On October 25th 2015, the Irish Men’s Hockey Team qualified for the 2016 Olympics. They will be the first team representing Ireland since 1948 – 68 years in the waiting, and the first Irish Hockey team since 1908!
Realising this significance, RTE have committed to showing all the matches, with live commentary and a studio panel. This is fantastic news for the sport and offers a huge opportunity in terms of increased coverage.We in TRRHC are proud to have Mitch Darling and Jamie Carr within the group of players currently training for this momentous occasion.
However, simply getting there is not enough. The Green Machine want to ensure that they continue to compete with the best in the world. To do this a panel of 25 have spent the last few months training hard and planning ahead. For most this means huge financial and personal sacrifice as they take sabbaticals from work, travel abroad, and much more.
Craig Fulton, the Irish coach says, “Obviously we are delighted that we have qualified, but that is just the start. We want to compete on the world’s most prestigious sporting stage. We are aware we are representing Ireland, and our goal is to finish in the quarter finals. We will be playing the best, and we therefore need to prepare like the best.”
In order for our athletes to prepare like the best, they need to be available to train like the best, which is to become full time athletes. To do this, a number of our athletes are taking sabbaticals from their full time employment.
To prepare for this once in a lifetime event, a funding requirement of €225,000 has been set. This involves a near professional approach to training for the next three months for each of the players on the squad. This also means series of matches involving the likes of Korea, the Netherlands and Canada to each peak performance on time. This €225k will go towards this extensive preparation.
To reach this target a crowdfunding campaign #obsessed has been commenced, reaching over €16k in just 5 days. This has been supported by rugby and other high profile athletes but needs to reach a bigger crowd. Payment can be made through https://www.pledgesports.org/projects/obsessed/ . A Golf Classic and a Hockey Dinner have both also been organised, with the relevant details for both included within this article as PDFs at the end of the page.
We know many of you will have already contributed to this cause but we ask you now to spread the word beyond the hockey circle, into your friends, family, colleagues etc. Please help support not only our own players, but their team-mates, Team Ireland in the Olympics, and our sport as a whole.
