Decision regarding EuroHockey Club Competitions 2020/21

With the 2019/2020 #EYHL season declared null and void due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the Hockey Ireland Board has made the following decision regarding the representatives for next seasons EuroHockey Club competitions.

The European representatives for the EuroHockey Club competitions shall remain the same for next season, and in the same order.

Therefore;

Pegasus Hockey Club Women will retain their position as the representative in the Euro Hockey League Final
Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club Men retain their position as the representative for the Euro Hockey League
Loreto Hockey Club Women retain their position as the representative for the EuroHockey Club Trophy
Lisnagarvey Hockey Club’s Men retain their position for the EuroHockey Club Trophy II
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. Hockey Ireland is following the announcements from the governement(s) regarding roadmaps to ease Covid 19 restrictions and reopen Ireland’s economy and society.

The full statement is available below

Final Statement European Places.pdf

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Hockey Ireland AGM 2020 – Postponed

Hockey Ireland advise that the Hockey Ireland Annual General Meeting (AGM), scheduled to take place on Saturday 16 May 2020, has been postponed until further notice in keeping with ongoing advice from Government on social distancing.

As soon as the restrictions imposed by the current emergency are lifted, Hockey Ireland will organise an AGM as soon as is practicable.

Notification of the rescheduled date will issue in due course.

Take care of each other and stay safe.

Jerome Pels

CEO Hockey Ireland

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Women’s National Development Squad Program Update

The Easter and summer programme of development (U23) and U21 matches have been postponed or cancelled due the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic. These included a trip to play Great Britain three times at Easter, a busy June period with warm weather camp in North Carolina which included 6 matches against the USA and a home 6 Nations Tournament (with Canada, Chile, Germany, India and Netherlands) at UCD. The EHF have now also confirmed the cancellation of their U23 six nations that was scheduled for Cardiff in mid August.

Commenting on the programme Head Coach David Passmore commented “while completely understandable given the current priorities we had put a lot of work into developing a programme for the year that would prepare a group to move into the senior squad post Tokyo. The health of everyone is, and should be, our priority right now and these measures are appropriate. The management team and I have been exceptionally impressed with the attitude of the athletes during the past 6 weeks and each has pushed hard to develop the physical side of their game under the auspices of our talented S&C Coach Orlaith Curran. We will give the athletes a short break once the lock down is over and then hope to start preparing for some matches in the late autumn once we have the domestic calendar confirmed”.

The 6 Nations U23 tournament planned for UCD 20-27th June will now take place in June 2021 and all teams have indicated they would still like to take part. The squad also plan to go to America in 2021 as was planned this year and discussions with US hockey are ongoing. With the Tokyo Olympics also moving by a year this will provide an ideal platform for development of this talented group of youngsters for the post games period. An U21 team has also been entered into the Indoor Europeans set for Croatia in January which provides a further stimulus for the group.

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Guidelines for Using Virtual Learning Platforms

Hockey Ireland have issued some guidelines for coaches and clubs using online learning platforms during the Covid 19 crisis.

Below is a list of some basic Do’s and Don’ts but for the full document please click here

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SoftCo extends support for the Ireland Women’s Hockey Team

SoftCo extends support for the Ireland Women’s Hockey Team due to Olympic postponement

SoftCo, the leading global Finance Automation Software provider, today announced the extension of its main sponsorship agreement for the Ireland Women’s Hockey Team. The extension adds a further year to the current agreement ensuring that Hockey Ireland will have funding in place for rescheduled Olympic Games in July 2021 and beyond.

The COVID-19 crisis is a global tragedy and the decision to postpone the Games puts athletes’ welfare first, while protecting the well-being of much wider communities and countries.

Commenting on the announcement, Susan Spence, Co-Founder, SoftCo

“The achievement of the team to reach the Olympics was fantastic and we believe that it is important now that Hockey Ireland have the right funding in place for the Olympics in 2021 and leading into the World Cup in 2022. All of us at SoftCo wish the squad and management well and hope everyone stays safe in these tough times.”

Commenting on the announcement, Sean Dancer, Head Coach of the Irish Women’s team said:

“We really appreciate the continued backing from SoftCo especially during these unprecedented times. Their support and the support of others will allow the Squad to continue to prepare for the Olympics next year.”

Hockey Ireland CEO, Jerome Pels, said:

“SoftCo’s extension of the sponsorship shows a real commitment to support the team on their journey to Tokyo. Today’s announcement helps us with planning for the Games, which have been postponed until 2021 due to COVID-19.”

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Hockey Ireland Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE No. 4

Hockey Ireland Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE No. 4
9 April 2020

Hockey Ireland on 26 March announced that the 2019/20 hockey season for all league, cup and all other domestic hockey competitions in Ireland are deemed to have finished.

The Hockey Ireland Board and Hockey Ireland Branches are acutely aware of the scale of the health crisis facing the island of Ireland at this time, as well as the energetic strain that Covid-19 is currently placing on people in all aspects of their lives. In a time of such uncertainty for everyone, the Board and the Branches are keen to provide clarity, while also respecting the magnitude of effort each player, coach, umpire, volunteer, school, club and hockey entity has invested into this season.

The Hockey Ireland Board, in consultation with the Branches and on recommendation of the Competitions Working Group, have decided the following:

The EYHL 1 and 2 season 19/20 has been stopped and has been declared null and void as there are too many games left to play to determine a fair final ranking by mathematical or other method.

The EY Hockey Champions Trophy is cancelled for the 19/20 season.

There will be no automatic promotion/relegation in the EYHL 1 and 2.

The Board of Hockey Ireland has asked the EYHL Competitions Group to consider options of increasing the number of teams in the EYHL league(s) for the 20/21 season and report back to the Board with their recommendations. The Board have also received proposals to explore a full season EYHL2 concept and the Board have asked the EYHL Competitions Group to look into the viability of implementing this and make recommendations to the Board.

European club competition places will be determined at a later stage by the Board pending the outcome of the current European season and a conclusive decision from the European Hockey Federation (EHF).

The Hockey Ireland Branches will use a percentage equalisation method to complete league standings in their respective province. It is up to each province to make decisions on relegation and promotion and the Branch competition rules apply.

Branch Cup Competitions: If Cups are at Semi Final or Final stage or can be completed, they are postponed. The Branches will look for an opportunity to play these (early) in the 2020/21 season. If no opportunity arises, the Cup competitions will be cancelled.

Hockey Ireland Cups, Hockey Ireland Trophy and Hockey Ireland Challenge Finals and Semi Finals are postponed. Hockey Ireland will look for an opportunity to play them (early) in the 2020/21 season. If no opportunity arises these competitions will be cancelled.

Other Hockey Ireland competitions:

Kate Russell All Ireland Schoolgirls Championships

26th and 27th March

Cancelled

John Waring All Ireland Schoolboys Championship

1st April

Cancelled

June Smith Competition

2nd April

Cancelled

National U15 Girls Championship

9th May

Cancelled

National U15 Boys Championship

10th May

Cancelled

Junior Interprovincials

16th and 17th May

Cancelled

U13 Championships

30th May

Cancelled

 

 

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

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

If you have any further queries, please email info@hockey.ie

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RIP Anne Laing

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.

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

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@hockey.ie

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Hockey Ireland Statement on Postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympics

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.”

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Hockey Ireland Statement on Postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympics

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.”

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