If you are interested or know of anyone who may be interested then please contact ladies.captain@threerockrovershc.com

A number of years ago, the strategic development committee of TRRHC promoted the importance of long-term planning to sustain our growth and success as a club. They set in motion the steps needed to change our structure of governance, splitting the club into the committee which deals with the hockey issues, and the council which deals with the issues related to the grounds and facilities. The next step in this process was to produce a plan by which anyone sitting on either or committee or council can base their decisions on for the next few years, all with an aim of growing TRRHC. Open forums were held, and officials from other hockey clubs and sports were contacted to help us refine our thoughts of where we were compared to where we wanted to be.

The results of this fact gathering mission were collated into a five year strategic plan that focuses on developing people as well as hockey players.

Our aim is to provide a welcoming environment that fosters lifelong engagement with our club.

We want to grow our membership by 500 and to produce the best hockey environment for the best hockey experience for all our members, no matter their age or level. We are promising to support our players with top quality coaching, but importantly, we promise to facilitate self-motivated members to develop skills, experiences and networking opportunities in a safe and friendly environment.

Our plan focuses on six key areas, each of which has its own objectives. The key to their success is you, our members, engaging in the areas that most appeal to you. You may wish to give back to the club by providing us with specific expertise or networking opportunities, you may be looking to develop administrative and management skills for your C.V. through our committee, or you may try your hand at another side of hockey such as coaching and umpiring.

Either way, together we grow!

The European Trophy we hosted in May 2015 proved the with concerted effort and an end goal, we can achieve great things. Please take a moment to read this plan and consider where you or your children can help us continue to do great things.

Fulton Announces 21 Man Squad for 6 Nations Tournament in Valencia
Club members Mitch Darling and Jamie Carr have been included in Craig Fulton’s 21 man squad for the 6 Nations Tournament in Valencia which is running from 27th June til 3rd July. This tournament see’s the Green Machine face off against the world’s best in their final tournament before the Rio Olympic Games. We wish them the best of luck!

Irish U16 Boys
Congratulations to Nick Judge, Luke Adams, Robert McCollum and Harry Lynch on their selection for the Irish U16 boys squad for the Osaka 6 Nations to be played in Belgium 17-23rd July! We wish them and coach Niall Denham the best of luck!

Irish U18 Boys
Further congratulations are due to Ben Walker, Conor Empey, Harry McMahon and Mark Samuel on their selection for the Irish U18 boy’s team who will be playing in the EuroHockey Championships in Cork 24-30th July. Best of luck lads!

Rio 2016
Club member Paula Jenkins will be in charge of the second pitch for the Rio Olympics! Paula currently works for the FIH and coordinates the tournament management system.

Finally, our very own super coach Niall Denham is now an FIH Hockey Level 3 coach, brilliant achievement well done Niall and great to see so many Rovers representing!

Golf Outing
This year’s golf outing is returning to Greystones Golf Club on Friday 8th July. Tee Times will commence at 13.40, with the last time scheduled for 15.10 – the attached below provides full detail.
If you intend to play, please contact David Haughton with an early response – even if you haven’t arranged playing partners etc.

Ladies 1st XI Playoff
Support needed!! Two weeks ago the club was notified by the LHA that the ladies 1sts were to participate in a playoff to remain in Division 2 next season. The ladies 1sts finished the season in an exceptionally tight league, in 10th place resulting in automatic relegation. However, due to a series of events including EYHL promotion, and the merger of Hermes and Monkstown, the girls have been handed a surprise lifeline two months after the regular season finished.
They face Suttonians in a playoff game in Botanic Hockey Club at 4pm this Saturday the 28th of May. We have spoken in the past two AGMs about the importance of supporting and developing our ladies side to ensure the continuo growth of our club. All available support for this crucial game will be greatly appreciated!

Huub in Hoofdklasse
Congratulations to TRRs most recent Dutchman, Huub de Wit on his clubs recent promotion to club hockeys most prestigious league, the Dutch Hoofdklasse. Huub, who was part of the Irish Senior Cup winning team in 2014, gained promotion to the league in a playoff over SCHC

Congratulations
Congrats to Gary Ringwood and Jilly Collins on their recent wedding, and to Aisling Hogan on her engagement!

Obsessed
The final push for the Irish Mens Road to Rio #obsessed campaign in on. So far TRR members have donated over €3500 to their campaign. Please head to Pledge Sports to donate before the end of the week

Summer coaching courses
Chris Steele has organised some coaching and safeguarding courses over the summer. Anyone wishing to coach in the club needs to have coaching and code of ethics qualifications. The latest Safeguarding takes place May 31st. Please contact Chris at ctsteele@gmail.com for details

Rovers representation
Congrats to Alan Davis and Luke McSharry who lined out for Leinster in the recent Junior Interprovincial Competition, and to Solo who won the over 40s Masters interpros with Leinster. Cedric Christie, Rob Carter, Rob Haughton, and Maura O’Neill recently made the not so short trip to Australia for the Masters WorldCup, along with Ben Epstein as coach. Huge congrats to all involved at every level! #roversrepresenting

Golf Outing
This year’s golf outing is returning to Greystones Golf Club on Friday 8th July. Tee Times will commence at 13.40, with the last time scheduled for 15.10 – the attached below provides full detail.

If you intend to play, please contact David with an early response – even if you haven’t arranged playing partners etc.

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.

Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club are delighted to have joined forces with Sherry FitzGerald who will support the club’s youth system for the upcoming 2016/17 as primary sponsor.

It marks the first time the Rathfarnham club has embarked on a partnership of this kind and will support the club’s efforts to develop some of the young talents, and potential Olympians, of the future.

Speaking about what the agreement means for Three Rock, youth co-ordinator Siobhan Madeley said: “this partnership is a game changer as it empowers us to be more professional in the management of the administration, freeing up valuable volunteer time.

“This time will be spent developing our programmes, engaging more with our young players and their parents to ensure that all of them feel part of our family friendly club.”

Caitriona Dalton from Sherry FitzGerald Group says the attraction of Three Rock, as one of the leading hockey clubs in terms of youth development, is a natural fit for their company.

“Sherry FitzGerald are delighted to be linking up with Three Rock Rovers hockey club. Building the highest performing teams is core to our business and, when it comes to leadership, teaming and developing winning strategies, there is a great deal to learn from team sports.

“Whilst we are a national business, we are very much at the heart of local communities. We have made a conscious investment in our support of several sports clubs at local level and we wish the Three Rock teams every success in the seasons ahead.”

Three Rock Rovers Club President John Findlater says that the partnership comes at a key time for the sport. Ireland’s men will play in the Olympic Games in August, the first time the country will be represented on the biggest stage in 108 years.

Three Rock has played a role in developing some of the current players in the international panel, as well as eight current Irish underage internationals, and is ambitious to build on this record with the help of Sherry FitzGerald.

The company officially launched their partnership at Super Youth Sunday with a blitz last weekend where many of the club’s 250 underage players took part.

Findlater said: “In just a few month’s Ireland will be competing in the Olympics. Throughout Super Youth Sunday at Grange Road, sponsored by Sherry FitzGerald, Three Rock Rovers raised awareness to the children in the area about Olympic Hockey in the expectation that this stimulates their interest in all that hockey has to offer.

“It is a big year for the sport, one in which it will get greater media attention than ever before and we hope to introduce ever more people to our sport.”

The partnership formally begins on May 1, 2016 and there will be further joint events taking place between Three Rock Rovers and Sherry FitzGerald during the next year.

TRRHC are in year two of a 5 year club development plan. Within the elite section of this plan, one of the primary aims is to return the ladies 1st XI to Leinster Division 1.

The ladies squad enter the season ahead hoping to remain in Leinster Division 2 thanks to EYHL league positions and other potential team restructuring. The squad is young with an average age of 25, and is supported by a promising group of club-developed u16 players. The club also has a support infrastructure in place to assist the successful candidate with ‘off the field’ and administration matters. The squad is ambitious and driven, and is striving to ensure they return the club to competitive ladies hockey over the next three years.

The successful candidate should have previous experience of coaching a ladies team and should be available to start as soon as possible.

For further details, please contact Ali Keogh. All CVs and applications should also be sent directly to Ali at ladies.captain@threerockrovershc.com by no later than 5pm (GMT) on Friday the 20th of May 2016.

Club Dinner 2016
The club dinner took place last Saturday in Grange Golf Club, a big thank you to Aideen, Emma & Becky for organising. Aoife McNulty was crowned Ladies Player of the Year while Luke Madeley won Men’s Player of the Year. Pat Walsh (M1 Manager) was crowned Volunteer of the Year.

American Football
The Rebels American football team played their first home game in HQ on Sunday! They beat the Carrickfergus Knights 36-0

The PGM starts at 7pm while the AGM will take place immediately after at 7.30pm. Minutes of last year’s AGM & PGM are attached below as well as this years SGM.

A proposal has been put forward for the Players General Meeting as follows:
Proposed training times for the front pitch from mid-August onwards:

Monday
7.00-8.30pm Ladies 3-4
8.30-10.00pm Ladies 1-2

Tuesday
7.30-10.00pm Mens 1

Wednesday
7.00-8.30pm Ladies 3-4
8.30-10.00pm Mens 3-4-5 (1/2 pitch)

Thursday
7.00-8.30pm Ladies 1-2
8.30-10.00pm Mens 1-2

Friday
7.30-8.30pm Boys U16
8.30-10.00pm Girls U16

Motions for this year’s AGM on Wednesday April 20th 2016

Members are hereby notified that an Annual General Meeting of Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club will be held on Wednesday the 20th April 2016 at 7.30pm in the Clubhouse

AGENDA

1. Motions (as below)

Dated this 6th day of April 2016.

Barbara Snow
Honorary Secretary TRRHC

1. It is proposed that an increase of €20 be applied to subscriptions of Youth members;

• Junior Membership
For the season:
€180 – U18-U14
€160 – U8-U12

2. It is proposed that an increase of €10 be applied to subscriptions of Adult, Veteran, Student and Youth members, who do not pay through My Club Finance;

• Full Membership
If paid full or in part by 30th September 2016 – €385
If after 1st October 2016 – €430

• Student Membership
If paid in full or in part by 30th September 2016 – €230
If paid after 1st October 2016 – €230

• Junior Membership
For the season:
€190 – U18-U14
€170 – U8-U12

• Vets Membership
For the season:
€155 – Women
€295 – Men

The U16 A Boys play Monkstown away on Friday night at 8.30pm in the Benny Atkinson cup final. The boys have had a great season so far having won their league are currently unbeaten all season! We wish them the best of luck this Friday.

Congratulations to the U14 A Boys who won the Ringwood cup on Sunday, beating Corinthians in strokes in the final

Hard luck to the U14 A girls who unfortunately lost 1-0 to Pembroke in the Lee cup last Sunday.

Some pictures of Sunday’s games can be found here

A piece on the Sherry FitzGerald launch will follow in due course