IRELAND SQUAD FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP II ANNOUNCED

Coach Mark Tumilty has announced the 18 players who will represent Ireland in the European Championship II which Ireland will be hosting at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown between July 23-29, 2023.

Ireland begin their campaign with a game against Czech Republic on Sunday 23rd July with a 6pm start. They follow this with a game against Ukraine on Tuesday 25th July with a 7:15pm start and complete their pool section with a game against Portugal on Wednesday 26th July with a 7:15pm start. Tickets are available at www.hockey.ie.

The squad, which has a rich blend of youth and experience as well as players in the mid-part of their careers, seems ideally suited to the task of getting Ireland back into Europe’s top tier and ultimately the Olympics in Paris for 2024.

Mark Tumilty’s selection sees the welcome return of some veteran players such as David Harte who was FIH World Goalkeeper of the Year on two occasions, who has been out of international action for almost 4 years.

There are players in the squad who have considerable previous tournament experience of events such as Rio 2016 and the 2019 Hockey World Cup in Bubaneshwar as well as players who were too young to have experienced the bitter disappointment of missing out on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the 2023 World Cup.

Ireland preparations continue this weekend as they begin a three match series with Austria also at the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown. On Thursday July 13th at 7:45pm Ireland play their first game with Austria. Game two takes place the following day Friday July 14th at 7:45pm and the series is completed by a game with Austria at 3:30pm on Saturday July 15th