Proud doesn’t even begin to cover it. Get ready for a sentimental post as we take a look back over what was a wonderful weekend in the history of the club.

Back in July when our mens 1sts coach approached us to host this competition, we were dubious! However, after consideration of the costs of the event, and the time required to run it from a volunteer perspective, we ultimately decided that the event would be another great chance to bring all aspects of our club together following on from the trend we have been building over the last few years.

When we accepted the hosting honour, we never imagined what we would ultimately achieve as a club this last weekend! To say it was a success is the under statement of the year….we well and truly nailed it!

Each and every single corner of the club helped to create the event we just ran…..over 254 volunteers is nothing to be dismissed. Our junior players, parents, vets, mens and ladies players, ex-members and more all joined together to create what has been billed as something similar to what the Dutch would host! To be compared to Dutch hockey in any shape or form is the biggest compliment we can receive. Hockey in Holland is known for its inclusiveness, its family atmosphere, its engaged members, and its professional manner. Each of these areas has been mentioned in both verbal and written feedback we have been getting over the last 5 days.

The Tournament Director stated that our club was ‘something different’, and pinned that statement down to the good nature and friendliness of our club members and volunteers. For that, the organising committee, and executive committee of the club can do nothing more than thank you all profusely for coming together and ensuring that TRRHC will forever be remembered by all those participating in the event.

Whether it was collecting officials, acting as ball patrol, manning the gate, baking for officials, driving lost players back to hotels, bringing injured players to hospital, dancing in the warm up of the Czech team, or simply making someone tea, we fulfilled each of our tasks with a smile and a helping nature that screamed how happy we were to do it. It is this welcoming and inclusive atmosphere that we will be remembered for, long after all the participants have gone home. The proof was there to see on Monday night as the teams partied together during our traditional knees up. Officials joining in with the party is a rare site, and proves how comfortable they were in our environment, as they finished 4th in the ‘boat race’!!!

Although on pitch results didn’t always go our way, we more than punched above our weight off the pitch. Comments came to us that suggests that our tournament was one of the smoothest running events organisers had seen. To complete this using just volunteers is a testament to the pride that our members have in our club. The comments and appreciation were echoed by the mens 1st XI coach Joe, who noted that, ‘ we are so lucky to be part of a club where so many wonderful volunteers helped in putting on what was a wonderful tournament that was run so well. We hope we inspired many young club members to want to play hockey more and more and aspire to compete i a tournament like that someday‘.

Within this group, special mention is required for the organising committee that has been working on this tournament since September. The expertise and advice of the following people ensured that not only did the event run smoothly, it was funded and promoted professionally:
Bruce Johnson
Natalie Rule
Pauline Corrigan
Siobhan Madeley
Stephen Findlater
Andrew Walker
Simon Walker
John Findlater
Pat Walsh
Arthur Johnson
Ryan Shirley
Ali Keogh

In particular however Rick Johnson is to be applauded and thanked for his tireless co-ordination of this event since September. Without him, it simply would not have happened. His competence and organisation, which he carried out in good humour at all times, cannot be compared with.

In the coming days we will post some of the feedback and comments we have received from the officials and others in the last few days. Adrian Bohems superb pictures are on Irish Hockey Photographers website for all to see. A selection, plus others which were taken around the grounds are on this site to see and enjoy. The grounds never looked so well, thanks to the hours of preparation by JJ and Sylvie in the weeks leading up to the event, to make our club clean, picturesque, and somewhere for our European visitors to be envious of.

We hope that each of you is as proud of our club and of yourselves as we all are. We each deserve a collective pat on the back! TRRHC is now on the map of Europe, as a fun, welcoming environment to all. The committee and council will now look to build on the goodwill and enthusiasm gained in this event to continue to build our club into what we believe it can be. To under estimate the talent and motivation of our members would be foolish, as this weekend has more than proved that we are capable of achieving anything that we set our minds on. Please be on the look out for our finalised 5 year plan in the coming months, as we look to ‘provide a welcoming environment that fosters lifelong engagement within our club. We strive to create the best hockey environment for the best hockey experience for all of our members; elite, club, junior and social‘.

The happiness and appreciation that we have for our members following this weekend, simply cant be expressed sufficiently. But please take enjoyment in the part that each of us has played in the past few days, weeks and months.

We collectively have each ensured that TRRHC is now not only a home to Leinster and Irish hockey, but to European hockey too.