The Irish Masters Over-65 side finished in seventh place overall at the World Cup in South Africa this morning, concluding with an amicable 2-2 draw (and subsequent shoot-out success) against the host nation.

The squad had a big Three Rock Rovers feel to it with William and Rob Haughton, Carl Collings and club president Roger West excelling on the field with Cedric Christie managing the side.

Over the course of the 10-day competition, they also picked up wins over Italy and the USA and a draw with Belgium with Rob snagging a couple of goals and Willie scoring in their draw with South Africa.

At Over-70 level, Stuart Switzer captained the Irish team that finished in eighth place overall, earning his 100^th Masters cap during the competition.

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of David Strahan a long-time member of our Club. As well as being a stalwart club playing member he had very distinguished periods as Club Captain in 1996 and President from 2011 to 2013. He will be sorely missed by his many friends at the club and we offer sincere condolences to his family.

Roger P. West

President 2023-25

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Removal (Friday 23rd August 2024) to the Church of Mary Immaculate Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines to arrive for 10.00am. Funeral Mass. This will be followed by a short Service at Mount Jerome Crematorium, Harold’s Cross at 12 noon, where David’s eulogy will be delivered and celebration of his life will take place. All welcome to attend.

No flowers. Donations, if desired, to Harold’s Cross Hospice.

Our very own club legend Ali Keogh will make her Olympic debut this weekend in Paris at the hockey event, adding to her list of accolades.

The former Three Rock club captain has been featured on a EuroHockey podcast and on the Hockey Ireland website (copy below) to talk about her journey to blow the whistle at the very highest level.

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“I feel very honoured and proud to be appointed to the Paris Olympics and am really looking forward to the experience and opportunity” Alison stated, ahead of departing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

Hockey runs deep in the Keogh family already. Her father John had played for Railway Union in his early days before taking up umpiring. Alison began playing hockey at 12 as it was the primary sport of her secondary school, Loreto Beaufort.

Joining the sport quite late did not deter her or prevent her from loving the game and she persisted, gradually improving, and rarely missing a session. Her passion for the game grew and she joined Three Rock Rovers at 16.

Over the next few years, she progressed from 5ths to 1sts & 2nds, embraced the social side of the club, met some of her closest friends, joined committees, and eventually became club captain. Probably the most important first experience the club afforded her though was to pick up a whistle and umpiring a game!

Alison described the process as follows: “When I joined Three Rock, my Dad, who had umpired years beforehand, was persuaded back onto the pitch to umpire some of my games.

“I quickly began to question him as to why calls were being blown against me and like most people, I was told that I knew the rules so well as a player that I should see how it feels on the other side of the whistle.

“So, at 19, having never done any other games, I stepped onto a pitch to umpire the Three Rock Ladies 5ths in Division 14, and surprisingly found myself enjoying it.”

But it took a while for Alison to fully embrace umpiring as, initially, she did not want to give up playing. She had been umpiring 3rds and 4ths club games for Three Rock Rovers intermittently before the Leinster Hockey Umpires Association began appointing her to Division 2 games. And the development of her career took off rapidly.

In her first year of senior hockey, she got a call one night informing her that the European Hockey Federation was running an Umpire Development Programme (UDP) and that Ireland wanted to put her forward.

The selected group of young umpires would be mentored over 3 years, involving trips to watch international tournaments, practical weekends at club games in other countries and support for any questions that one might have. The idea was to fast-track and support individuals to international standards.

Alison studied physiotherapy at UCD and was trying to juggle a bit of playing with practicing physiotherapy and umpiring.

Alison explained: “I was not sure where career-wise I was going to go initially after graduating with my degree. I spent 10 years doing physiotherapy for Three Rock Rovers Men’s first team and it was only after I decided career-wise to go back into academia that I was able to commit to umpiring in my spare time.

“It wasn’t a decision I made lightly as I still loved playing, but I took the faith of those around me and decided to put myself forward. Thankfully, I was chosen and from 2009 to 2012 I was part of the UDP’s Group 4. We were taken on weekends to the Euro Nations, the Indoor World Cup, the EHL and practical weekends in Dublin and Glasgow.

“During these three years, I was playing less and less and doing more umpiring, including my first international tournament, the u18 Europeans in Holland in 2011. It was a gradual process but by 2012, at 24, I was umpiring every weekend. 

“The FIH World League in Prague in 2012 was the first international event overseas but I didn’t get the mark required. That came the following year. I went over to a European Club tournament in Italy with UCD in May 2013.

“I was awarded my FIH international badge in 2013 following the Euro Nations C Division competition in Greece. By then, I was doing Division 1 in Leinster, progressing to the Irish Hockey League and then the EY Hockey League when it began.

“Umpiring is like driving a car though, it is only when you have your license that you really learn how to drive! There are four further grades of international umpire ahead of the FIH badge, so I realised that if I wanted to go to the top, I still had a lot of work to do!

“Since I earned my badge, I umpired an Irish Senior Cup final, four IHL/EYHL finals, 11 u21 international matches, and 43 senior international matches. Those matches have taken place at a range of competitions and venues including the U21 Euro Nations in Belgium, the Junior World Cup in Chile, the Euro Nations in Holland, and the World League Finals in New Zealand, progressing up the ranks to the World Development Panel (the 2nd highest rank).

“Listing them like that makes them sound easy but there was a lot of learning experiences and challenges in between all of those tournaments and years!”

With such an impressive portfolio of games under her belt Alison reminisced about her favourite game she has umpired to date:

“My favourite game would have to be the FIH World League Final between New Zealand and Argentina in 2017 hosted by New Zealand. Argentina, the Olympic gold medalists, went into this final as red-hot favourites and the game was expected to be very one-sided. But New Zealand turned up and managed to beat Argentina on the day.”  

The club is so proud of the huge performances and work-rate put in by all the Rovers who represented Ireland over the summer months which came to a conclusion over the weekend.

The Irish U-18 boys featuring James Coffey, Oscar Pasley, Peter Montgomery, Ryan Williams and Zach Silverman picked up a memorable 2-1 win over England to close out their seven nations tournament in Malaga.

Eva Doyle was with the Irish Under-18 girls at the same event where they closed out their programme in sixth place.

For the U-16s, Juliette Duffy stormed home with a 5-0 win over Wales at their Four Nations event in Cork while the Sam Rothwell and the boys did likewise in a 4-2 success.

The Irish Under-21 men missed out on a place in the next Euro top division and Junior World Cup in rough style after a serious set of performances in Terrassa.

In the group stages, they picked up impressive draws against eventual champions Spain and England, only missing out on the semi-finals by a point; had a chance or two gone their way against the English, they could have reached that stage for the first time since 1978.  

They beat Türkiye but came unstuck in the last 15 minutes against World Cup finalists France to end in seventh place overall – equaling Ireland’s best result since 1981 but ultimately not enough to stay in the top tier.

Ben Whelan was joint-top in the teams vote for the goalkeeper of the tournament, only missing out on the award from a tie-breaking vote by the media to the Spanish goalkeeper.

Ben Pasley, Ben Ryder and Rex Dunlop; coach Ashlin Freddy and manager Emer Keogh were all part of the panel who played so well all week in an exceptionally high quality competition.

A huge congratulations to Ben Johnson, Daragh Walsh and Ben Walker who have all been named in the Irish Olympic squad of 16 players for Paris next month along with Ali Empey and Jaime Carr who are both travelling reserves for the event.

An incredible achievement for each of them personally and also for us as a club to have so many involved with such close club ties!

They will join umpire Ali Keogh at the Games to make sure Rovers are represented on the highest stage of the game!

We wish them well for the Games while also taking the opportunity to also pay tribute to Luke Madeley who has been a pivotal figure in the team’s qualification before an injury issue curtailed his involvement.

Ireland’s qualification was always built around a wider squad effort, raising standards across the board over the past few years in which Mark Samuel and Conor Empey were among those to make key contributions along the road to Paris!

There was a magical piece of #RoversRepresenting last weekend in Tilburg as Matthew Burke and Joe Whelan – coached by Scott Mulligan – took gold at the Special Olympics National Games!

Not only that, they had a mighty time of it throughout! We are so proud of their immense commitment and work, being central figures of the Rovers Rockets since its inception.

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TRRHC Annual General Meeting

Three Rock Rovers Annual General Meeting took place last week, May 15th 2023 in the Clubhouse. Thank you to all our members who took part in the meeting and were a part of Rover Roar off the pitch ahead of a busy 2023/2024 season at HQ.

After a busy night of discussions and conversations about the future and present of the club we are happy to announce the following changes to our Council and Committee Officer roles for the 2023/2024 season:

Club President: Roger West takes over from Kara Browning

Ladies Club Captain: Stephanie Lyon taks over from Sinead Holden

Men’s Club Captain: Doug Murray stays in the role for a 2nd season

Club Secretary: Colin Harper takes over from Lke McSharry

We would like to thank all our departing council and committee members for their time and effort in their roles. All their work, over the seasons, has helped the club in many ways that are not seen by many however they affect many people’s time and exprience with the club.

Hockey Ireland U15 National Festival

Congratulations to Harry, Jason, Jonah, Juliette, Laura, Louis, Phillip & Simon who were a part of respective Under 15 Leinster teams across the weekend just gone in the national festival that took place in Grange Road over Saturday and Sunday!

7th Heaven

Congratulations to Ali Empey and Mark Samuel who won their first caps for the Irish Senior Men’s team in their recent series against Spain! Everyone at Three Rock would like to congratulate the twon lads on their well earned recognition!

Alongside the two debutants we had a further 5, current and past, Rovers in the squad! They were Jaime Carr, Darragh Walsh, Ben Johnson, Conor Empey & Ben Walker!

We are delighted for all our Rovers who represent provinicially, nationally or abroad. No matter where they are, they are always a member of Rovers Roar. A shout out to Waterford hockey club who started Ben Johnson on the path to where he is now, we are just enjoying the benefits up close at HQ and else where!

Well done to all the lads on their hard work over the seasons to get to this point, we can’t wait to see what is to come fro them during the coming 23/24 season!

End of Season BBQ

Thank you to all our members who turned out for the end of season BBQ and night, it was a great way to end the 22/23 season and lots of fun ws had on the night! Thank you to Steph Lyons and the social committee who organsied and successfully pulled off the night!

Summer Camps at TRRHC

We sthill have limited spaces in our Summer camps, starting on June 19th, and if you would like to book your child/ren in for a week of fun book your spot here.

For more infor contact camps@threerokrovershc.com before too late!

I.D. Hockey

As part of their champions summer events, a group from St Michael’s House will be enjoying a taste of hockey session in TRR in June. TRR HC are happy to provide facilities for this event, and two of our coaches, Niall Denham and Caoimhe McNulty, have also very kindly donated their time to coach the group. Niall and Caoimhe are also heavily involved in our popular TRR Summer Camp programme

Irish Under 16s

Massie Congratultions to Three Rock Juniors Eva Doyle and Hannah Duffy on their selection for the Irish Under 16 Girls Squad after a series of assessment over the season to date.

It is a massive recognition of their hard work and effort to have been selected in what is always a tough process to get to the final sqaud. All at Rovers wish them and Ireland all the best ahead a busy international season!

Junior Results

Girls results 

Minor girls won v Dublin North 2:0 

First year A 4-3 win against YMCA

Boys

6th class Browns lost 3-2 to Abbeyleix. They have made the league final on the 26th March where they meet Gorey.

The 6th Class blue team are also in the final, again on the 26th, against Railway. Venues to be confirmed.

1st year boys won 6-1 against Weston on Friday and 3-1 against Avoca on Sunday.

2nd Year boys won 3-0 v’s Corinthians

U16 Boys won 4-2 v’s Monkstown to make the final of the U16 Benny Atkinson Cup

Congratulations to all our Junior team!

Saint Patrick’s Days

As mentioned above the Under 16 Boys are in the Benny Atkinson Cup Final on March 17th! We will be hosting the finals at Grange Road and we will have a menu of food, treats and drinks availablein the Clubhouse and from Cian and his team in the Short Corner Cafe! You can see the menu below.

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If you can get up and support Cian and the Club both on and off the pitch please do! If you can give any time on the day contact Bernie at club.manager@threerockrovershc.com, the more the merrier!

Saturday March 11th

You can see this weekend’s fitures below for the Senior sides. It is a double weekend for the Men’s 1s and Ladies 2s.

Ladies 2s v UCD – Grange Road – 11:00 – Back pitch – Div 5

Men’s 1s v Monkstown 1s – Rathdown School – 12:15 – Away – EYHL

Ladies 1s v Naas – Newbridge college – 13:00 – Away – Div 1

Men’s 2s v YMCA 2s Grange Road Ratharnham – 13:00 – Back – Div 1B

Men’s 3s v Rathgar 2s Grange Road Ratharnham – 15:00 – Front – Div 2

Men’s 4s v Pembroke 4s Grange Road Ratharnham – 11:00 – Front – Div 3

Men’s 5s v YMCA 4s Grange Road Ratharnham – 13:00 – Front – Div 5

Sunday March 12th

Ladies 2 v Navan – Mercy Navan – 10:00 – Mercy Navan – Away – Div 5

Men’s 1s v Cookstown – Cookstown – 13:00 – Away – EYHL

Juniors Results February 24th – 26th

Girls results
1st year 2 lost 5-1 v Avoca.
1st year won 3-2 vs bray
Minor girls lost 2-0to Railway
Inter1s v Avoca 1-1.
Inter 2 2-0 win against Naas

Boys
U12 Blue team vs Pembroke 1st, 8-3 win
U16 boys won v’s Avoca 3-1
U16 boys lost v Pembroke 0-2

Senior Fixtures March 4th

Below are the fixtures for the Senior teams on Saturday, March 4th, with the Ladies 3s in Semi-Final action against UCD in the Divisiion 7/8 Cup in Belfield. All supporters are encouraged to give the Ladies all the support they can!

The rest of the teams are in league action both home and away. There is plenty on ahead of the Dinner at 7.30pm so get out and be a part of Rovers Roar this Saturday if you can!

L2 v Genesis – St. Raphaela’s – 12:15

L1 v Glenanne – Grange Road – 13:00

M1 v Banbridge – Grange Road – 15:00

M2 v Clontarf – Mount Temple – 16:00

M3 v Enniscorthy – CWCWE Enniscorthy – 12:30

M5 v Portrane – Donabate – 16:00

L3 v UCD – Belfield – 16:20

Club Dinner

We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Old Wesley on Saturday, MArch 4th, for the annual club dinner. We can’t wait to celebrate all things Rovers with all our members, families, sponsors and supporters!