New coach Smith ‘honoured’ to take Ireland hot seat

Seven months of searching is finally over for Irish hockey after New Zealander Darren Smith was yesterday named as the new senior women’s national coach.

Beaten to the punch in announcing Smith’s arrival by their Kiwi counterparts yesterday, the Irish Hockey Association won’t mind having taken their time to secure a top-class successor to Gene Muller, who resigned in March as Ireland failed to reach the Olympics.

Like Andrew Meredith — who takes the Irish men into their first tournament under his watch at the Champions Challenge I in Argentina this week — Smith has an impressive CV as an assistant coach.