should be sent to Adam Grainger, Performance Director, Hockey Ireland  adam.grainger@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com 

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Dancer names fresh-faced panel for French training camp

The Irish women’s side will travel to France next week for a five-day camp, the first away trip of an exciting 2022 with a number of new faces getting a chance to impress.

The panel features 12 of the squad that qualified for this summer’s World Cup along with seven uncapped players who have been selected following recent high-octane sessions at the Sport Ireland campus in Abbotstown.

The new faces are: goalkeeper Holly Micklem (Old Alex), Eva Lavelle (UCD), Christina Hamill (Loreto), Siofra O’Brien (Loreto) and Katherine Egan (UCD). Charlotte Beggs (Ulster Elks) is another uncapped player who was part of the panel in Pisa while Caoimhe Perdue (UCC) lined out in uncapped matches for the senior panel in 2021 against Great Britain.

The side will travel to France on Monday and return on Friday, February 11th where they will take part in three uncapped games against France as part of the camp.

“This France series is the beginning of a new cycle with key events like the World Cup, the FIH Nations Cup and qualification for Paris 2024 all not that far away,” head coach Dancer said.

“I am excited to see how the wider squad of Irish athletes compete under the pressure of competition. We have included a good balance of experience and inexperienced players for our friendlies verse France.”

The 2022 National squad will be finalised towards the end of February with Niamh Carey and Ellen Curran unavailable for the time-being. The remaining players from the World Cup qualifiers continue to be available for selection for the year ahead.

Ireland will find out their World Cup group on February 17th following the completion this week of the qualification process in Pan-America, Africa and Asia while New Zealand and Australia were confirmed as Oceania’s representatives.

The World Cup will be split across Spain and the Netherlands and take place from July 1st to 17th. It will be followed by the European Championship qualifiers in Dublin from August 17th to 21st in a four-team competition also featuring Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

And the year will be rounded out by the FIH Nations Cup in Valencia from December 10th to 17th in a high quality tournament which is listed as a potential qualifier for the FIH Pro League.

*The Irish senior women’s team is sponsored by SoftCo, Park Developments and Saba and supported by Sport Ireland and Sport NI.

Ireland women’s squad for French camp, February 6th-11th (club/caps)
Elizabeth Murphy (Loreto, 13)
Holly Micklem (Old Alex, 0)
Lena Tice (Old Alex, 122)
Hannah McLoughlin (UCD, 26)
Sarah McAuley (UCD, 9)
Erin Getty (Queen’s, 11)
Jane Kilpatrick (Belfast Harlequins, 1)
Caoimhe Perdue (UCC, 0)
Sarah Hawkshaw (Railway Union, 46)
Charlotte Beggs (Ulster Elks, 0)
Katie Mullan (Ballymoney, 206)
Eva Lavelle (UCD, 0)
Christina Hamill (Loreto, 0)
Sarah Torrans (Loreto, 33)
Zara Malseed (Ards, 7)
Siofra O’Brien (Loreto, 0)
Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute, 121)
Katherine Egan (UCD, 0)

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Leinster win boys triple header in Interpro series

Leinster’s male teams did a triple at Grange Road over Munster in the latest round of interprovincial fixtures in this year’s new-format.

At Under-16 level, Leinster held on for a 3-2 win having earlier led 3-0. Oscar Pasley nudged in from close range after Liam Richardson’s initial shot was half-stopped.

Harry St Leger slapped in from the second phase of a corner and the third came when Peter Montgomery’s upright reverse was turned in by Zach Silverman.

Munster fought back in the closing stages with captain Rob Olden and Sean Curtin firing home corners in the last 11 minutes and put the pressure on but could not find an equaliser.

At Under-18 level, Leinster were 4-1 winners. Sam Maxwell slid home on the backhand from Mark Smyth’s baseline run and pull-back; Smyth produced a brilliant finish for the second and Conor Walsh made it 3-0 with a touch to Andrew Crowe’s shot at goal having been fed by Rex Dunlop.

Ed Collins for Leinster and Harry Jackson for Munster traded further goals as Leinster won well.

The Under-21 tie, meanwhile, was settled in dramatic style by Isaac Johnson who got a crucial touch from Harry Lynch’s corner sweep in the closing seconds.

It earned a 2-1 win for the blues after they had trailed. Jack O’Meara’s corner in the first half put the southern province ahead and they held that advantage until the last 15 minutes. Lynch was the catalyst for the comeback, dragging in the leveller before assisting the winner.

Ulster and Munster’s next Under-21 fixture was initially due to played next Sunday but will be played alongside the Under-18 and 16 games between the provinces on February 27.

Men’s Interprovincial Championship
Under-16: Leinster 3 (O Pasley, H St Leger, Z Silverman) Munster 2 (R Olden, S Curtin)
Under-18: Leinster 4 (S Maxwell, E Collins, M Smyth, C Walsh) Munster 1 (H Jackson)
Under-21: Leinster 2 (H Lynch, I Johnson) Munster 1 (J O’Meara)

Sunday, February 6 fixture
Under-21: Ulster v Munster, Grange Road, 3pm

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