Standing at a crossroads

This afternoon, Ireland’s elite hockey players will traverse the country and wonder: could I do this every other weekend?

The sixth season of the Irish Hockey League (IHL) gets underway today, again shoehorned into five weeks at the back end of the season, and the discussion in each vehicle is likely to be around the same topic, regardless of whether the journey originated in Munster, Leinster or Ulster.

A full-season IHL has been debated extensively at forums in Cork, Dublin and Belfast over the past six days. A sample tournament format comprising 12 teams — five Leinster, five Ulster and two Munster — was put forward, with 22 games set to be played over 16 weeks, including a number of “double” weekends to minimise journeys between Munster and Ulster clubs.