Hockey Ireland were saddened to hear today of the passing of Anne Laing, who died peacefully on Friday, 27th March.

Anne was inducted into the Irish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, during her career she earned 32 caps for Ireland between the posts as well as playing for Instonians Hockey Club and for Ulster.

Hockey Ireland would like to offer condolences to her family and friends at this difficult time.

Due to the current restrictions her funeral will be private.

Hockey Ireland Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE No. 3

26 March 2020

Hockey Ireland continues to follow the advice of the Government and Sport Ireland and has noted recent Government announcements that further measures are being introduced to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The Hockey Ireland Board, after further consultation with its branches, has decided the following in the interest of the health and safety of the hockey community and all people on the island of Ireland:

In line with government advice all hockey activity remains suspended.

In order to provide clarity and to assist with immediate and longer-term planning, Hockey Ireland is announcing that the 2019/20 hockey season for all league, cup and all other domestic hockey competitions in Ireland are deemed to have finished.

The consequences of this decision will be looked at by a Hockey Ireland Competitions Working group. The Competitions Working Group will consist of representatives from the Hockey Ireland Board, the Competitions Committee, and representatives from the each of the four branches.

The Competitions Working Group’s proposals, addressing the postponement or cancellation of fixtures, the final league standings, promotion and relegation, and possible European spots for the 2020/21 season will then go to the Hockey Ireland Board for consideration and approval. The final decisions on the details for the conclusion of 2019/2020 season will be published no later than the 12th of April.

The Hockey Ireland offices are situated on the UCD campus which remains closed since the 13th March, all staff continue to operate from their homes. We apologise for this disruption; however, staff continue to have access to our server remotely and are set up to respond to emails as usual.

Hockey Ireland will continue to closely follow developments and issue further information as appropriate. Hockey Ireland would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time and appreciates the efforts many of you are going to in order to continue training while at home.

Please keep safe. For further information on Covid-19: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html

If you have any further queries, please email info@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com

A decision has been made by the IOC to postpone the Summer Olympic Games to 2021, considering the current global crisis.

“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.”
The full statement is available here: https://www.olympic.org/news/joint-statement-from-the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-tokyo-2020-organising-committee

The Olympic Federation of Ireland have welcomed the call while also acknowledging the complexities involved in postponing the Games. Their focus remains on “protecting and safeguarding the Irish athletes over the coming months and ensuring that they can bounce back to full training and be in peak condition for a successful Games in 2021.” The full statement can be found at: https://olympics.ie/news/19149-confirmed-olympic-games-to-be-postponed-to-2021.html

Head Coach of the Irish Women’s team, Sean Dancer had the following to say on the postponement of the Tokyo Games, “We really appreciate the tough decisions all parties involved have had to make in recent weeks. The decision to postpone the Games not only puts athlete’s welfare first, but also the welfare of much wider communities and countries. These are unprecedented times, and while incredibly stressful for so many, the decision to postpone the Games is one we support.

Our athletes are continuing to train as much as possible given the current circumstances, and we really look forward to being able to train together as a group again when it is appropriate to do so.”

Speaking on the decision, Katie Mullan, Captain of the Irish Women’s team said “As players we are gutted with the announcement to postpone the games as our excitement has been building, however we totally understand why this decision has been made. What matters most is players health and wellbeing, as well as our families and friends, and we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy at this difficult time.

As a team it has been strange doing so much individual training, but everyone has been pushing on with home-gym programmes and trying to increase their fitness with running and cycling. This is a big change for so many people, but everyone is the same situation. We’ll be doing our best to use this as an opportunity.”

In addition to these comments, High Performance Director, Adam Grainger added, “that Hockey Ireland support the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and TOCOG (Tokyo Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) in this decision making, and can appreciate how hard the postponement decision would have been to make.

Hockey Ireland also understands how difficult this postponement must have been for the Japanese people, with our local hosts Iwate town for example having already invested so much time and effort into successfully hosting Hockey Ireland. Our Senior Women’s team are committed to travelling to Iwate town in 2021 and working with the OFI, Sport Ireland, Sport NI and our sponsors to ensure the best preparation possible for our players and staff.”

A decision has been made by the IOC to postpone the Summer Olympic Games to 2021, considering the current global crisis.

“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.” The full statement is available here: https://www.olympic.org/news/joint-statement-from-the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-tokyo-2020-organising-committee

The Olympic Federation of Ireland have welcomed the call while also acknowledging the complexities involved in postponing the Games. Their focus remains on “protecting and safeguarding the Irish athletes over the coming months and ensuring that they can bounce back to full training and be in peak condition for a successful Games in 2021.” The full statement can be found at: https://olympics.ie/news/19149-confirmed-olympic-games-to-be-postponed-to-2021.html

Head Coach of the Irish Women’s team, Sean Dancer had the following to say on the postponement of the Tokyo Games, “We really appreciate the tough decisions all parties involved have had to make in recent weeks. The decision to postpone the Games not only puts athlete’s welfare first, but also the welfare of much wider communities and countries. These are unprecedented times, and while incredibly stressful for so many, the decision to postpone the Games is one we support.

Our athletes are continuing to train as much as possible given the current circumstances, and we really look forward to being able to train together as a group again when it is appropriate to do so.”

Speaking on the decision, Katie Mullan, Captain of the Irish Women’s team said “As players we are gutted with the announcement to postpone the games as our excitement has been building, however we totally understand why this decision has been made. What matters most is players health and wellbeing, as well as our families and friends, and we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy at this difficult time.

As a team it has been strange doing so much individual training, but everyone has been pushing on with home-gym programmes and trying to increase their fitness with running and cycling. This is a big change for so many people, but everyone is the same situation. We’ll be doing our best to use this as an opportunity.”

In addition to these comments, High Performance Director, Adam Grainger added, “that Hockey Ireland support the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and TOCOG (Tokyo Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) in this decision making, and can appreciate how hard the postponement decision would have been to make.

Hockey Ireland also understands how difficult this postponement must have been for the Japanese people, with our local hosts Iwate town for example having already invested so much time and effort into successfully hosting Hockey Ireland. Our Senior Women’s team are committed to travelling to Iwate town in 2021 and working with the OFI, Sport Ireland, Sport NI and our sponsors to ensure the best preparation possible for our players and staff.”

Hockey Ireland Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE No. 2
12 March 2020

As the possibility of the COVID-19 virus spreading in Ireland increases, Hockey Ireland is continually monitoring the situation.

Hockey Ireland continues to follow the advice of the Government and Sport Ireland and has noted the announcement by An Taoiseach this morning that some measures will come into effect from tomorrow morning until the 29th March 2020, with schools, colleges and childcare facilities closing from tomorrow (Friday 13th March).

The Hockey Ireland Board, after consultation with its branches, has decided the following in the interest of the health and safety of the hockey community and all people on the island of Ireland:

Hockey Ireland together with its four provincial branches are suspending all hockey activity with immediate effect until the 29th March 2020 and is directing all clubs and schools to do the same. All hockey activity including training and education across clubs and schools must now cease. We understand that this decision is disappointing to all hockey players, coaches, officials, volunteers, and supporters, but in light of the circumstances, Hockey Ireland believes this is in our members’ best interests.

The above will not apply to the Senior Women’s team, who are in preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Alternative arrangements for league and cup matches will be reviewed by Hockey Ireland in coming weeks and decisions will be communicated as appropriate.

The Hockey Ireland offices are situated on the UCD campus which will be closing this evening, and from tomorrow, 13th March, all staff will be operating from their homes. We apologise for this disruption, however staff continue to have access to our server remotely and are set up to respond to emails as usual.

As the situation is changing very quickly, we will continue to closely follow developments and issue further information approaching the 29th March Date.

Please keep safe. For further information on Covid-19: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html

If you have any further queries, please email info@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com

Hockey Ireland Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE No. 1

As the possibility of the COVID-19 virus spreading in Ireland increases, Hockey Ireland is monitoring the situation.

At the moment we have not implemented any changes to the hockey competition schedule, however, this situation may change as things develop.

Hockey Ireland will continue to follow the advice of the Government and Sport Ireland on this topic and will update our Branches and Members should the need arise.

Here you will find some advice from Sport Ireland which can be circulated as much as possible. PROTECT YOURSELF POSTER.pdf

Guidance from HPSC is available at: https://www.hpsc.ie/az/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/

4 March 2020

Hockey Ireland is seeking young passionate people, between the ages of 18-30, based throughout Ireland, to apply to become a member of our new Youth Panel.

The Hockey Ireland Youth Panel, part of our volunteer strategy funded by the Sport Ireland Women in Sport Programme, aims to offer a voice for young leaders in hockey, offering the opportunity to develop personal leadership skills. Coming onto the Youth Panel offers the following opportunities:

– Up-skilling in relevant leadership areas
– Mentoring from experts
– Gain experience in project and event management
– Potential opportunities to travel and learn from other national associations

For more information, email Sarah at marketing@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com

Deadline 13th March 2020.

Hockey Ireland is delighted to announce the launch of our new coaching initiative, the Performance Coach Development Programme, which is being piloted this year with the aim of supporting and developing female coaches to work at senior club, interprovincial or international level.

The programme, funded by Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Programme, will run for 2020 and is open to female coaches who are already coaching at, or have a desire to coach, at performance level. Coaches will work with a team of experienced mentors across a 12-month period with a focus on developing key aspects of performance coaching both on and off the field.

We are looking to engage an initial 6-12 female coaches for this mentoring programme with options to further develop through our core coach education programmes and potentially through EHF-led programmes such as Coaches 4 Europe or Top Coaches Programme. So, if you are a female coach already working at or with ambition to coach at performance level, what are you waiting for?

If you would like to register your interest, please contact Phil Oakley on phil.oakley@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com and include a detailed description of your coaching career to date and outline your coaching ambitions. The deadline to register your interest is Monday March 2nd 2020.

Having made his debut for Ireland in 2005 against Belgium, Magee since received 295 caps for Ireland before officially deciding to retire from International Hockey. With over 60 goals scored for Ireland, and a self-described career high of scoring against Germany in the Olympics in Rio 2016, Magee informed team-mates and management of his decision late last week.

Men’s Head Coach, Mark Tumilty, who has also worked with Eugene for a number of years with Banbridge Hockey Club, described Eugene as “a fantastic servant to Irish Hockey, [having] played a key role in the success of the team over the last decade. Eugene will rightly be regarded as one of the best to have worn the green shirt.

An exceptional hockey player, team-mate and person. It has been a pleasure to work with Eugene at club and more recently at international level and I wish him and his family all the best with his retirement from international hockey.”

Magee retires as Irish Hockey’s most capped Men’s player. He was an integral part of Ireland Men’s historic return to competing in the Olympics in 2016, as well as their return to the World Cup last year having failed to reach that level since 1990. He scored twice in the Olympic Qualifier sudden death shootout in Canada last year, as well as scoring in a famous 4-2 win over England at the European Championships back in 2015.

“After much consideration, I have decided to retire from international hockey,” said Eugene, “I have enjoyed 15 years as part of the Irish Men’s hockey team and it has been my privilege to represent my country among so many talented players.

To be able to play hockey with your friends is one thing but to compete on an international scale takes a huge amount of work from a lot of people and to them I am truly grateful. To all the coaches, players, physiotherapists, doctors, psychologists, physiologists, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, managers, hockey Ireland background staff, equipment sponsors, financial sponsors, employers, home hosters and the wider hockey family, I would like to say huge thank you.

I would also like to publicly acknowledge my support network at home, particularly my parents and my wife Aoibhne, without whom I would not have enjoyed the career I have had.

Through many years there have been ups and downs but overall, I have loved the experience. International hockey has been a huge part of my life and although it will feel strange to retire, I feel very privileged to have gained all the experiences I have had and to have played my part for the team. I now look forward to exciting times ahead with a young family and watching the incredible talent in this team develop.

It has been an honour to wear the Irish shirt.”

Eugene’s advice to young hockey players over the years has been “Play with freedom, hard work and a smile and the rest will take care of itself.”

Hockey Ireland extend deepest sympathy to the family of Jean Kilcoyne (Corrigan) who died on Saturday following a long illness.

Jean was an international umpire and former President of South East & was hugely involved in the Development of Carlow Hockey club

https://rip.ie/death-notice/jean-kilcoyne-rathvilly-carlow/413744#!photo