Young stars may move abroad

IRELAND’S women’s coach Riet Kuper has backed the idea of our leading young players moving to Europe’s top leagues to further their hockey education.

Ireland take on Scotland today in a bid to secure fifth place at the European Championships at Belfield, but Kuper is already looking to the future.

With at least two senior members of the squad considering retirement, a number of younger internationals may be considering moves abroad.

Although neither captain Linsey McVicker nor vice-captain Jenny Burke, both 150-plus cap veterans, has yet indicated they will retire from international hockey, it is widely expected that both will quit by the end of the tournament.

A public relations consultant in Belfast, McVicker is also a former Northern Ireland sprint champion.

Burke, a mortgage expert with a bank in Dublin, is also 31 and has also been part of the Irish team for over a decade.

However, the younger members of the squad may move to either Holland or Germany to play their club hockey after the European Championships. Kuper, the former Dutch coach, recognises that the club structure in Ireland is nowhere near as competitive as those in Holland, Germany, Spain and England and thinks it would be good for Irish players to experience conditions in the leagues there.

“The league is fairly weak in Ireland and even the best clubs in the country are not training enough and they are not top clubs compared with those you see abroad,” she said.

“It would be good for some of the girls to go to Holland or Germany. I know some of them are thinking about it and I think it is really worthwhile for them to look at that.”

One of the team who is open to considering a move abroad is the 23-year-old UL player Eimear Cregan, who is finishing her Sports Science degree this year.

“The standard on the continent is unbelievable, it is a different world and just by playing over there it would improve you. It’s definitely something I’d think about,” she said.

For the moment, however, Ireland’s focus is on this morning’s early start (9.30) against Scotland in the 5th to 8th place cross-over games. A victory would put Ireland into 5th/6th place play-off against either Ukraine or France tomorrow and the coach thinks they can beat Scotland.

“We have played them on many occasions and over the years we have done well against them, so we should be favourites this time.”

On form, it looks like Ukraine should come out of the other game, especially after an injury-ravaged France were demoralised by a 6-0 beating by Spain on Wednesday night.

According to McVicker, Ireland were unlucky to have only beaten France 1-0 on the opening day. “Their main player has been injured since and that’s why they fared so badly against Spain, so I suspect we were a little unlucky to have them first, rather than later in the tournament.

So, Ireland have two games left in the championships and while they did not achieve their ultimate aim of a semi-final, they now want the next best thing, a fifth place finish.

For some it may well be their Ireland swansong; for others, it could herald a whole new beginning.