Hockey Ireland today announced a three-year long sponsorship with AIB and Hockey Ireland’s Junior Age Group Girls.
Hockey Ireland’s Junior Age Girls Group programme is comprised of the Under 18 and Under 16 squads that together form an important part of the sport’s high-performance pathway, enabling some of Ireland’s most talented young hockey players reach their full potential.
AIB Head of Corporate, Institutional and Wholesale Banking Cathy Bryce said:
“AIB is delighted to be sponsoring Hockey Ireland’s Junior Age Group Girls programme. At AIB we want to enable young people to achieve their true potential, and this sponsorship enables us to provide support to a key element of Irish hockey’s high performance programme.
“Few teams have brought as much joy and inspiration in recent times as the women’s senior hockey team and we are delighted to be able to support those who aspire to match their incredible achievements in future years.”
Hockey Ireland Performance Director Adam Grainger added this is a huge boost for the stars of the future:
“Hockey Ireland Junior Age Grade girls’ teams welcome AIB onboard and look forward to its sponsorship of the upcoming series Four Nations Development Series starting this weekend. This AIB and Hockey Ireland partnership adds extra impetus to immediate programme plans and further afield towards Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualification.”
Hockey Ireland CEO Jerome Pels added:
“AIB has a strong connection with hockey as a sport and we very much look forward to working together in the coming years at supporting our junior players which is at the heart of the young hockey players’ development programme.”
The announcement comes ahead of this month’s Under-19 Four Nations Development Series with England, Scotland and Wales which will run over three consecutive weekends with six rounds of matches in total for both boys and girls.
Ireland will host Wales at Jordanstown for their double-header next weekend before travelling to England on the weekend of July 16 and 17 at Lilleshall. The series finishes off with a return to Jordanstown against Scotland on July 24 and 25.
The series is the highlight of their summer for the teams as Ireland’s JAG teams get back into action for the first time since February 2020. It follows the cancellation of their European Championship campaign last summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic and so the players will be raring to go for this new challenge.
Our host venue @UlsterUniSport stream the Four Nations Development Series this weekend!
Here is the link for all the games: https://t.co/Wjo0g073kr@TheHockeyLive @IreGirlsJAG @IreBoysJag pic.twitter.com/byX0HHqXHt
— Hockey Ireland (@irishhockey) July 9, 2021
Four Nations Development Series
Saturday, July 9: Ireland U-19 girls v Wales, 2pm; Ireland U-19 boys v Wales, 4pm (both at University of Ulster Jordanstown)
Sunday, July 10: Ireland U-19 girls v Wales, 10am; Ireland U-19 boys v Wales, 12.15pm (both at University of Ulster Jordanstown)
Saturday, July 16: Ireland U-19 girls v England, 2pm; Ireland U-19 boys v England, 4pm (both at Lilleshall)
Sunday, July 17: Ireland U-19 girls v England, 2pm; Ireland U-19 boys v England, 4pm (both at Lilleshall)
Saturday, July 24: Ireland U-19 girls v Scotland, 2pm; Ireland U-19 boys v Scotland, 4pm (both at University of Ulster Jordanstown)
Sunday, July 25: Ireland U-19 girls v Scotland, 10am; Ireland U-19 boys v Scotland, 12.15pm (both at University of Ulster Jordanstown)