The National Indoor finals will be unable to take place as scheduled February 7th 2021 as per the Hockey Ireland existing calendar of events. Due current COVID-19 restrictions, the Provincial Indoor competitions are unlikely to be completed appropriately prior to the originally scheduled February date.
The indoor committee will liaise with the Competitions Committee and Provinces to secure a date which will be announced in due course.
Hockey Ireland is pleased to announce the appointment of former dual international athlete Lisa Jacob as Manager to the International Women’s Hockey Team. Lisa amassed 139 caps and scored 17 goals for the Irish Women’s Hockey Team between 2006 and 2014. She became the first Irish woman to be professionally contracted by a Dutch Hoofdklasse club, playing for Stichtsche Cricket en Hockey Club (SCHC) in 2013. After almost a decade playing international hockey, she then took up a contract to play with the Irish Women’s Rugby 7’s squad for 18 months.
“I am delighted to join the Green Army as they go into a very exciting and demanding year ahead,” said Jacob. “I hope in my role I can support the players and staff to prepare, perform and fulfil their ambitious goals.”
Lisa has previously worked as a Coach developer with Hockey Ireland and has been assistant coach to the Irish U16 and U18 girl’s hockey teams. She boasts a wide array of experience from her international playing careers in Hockey and Rugby, as well as a background in Executive Coaching.
Director of High Performance, Adam Grainger said, “Following on from the significant contribution that Arlene Boyles made as Senior Women’s Team Manager, the appointment of Lisa Jacob is welcomed. Lisa’s wide variety of high performance skills and hockey experiences will add to their programme as it intensifies towards the European Championship and Tokyo Olympics participation in 2021. The players and the staff look forward to working with Lisa.”
Following the submission of a detailed application covering Club and NGB needs in September 2020, Sport Ireland has today announced the allocation of €240,500 to Hockey Ireland from the ‘Sport Resilience Fund’. The ‘Sport Resilience Fund’ was established by the government earlier this year in recognition that the sports sector is one of the worst impacted sectors by Covid-19.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media, Catherine Martin TD and Minister of State for Sport and Gaeltacht Affairs, Jack Chambers TD, today announced an unprecedented €85 million funding package for the Irish sport sector, which has been significantly impacted by the various Covid-19 restrictions imposed since March 2020. [Sport Ireland Press Release]
CEO of Hockey Ireland, Jerome Pels, said “Hockey Ireland are delighted to receive this funding during these difficult, uncertain times. The past few months have been challenging for our sport between lockdown and playing restrictions. We appreciate this significant support from Sport Ireland and the Government through the Sport Resilience Fund and look forward to working with our clubs to create a positive impact for the sport.”
Hockey Ireland received a total of €240,500 under Scheme 2 and Scheme 3.
“Under Scheme 2: 20 National Governing Bodies will be supported with in excess of €5 million to offset 2020 losses. Broadly, this funding encompasses the loss of income from events, ticket sales, sponsorship, affiliation & membership fees, courses and services and the additional costs arising from the implementation of social distancing and Covid-19 protocols.
While in Scheme 3: The Club Resilience Fund supports Sports Clubs that find themselves in need of assistance due to Covid-19. Sport Ireland will not fund Clubs, Affiliates, Provinces or Branches directly and funding will be accessed through programmes established by each of the National Governing Bodies in receipt of funding.”
You can read the full Sport Ireland press release at: https://www.sportireland.ie/news/eu85-million-provides-timely-boost-to-irish-sport-sector
Hockey Ireland will be contact in due course with the relevant clubs who applied for the Sport Ireland Resilience Fund earlier this year
https://irelandhockey.sportlomo.com/sport-ireland-resilience-fund/
Hockey Ireland is excited to launch our new E-learning platform. The “Hockey Ireland Hub” aims to offer support to all aspects of the hockey community via courses, helpful downloads and articles. The launch of the Hockey Ireland Hub will see the new “Online Rules Test” being rolled out. The test is the pre-requisite to our umpiring pathway courses, but is also a great way to learn more about hockey as a player, coach, parent or hockey fan!
To access the Hockey Ireland Hub please go to: https://hockeyirelandhub.ie/. This link is also available in several areas of the Hockey Ireland website. You will need to create an account to access the resources on the Hub. All aspects of the site will be updated on continuous basis.
Online rules test
Learn about the rules of hockey and earn a certificate by taking the new ‘Online Rules Test’. The test is the pre-requisite to our umpiring pathway courses, but is also a great way to learn more about hockey as a player, coach, parent or hockey fan! Click here to access the test under the umpiring section. It costs €10 and is valid for 2 years from completion. You have 1 year to complete the course once you have paid. If you require assistance with navigating the e-learning course, please click here.
This test has been developed in partnership with all provincial umpire associations and the IHUA. It has been funded by the Sport Ireland Women in Sport programme. For more information on where the rules test fits into the overall pathway for umpiring, please click here. Please be aware that this is currently a draft form, with further details to come in the coming weeks.
As of midnight, on Wednesday 21st October, the Republic of Ireland is moving to Level 5 COVID-19 restrictions. These restrictions will remain in place for a period of 6 weeks. The effect of these restrictions on Hockey activity have been highlighted below.
These restrictions will apply to all Clubs in the Republic of Ireland.
Under Level 5, individual training only is permitted, and no matches are to take place. The exemptions to this are:
*Please note: This category has been defined by the ‘Return to Sport Expert Group’ which has been established by the ROI government to provide guidance to Ireland’s sporting bodies to prepare for the phased return to sporting activity.
Facilities & Travel:
It is permitted to open outdoor sports facilities for training sessions and scheduled matches for the exempted categories of sport, i.e. high performance. It will also be permitted to open outdoor sports facilities for structured training sessions by school aged children, i.e. those aged 18 years and younger, in pods of no more than 15, under the supervision of designated coaches and in compliance with approved COVID-19 protocols and all relevant public health guidance.
During these training sessions, it will only be permitted for participants and relevant coaching and support personnel to be present. In the case of children’s sport, parents will be permitted to attend for child safeguarding purposes, however they will be required to comply with social distancing and other public health advice.
Under Level 5, while domestic travel restrictions do not allow movement outside of a 5-kilometre radius of home, it is permitted to take school-aged children to club training sessions. Club coaches may also travel to training sessions.
Northern Ireland
Ulster Hockey has advised that all hockey club training is suspended until 14 November 2020. This coincides with the timing of the NI Executive’s current restrictions. Please check the Ulster Hockey website for the latest guidance.
Hockey Ireland will continue to follow the developments and will respond as soon as possible to any changes in the situation. Hockey Ireland would like to thank all branches and clubs that worked hard to get hockey competition back under the strict protocols. We hope we will be back again as soon as possible.
The Hockey Ireland Return to Play and Competition Protocol will be updated shortly and available at https://irelandhockey.sportlomo.com/covid-19/
Please see below for current clarification on Level 5.
Hockey Ireland is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Tumilty as Head Coach for the Irish Senior Men. The appointment comes as the squad looks ahead to the European Championships next August.
Tumilty was initially appointed to the Head Coach role for the Irish Senior Men’s squad on a short term basis as they faced into their final weeks of preparation for their Olympic Qualifier against Canada last October. However, the position was extended into 2020 in line with a normal Olympic cycle. With European Championships scheduled for August 2021 and the World Cup qualification process getting underway in early 2022, Tumilty has used the past year to widen the Men’s panel and provide some younger players with the opportunity to step up, with the aim of making the squad more competitive.
Speaking on the announcement, Head Coach Mark Tumilty said, “It is an honour and privilege to be given the opportunity to coach the Irelands Senior Men’s team. I am really excited by the players we have available and look forward to developing those players over the next period. I want to develop an attacking style of hockey and to create an environment for all players to fulfil their potential during our preparation for the 2021 European Championships.”
Hockey Ireland Performance Director, Adam Grainger, had this to say on the announcement, “Hockey Ireland High Performance is delighted to reappoint Mark Tumilty as Senior Men’s Head Coach. Despite the disappointment of the unsuccessful qualification for Tokyo 2020, it was very clear from existing players and staff feedback that the leadership of Mark was well received leading into Vancouver qualifiers and subsequently. To date, 2020 has not allowed regular programme activity for the Senior Men, yet Hockey Ireland is very much looking forward to working with Mark, his Management Team and the players as they move forward towards their 2021 European Championships and beyond”.
Congratulations to two of our umpires Amy Jones and Victoria Johnston both of which are mentees on our Elite Umpire Development Programme funded by Women in Sport. Having joined their Provincial Panel before Lockdown in March 2020 both Girls have been awarded a place on the EHF Umpire 4 Nations (U4N) one year programme finshing with the Push Tournament in Breda from 20th-22nd August 2021. The programme includes mentoring, observational learning and practical appointments. They Join Richard McNabb who had a place on the programme last year which was interupted by Covid-19.
In the photo attached (L-R) Victoria Johnston, Kim Collins (IHUA), Amy Jones.
Hockey Ireland is delighted with the news that Sport Ireland, through the Dormant Accounts Funding, is investing in our Hockey4All disability and inclusion programme.
Our Hockey4All programme aims to offer young people with disabilities an opportunity to become part of the local hockey community, to keep healthy (socially, mentally and physically) and have fun in a team sport.
In 2021, we are seeking to engage with clubs to set up Hockey4All sections. Support will include:
If you, or your club would be interested in finding out more about this programme, please fill in the following form. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=p9R9iRJpqUakYa2lfUqiV93xNr8oaMxOs6iv7x9-vCdUMlZVU0dKVjE1MzJISTlJNkg1NUlVQlFLUi4u
Watch the FIH Nations Cup here https://watch.hockey/