With the women’s firsts lining out on Saturday in the first competitive fixture of the 2026/27 season, the club has been buzzing over the past few weeks with each section returning to the turf after the summer!
A huge thank you for the committees, coaches, volunteers and club manager Bernie for getting everything in place. Here’s a flavour of what’s been going on:
1) This week’s league fixtures
Saturday, September 12th
Women’s 1sts v Glenanne, 12.30pm, St Mark’s, EYHL2Q
Men’s friendlies
11am TRR 4ths/5ths v Pembroke, front pitch
1pm TRR 4ths/5ths v Avoca, front pitch
Bar open from 12.30pm to 4.30pm
2) Super Saturday – September 19th
A massive home curtain-raiser for the season with the M1 and W1 sides playing back-to-back on the front pitch. The men are up against Cork Harlequins at 1pm in their opening EY Hockey League game with the women on straight after at 3pm against Muckross. The women’s 3rds (11am vs Monkstown) and 2nds (3pm v Monkstown) both have their first league games while there is a men’s friendly on the back pitch at 11am on the back pitch.
Bar open and food available all day.
3) Training schedule
The current schedule for training sessions can be found here https://www.instagram.com/p/DclKzFtiNJY/?img_index=1
If you or someone you know is looking to get into hockey, contact:
Juniors: junior.committee@threerockrovershc.com
Senior men: contact John Blakeney on mens.captain@threerockrovershc.com
Senior women: contact Andrea van Eeden ladies.captain@threerockrovershc.com
4) Get involved
The club always welcomes more volunteers to help grow and develop. At the moment, we are looking for assistance with the following specific items:
- Men’s Match Secretary – Ali Haughton is keen to hand over the reins after a long stint in the role and to focus on other work within the club
- Communications assistance – Stephen Findlater is keen to grow the team involved in this area to tell the story of each part of the club to the membership through the website and social channels. Drop him an email on stevie_findlats@yahoo.com or via the Whatsapp Community
5) New women’s coach Simon Pearson
We are delighted to welcome Simon Pearson as the new women’s first team’s head coach.
Simon takes on the challenge as a young squad look to build on a number of productive seasons in Leinster Division One, finishing in the top four in the last two campaigns.
He brings a wealth of experience to the side having coached Trinity to the Jacqui Potter Shield title and Pembroke the semi-finals of the EY Champions Trophy last term.
Simon is also well-known to the club having been an assistant coach with the men’s first team during their run of national success, working with Niall Denham. His brother John has also previously coached the women’s team.
Speaking about the role, he said: “I am really excited to take on this job and looking forward to working with this group of players and building on what they have done in the past few years.”
“This is a very exciting appointment for the team who will be pushing to try and qualify for EYHL2 in the second half of the 2026/27 season,” said club captain Andrea van Eeden.
“We cannot wait to see how the team continue to develop with Simon at the helm following a number of strong seasons.”
6) New Director of Hockey and men’s coach Aidan Khares
A huge welcome to Aidan Khares who has joined the club as the new director of hockey and men’s first team coach. He has already been busy conducting sessions with the coaches and working with the men’s first and seconds group.
Aidan joins us from Brooklands Hockey Club in Manchester where he coached the Brooklands men’s first team in the English Premier league.
He was involved with the Ireland Under-21 team as Assistant Coach at the most recent Junior World Cup in India where he helped them place 10th overall.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to take on the challenge of coaching Three Rock Rovers!” Aidan says of the new role.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to build on the fantastic foundation that Jody and Ash have established. Their hard work and dedication have set a high standard, and I can’t wait to contribute my own passion and strategies to help the team grow even further.”
He is also offering help with coaching education for those looking to develop their coaching skills within the club. Contact akhockeycamps@gmail.com
7) Club membership
To be eligible to play, umpire or coach this season, Hockey Ireland Membership is required. Please sign up via the following links:
– HI Membership: https://membership.mygameday.app/regoform.cgi?aID=29011&pKey=da2c0f798cfdfa14090d0577d5fb6f48&formID=121278
– Three Rock club membership: https://threerockrovershockeyclub.clubforce.com/products/membership
8) Rovers representing
During the summer, a wide variety of club members shone on the representative stage.
- Ali Keogh capped a brilliant World Cup by umpiring the bronze medal match between Belgium and Australia. She has had a wonderful tournament with six on-field appointment along six appearances in the Video Umpire role!
- Former Rovers Ali Empey, Ben Walker and Jaime Carr were part of the Irish men’s team who finished in tenth place in the men’s World Cup. New club member Carlon Mentoor was in the South African panel!
- Youth section graduates Pippa Beatty, Laura Keogh and Deepa Anthoni were part of the Leinster underage teams who played in the girls Interpros which were held at the club at the end of August
- Ollie Cox (U-16s) and Harry Grainger (U-18s) won Interpro gold with Leinster at their tournaments in Cork in August.
- Hannah Duffy, Sally Hannon and Harry Glennon were on the Leinster Under-21 side who travelled to Belgium where they played games against Ombrage and Lara.
- Ryan Williams (captain) and James Coffey led the Irish Under-21 men to gold in Poznan at EuroHockey U21 Championship II, earning promotion and a ticket to next year’s Junior World Cup
- Lucy Kelly umpired her first international tournament at an eight nations youth event in Cork in July
- Simon Montgomery and Louis Rothwell were with the Irish Under-18 boys this summer while Juliette Duffy was in the Irish Under—18 girls line-up. Josh Kelly captained the Irish Under-16 side
- Rob Carter (Over-55s); David Owen (IMC Over-60s); David Bryce (Over-60s); Cedric Christie, Rob Haughton, Peter Hill and Roger West (Over-65s); Stewart Switzer and Carl Collings (Over-70s) all played in the Masters World Cups this summer in Belgium and the Netherlands
9) Rovers on tour
The Under-16 boys and girls had a brilliant tour to Belgium where they linked up with Uccle Sport who were our hosts both on and off the pitch. It included matches, interviews with local TV channel BX1, a visit to the World Cup matches in Wavre, a hectic meet and greet with the Irish players, topped off by a trip to the famous Walibi theme park.
A huge thanks to the group leaders and organisers who made this special trip happen!
The men’s first team, meanwhile, were in Catalonia last weekend where they played friendly matches against top class Spanish sides Club Egara and Junior FC in two close-run fixtures.
10) Around the club
Big thanks to the Groundforce volunteers who put in a big job of work around the grounds during the summer – in conjunction with groundsman Nariman – to fill skips and tidy up a range of areas of the club.
The social committee and masterchef Mariano laid on a brilliant summer barbecue, feeding over 70 people and a great way to open the club’s doors!
James Coffey led the charge in organising the return of the club’s golf outing after a few years hiatus with some superb prizes sourced and won!
