Irish duo in shock defections

IAN Sloan claimed Irish hockey has little chance of long-term success as he and David Ames rocked the sport by announcing their defections to England.

The Cookstown midfield pair formally notified the Irish Hockey Association yesterday of their decisions, withdrawing themselves from Irish selection and confirming they will pursue playing for England and Great Britain once a three-year wilderness period is served.

This is dated back to April 11, 2012 when they lined out against Germany, both scoring in a 2-1 win over a side that went on to be crowned Olympic champions.

Since then, though, both players have made themselves unavailable for selection. Sloan spent much of this time injured with a broken metatarsal while Ames took an extended break from the sport.

They will become the third and fourth Ulster players to switch allegiances in recent times, following in the footsteps of Mark Gleghorne and Iain Lewers. The latter left many within the sport’s governing body seething in 2008 when he said his decision to switch was prompted by major flaws in Irish hockey structures.

Sloan’s statement yesterday had echoes of those remarks, as the 19-year-old — now playing with Loughborough Students in England — revealed his decision was prompted by a series of controversies which have dogged Irish hockey since the departure of coach Paul Revington last summer.

Finance has been at the root of those issues — causing the side to be withdrawn from the Champions Challenge I before being reinstated after a fundraising drive yielded €60,000 in four days. The IHA claim to be facing a financial “crisis year” in 2013 amid disagreement over who was responsible for a €37,500 overspend.

Sloan said: “The sequence of events that have occurred since (Revington’s departure) have made me question the probability of sustained success for the Ireland team, and also the likelihood of the team consistently competing in major world and European level competitions over the next 12 years.

“Whilst I have every confidence that the current Ireland team will continue to battle against adversity and achieve excellent results, I believe that this can only be done in the short-term and that the structures are not in place to deliver consistent success.

“My decision to switch has primarily been based upon my desire to fulfil my potential, compete at the highest level on a consistent basis and to compete for medals. There is, of course, no guarantee that I will achieve any of these things, but by making this switch I think I am giving myself the best chance of doing so.”

Sloan has won 21 caps since making his debut while still a schoolboy in 2011 while Ames (23) plays club hockey with Nottingham-based Beeston and has won 64 caps. Both starred in the 2011 European championships in Germany as well as the agonising failed Olympic qualification campaign last March.

Ames had raised hopes of a return to the green jersey when he said in November he was “still an Irish player and that’s the way that I want to remain”.

But yesterday, he and Sloan cited ambitions of competing at the Olympics, World Cup and other high-profile tournaments as major factors in their decision.

Ames said: “I have many goals and aspirations for my hockey career that I want to try and achieve. In order to give myself this chance, now is the best time to declare for England. It may seem a very selfish move but unfortunately competing at international level doesn’t last too long in a player’s lifetime.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Sloan while both players admitted practical considerations were at play too, with both seeing themselves continuing to be based in England for the foreseeable future.

Both paid tribute to Revington, his assistant Arul Anthoni, manager Peter Jackson and their former Irish team-mates.