Harte pleads for extended winter break

Conor Harte has added to the growing volume of Irish hockey players calling for a proper winter break following another weekend of widespread cancelations.

It is a worsening problem over the last three seasons with the introduction of the all-Ireland EY Hockey League with matches in Ulster particularly affected by frozen conditions that render astroturf pitches rock-hard and unplayable.

Last weekend, his former club in Dublin, Pembroke, had both their men’s and women’s trips north cut short with Lisnagarvey and Belfast Harlequins both iced out.