Congratulations to former club captain Rob Johnson who has been confirmed on the IHAs board of directors.

The IHA became a Limited company during its AGM in May. As part of this process they went looking for volunteers to sit on their new board of directors. Following Robs impressive work during last years SGM regarding the senior international squad, the IHA approached him to join the new set up. Robs experience of development and implementing change will hopefully be of huge benefit to them.

Congratulations and best of luck.

Three Rock had no less than 7 representatives at last weeks mammoth European masters tournament in lisnagarvey. With over 32 teams playing over 5 days it was a massive tournament.

Roly Budd and new assistant men’s coach Paul Fitzpatrick came third with Ireland’s over 40s. Having beat Wales and Scotland they were pipped to second by South Africa.

Harold de Jong and Stuart Switzer lined out for the men’s over 55s who came 4th. They lost to the Netherlands and England but beat the Welsh Dragons. David Gilmore also played in a number of games for the over 50s too.

On the women’s side Mairead Lyons represented the over 45s while Maura O’Neill played for the over 50s. On the 50s side the team finished 4th having been beaten the the babas mix 3-1 in their final playoff game. This was an interesting clash given that the babas team was Ireland’s over 45s with some Welsh players, meaning our two players were against each other!

It’s great to have so many players continuing to represent both club and country at this level. Well done to all involved.

Union College from New York contacted us a few months ago to organise a friendly with our ladies team for their travelling group.

On Wednesday night a group of 1sts and 2nds ran out for their game of the season. Having only completed a few Bootcamp sessions and one pitch session it was a good test for the girls.

The American side were fit and physical and provided a good opposition for the start of the season. The game ended 3-1 to Union College.

Many thanks to the team for providing us with a lovely momento for the day.

Committee report for July

At the months meeting confirmation was made of the following dates for the social calendar:

19th October 2013 – Cocktail party. This years event will be a Great Gatsby theme!

15th November 2013 – Dream Auction. John Findlater is working hard on what will be this years major fundraiser for the club. As outlined last April at the AGM the club has a target of €11,500 to fundraise for this year. This money will go towards the funding needed to replace the front pitch in May 2014.

More details on each of these events will follow.

The Supercup nearly has all its participants confirmed. We will be hosting 16 teams in total, 8 mens and 8 women’s. The tournament takes place the 6th – 8th of August and offers our 1st XIs a great way to get top quality match practice before the season kicks off. A committee of the 1sts men and ladies, headed by Siobhan and Stephen, will be taking charge of the weekend.

Many Garda vetting forms have been sent out or collected already. Ali is following up on those that remain.

Our mens 1sts coaching team of Joe Brenann and Paul Fitzpatrick will be heading a new initiative of a development plan for the coaching within the club. The aim is to ensure all coaches throughout each section of the club are aware of the key principles to educate the players in. The first session of this plan will be held in early September. This marks the first step in creating continuity throughout each of our ranks.

The junior girls will return to training on the 15th of September this year. Letters will e sent out in the next few weeks to all parents.

A new club tracksuit and top will be available for all to purchase through Ed Sports from the end of August on. The tracksuit is Reece and can be seen on the ladies 1sts since the middle of last season. Its available in mens and ladies fits. The top is a long sleeved polo that the mens 1sts purchased prior to their finals last year.

The committee wish to extend its warmest congratulation to Mitch Darling on his recent 100th cap for Ireland. Its a phenomenal achievement and we are very proud to have him within the club. Congratulations to our mens 1sts manager Ravi and his wife Emma on the recent birth of their baby Priya.

Pre-Season Info – Ladies

We are delighted to announce that Bootcamp is full! This is bound to be excellent preparation for the season ahead for all of our teams. The 1st session begins on Tuesday the 6th of August. The ladies side will return to hockey training on the 19th of August. The first few sessions will be for all teams combined and will run from 7.30 – 10pm every Monday and Wednesday on the front pitch. Jody has not yet returned from South Africa but he has been in contact with the team and coaches over the last few weeks. The sessions will be taken by the rest of our coaching team: Nathan Warnock the 2nds coach and Jodys coaching partner, plus our 3rds and 4ths coaches the two Stephen Roberts!!
Our coaching for the men’s 3rds to 5ths will return on the front pitch at 6.30 on Tuesday the 3rd of september

Representative Honours

Congratulations to Stephen West on his selection for the Western Province Senior IPT team. The inter-provincial tournament takes place in Cape Town at the end of August. We’re glad to see him getting plenty of high-quality games before the start of the season here!

‘Opening Minds’ Rebate

We were contacted by the Opening Minds bookshop in Ballinteer with the below letter. Its an easy way to fundraise for the club.

Dear “First name”,
We have been supplying schoolbooks in the “local” area for over 26 years when we previously traded as “Wise Owl”. We have devised a special scheme whereby local clubs and societies can earn 5% cash back on all purchases made by club members in the opening minds branch in “local”.
All that is required from the club is that all members are asked to purchase their schoolbooks in openingminds so that the rebate can be paid to “the club”. When making a purchase the member should mention the scheme and obtain a duplicate receipt which is returned to the club. At the end of September the club will add up all the receipts and inform opening minds “local” of the total spent by club members in opening minds “local”.
We will then pay in cash 5% of that total in cash to the “club”. For example, 100 members spend €100 each on schoolbooks in opening minds “local” over the summer of 2013. That equals a total spend of €10,000, €500 of which will be rebated to “the club”.
Our schoolbook prices are the same as in any other shop and we also sell and purchase second hand school books. If you wish to arrange a collection of current, good condition second hand school books in your club we can arrange to purchase these at very good prices.
We would request that where possible the opening minds logo is included in any brochures / leaflets produced to promote these schemes in “the club” during 2013.
If you wish to avail of any of the above schemes please contact us at info@openingminds.ie to register your interest.
We look forward to working with “the club” in the future and thank you for all your support and assistance in opening minds “local”

Regards,
The opening minds “local” team.

Stephen Findlater has put forward his website The Hook for potential funding from the Arthur Guinness Project. This funding will hopefully ensure the long-term future of the site as he aims to develop the advertising and marketing side of the site as well as making a number of improvements to the site’s look.

Market research suggests there is a large untapped income that could be generated for this site and this is something he would like to try and pursue. If you feel this is something you would like to support, helping the Leinster and Irish hockey community have an outlet for coverage, please vote for the Project at the following link (you can do so once a day!) and share through whatever means you have at your disposal.

https://www.arthurguinnessprojects.com/sport/the-hook

Congratulations to Luke Madeley and Harry Morris for winning gold with the Irish u18s earlier this month. The lads were part of an 18 man squad who stormed to victory in the B division, thus ensuring promotion back to the A division in 2015. Both Luke and Harry were on the scoresheet multiple times with 11 goals between them. Luke winning overall top goal scorer in the competition. Well done lads!

Another huge achievement was reached by Mitch Darling during the Hamburg Masters 4 Nations tournament this week. Though results didnt go Irelands way Mitch earned his 100th cap for Ireland during the tournament. This is a phenomenal achievement for anyone. Given his age theres bound to be plenty more to come! From all at the club, we’d like to offer him our congratulations. Mitch is making his way to Belgium with the team this week for the European Championships. Ireland have been pooled with Poland, England and the Netherlands. Best of luck Mitch!

Finally, Fred Morris and Daragh Walsh represented Irelands u16s at the start of the month against Scotland and Wales. They claimed the Tri-Nations tournament with a 6-2 win over Scotland and 7-0 over Wales. Well done guys!

We are delighted to announce that we have secured the services of Jonny Bruton to run our pre-season fitness Boot Camp.

Jonny is a highly successful Personal Trainer and fitness fanatic. He is a current Irish International Hockey Player and as such Jonny is fully aware of what it means to train at the highest level. He has a wealth of experience in elite sport and strength and conditioning which he integrates into his personal training and fitness BOOT CAMPS, which are designed for pre-season hockey training. Jonny has been based in Dublin for the past 3 years and has recently opened up his new premises, SMART Training, in Churchtown Business Park. Training Smarter, not harder, is the key to reaching your bodies ultimate fitness levels and Jonny wants to show you how.

BOOT CAMP is designed for all levels of fitness. All participants being able to set individual targets, which will be monitored and progress assessed. If you put the effort in – you will get the results!!!

This is an opportunity NOT TO BE missed! Boot Camp is open to ALL MEMBERS of TRRHC, Ladies and Men

Dates are as follows:

7.00 – 7.45 Tuesday 6th August – onwards for 6 weeks
7.00 – 7.45 Thursday 8th August – onwards for 6 weeks
10.00 – 10.45 Saturday 10th August – onwards for 4 weeks
11.00 – 11.45 Saturday 10th August – onwards for 4 weeks

The costs are €5 per session and our Coaches have recommended that everyone does 2 sessions per week.

We have included a booking form to be returned to Siobhan Madeley by Friday 19th July indicating your preferred sessions. Jonny is keen to keep the sessions to a max number of 20. If we have more than 20 then we will engage an additional trainer.

Ladies, please note that there will be hockey training on Saturday mornings starting 10th August 11.45-12.30, open to all. More hockey will follow later in the month.
Men, please note that Joe will advise on hockey training in addition to Boot Camp.

Folks this is your chance to get your fitness up under a professional trainer, so that our hockey season is more fun as we are fitter and more able for those vital last 20 minutes in a game.

You have to be 16 to do the Camp but there is NO upper age limit.

Finally, after the 19th July we are opening the Boot Camp to non Club members, so get your bookings in!!!!

Best,

Siobhan and Stephen
Captains

Link to the form on this site is here or it can be downloaded from the end of this page

https://www.threerockrovershc.com/d/documents.html

The council are delighted to introduce our new club manager Martin Roe to Three Rock Rovers!

Following an interview process that took place at the end of April, we are pleased to announce that Martin was our successful candidate.

Martin joins the club with a wealth of experience from his years as club manager to Kilmacud Crokes. He officially commences his role on the 1st of July.

Martins role is to manage our complex/facilities and increase our pitch/clubhouse bookings. Should you wish to book the pitch or clubhouse please contact him at club.manager@threerockrovershc.com.

If you have queries re membership or teams please do not contact Martin but our club captains Siobhan or Stephen at ladies.captain@threerockrovershc.com or mens.captain@threerockrovershc.com

Martin will be on site at specific times which we will confirm shortly. Outside of these times he is contactable at 0876575297.

We wish him all the best in his new role and look forward to working with him.

The following was discussed/ decided at this months meeting:

Vetting: the process of Garda vetting has begun. Ali Keogh is collecting the forms from all coaches, managers and anyone else deemed appropriate within the club. Should you be contacted by her please return the form as soon as possible.

Tournaments/Trips: The supercup pre-season tournament will once again be run this year. Joe Brennan has initiated this and Stephen and Siobhan have sent invitations to clubs. More details to follow once teams are confirmed.

Team matters: the ladies fixtures meeting was attended by Mandy, Siobhan and Ali. Fixtures will be confirmed in the next few weeks but the season commences on the 5th of October for our ladies teams. The mens calendar is not out yet.
Siobhan is finalising the dates and costs of the boot-camp that will be held for all members during pre-season
Training times for all teams have been agreed and will be announced shortly. A date for the return of the juniors still needs to be confirmed

Social Calendar: Provisional dates have been set for events during the year. These will be formally announced once the mens fixtures list is out.

Budget: The budget for the year was agreed and will be sent to council to sign off on the same

Subs collection: Pete McConnell has investigated the best methods for collecting subs. He will help set up an avenue to allow this to be done from the club website. Details will follow shortly.

Kit: The mens 1sts proposed new shirts for their squad. These will be self funded. The committee agreed to this new design (subject to some small changes) and have advised it become available for all mens teams and have requested samples for ladies fittings. The committee await samples for tracksuits and hoodies that can be bought in the shop.

Fundraising: The fundraising target for the year (which will go towards new pitches), has been set at 10,500. Siobhan and Stephen are working with John Findlater to hold a dream auction in November of this year. More details to follow. The idea of a monthly club loto was proposed by Joe Brenann to be initiated ed by the ladies 1s/2s. The committee agreed to this.

Council update from Rob and Ali: the front pitch will need replacing at the end of this coming season. We had initially hoped to do this in 2016 but wear and tear has progressed more significantly than anticipated. The pitch will need close surveillance and care to get it through this season.

Your committee members are:
Siobhan Madeley
Stephen Findlater
Mandy Bools
Barbara Snow
Peter McConnell
Wendy Lee
Simon Walker
Rob Johnson
Ali Keogh

The committee are delighted to announce the return of the Rovers pre-season tournament.

Thanks to a lot of work by Joe Brenann the competition will return on the 6th-8th of September. Teams have been invited and will be announced once confirmed.

There will be a BBQ on the Saturday evening and some top quality hockey on show all weekend. We plan to run a mens and ladies tournament with each team getting 5 games of hockey over the weekend, preparing them well for the season ahead.

More details will follow but keep the date free!