David and Goalith
WHEN the Irish men's team fell out of the top flight of European hockey with a series of disappointing displays at the Euro Championships in Barcelona two years ago, it was a watershed which would ultimately lead to a mini-revolution in the game in Ireland.
While few would quibble with the claim that Ireland had the personnel to maintain our status in the top rank, most would readily admit that the preparation of the players prior to the 2003 competition - both physically and tactically - was not up to international standards.
The fear was, however, that with the men's team having slipped into what is effectively the second division of European hockey, they might find it difficult to regain their status among the elite.
But a year ago, and in tandem with a raft of changes within the administrative body of the sport in this country, Dave Passmore was appointed the senior men's coach and the high performance director of the sport.
His brief was to get our male and female international players up to the sort of fitness levels demanded by the modern game, and also to dig the men's team out of their second level status.
In tandem with women's coach Riet Kuper, Passmore devised a new methodology for the players' training regimes and, using his successful experiences coaching at club and international level in England, then focused his attention on rebuilding the confidence of the men's squad ahead of the Nations Cup Tournament in Rome in September - Ireland's ticket back to the big time.
History now records, of course, that the Irish won the competition, beating the Czech Republic 4-2 in the final, a victory which secured Ireland's place in next April's World Championship qualifiers in China and the possibility of securing a slot at the next Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
"Rome was a major stepping stone," Passmore concedes.
"Because it's really shaped the next three years and, to some extent, beyond. When I started with the lads last January, we set some goals and while one of those was to win in Rome, the next one was for us to start competing at world level on a consistent basis.
"I said at the time - and I still believe it - that the group of players we have now have the ability to go into the world's top 12 within three or four years. I think that's still an achievable target."
After Rome, Ireland's world ranking moved to 22nd place, so there is still a long way to go for Passmore and his players if they want to make that top-12 slot, but the coach is happy with the pace of development.
"The thing everyone forgets is world hockey is moving faster than it's ever moved and there has been a significant step up in the last two years. When I came on board we were way behind, mainly because of the lack of competition over the previous three years.
"Rome was very much a short-term goal to get us into world events, such as the World Cup qualifier in China in April and the Olympic Games qualifier in 2008. Up until Rome there was a specific goal. The goals now encompass short- and long-term objectives and we've not had that luxury up until now.
"In terms of our physical work, our technical work and our tactical work, there is more of a world influence in the way we're going about doing things. We are putting more of an attacking emphasis on our game now, because in the run-up to Rome, most of the emphasis was on our defence."
For Passmore and his players to achieve their aims, much has depended on the work done by the Irish Hockey Association to secure funding and facilities to allow the international teams embark on a process of continual improvement, something the coach feels is gathering pace.
"There is a lot more going on outside of the team that is going to enable us to be better prepared," he says.
"The fact that the Government recently announced that the Abbotstown facilities would be developed for elite soccer, rugby, GAA and hockey players was a huge boost. We're the only Olympic sport of those and that is massive backing from the Sports Council and the Government.
"We will have pitches, accommodation and all the other training facilities there that we don't have readily available. So our ability to prepare for major events will be significantly enhanced. It is just a question of when those facilities are in place and if we will get to use them in the final six months before 2008. Those kind of things are really crucial because they impact greatly on your long-term planning."
The demands asked of the players - all amateurs, remember - is massive and the spate of retirements, including those of goalies Wes Bateman, Nigel Henderson and outfield stalwarts David Smyth, Mark Raphael and Chris Jackson, is indicative of how difficult they are finding it to cope with pursuing international success and working for a living.
"I think it is fairly illuminating to look at the numbers of retirements we have had," Passmore says, "in both the men's and women's games. But we have a choice: we either train to the level where we can compete, which is a massive sacrifice and hard on the players, or we just go along and be very average and go to events where we will not compete.
"I accept wholly that I put massive demands on the players, but what I have to give to them by way of commitment is to try to help and support them with all their different needs. You've got guys who've just started families, guys doing their final exams, guys doing professional exams and all those guys need to be professionally managed. That's 50% of my job. It has been very demanding and tough on the players, but I make no apologies for that because we are where we are because of the commitment they've given."
The coach says that the Irish style in Rome was "quite rigid" and one of the things he wants to address in South Africa is the team's tactical flexibility - not just the ability to change between games, but to change during them.
"When you try things like that - especially attacking formations - you tend to leak goals, but you're working to put the problems right," he says.
It's working. After recovering from 2-0 down to claim a draw in the first test on Tuesday, Ireland defeated South Africa 1-0 in Pretoria yesterday.
Craig Fulton has been brought in as an assistant coach and Passmore says his understanding of the world game - he represented South Africa in the Athens Olympics - gives him up-to-date knowledge of the development of the sport.
"He gives the players a player's perspective, which neither myself nor Denis (Pritchard, the other assistant coach) can do. Effectively we've added another string to our coaching bow because he gives us a different dimension."
Now though, he is happy with the progress he is seeing and he has been gratified by the support from the players.
"I can't fault the commitment of the guys," he says.
"They're training four nights a week and at weekends, so there's only one day a week they're not training. They are answering the call and, with a younger group coming through, I think the future is really bright."
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