Róisín Upton: Ireland can’t take eye off the ball before Olympics

Tokyo represents the pinnacle of the sport for the Limerick woman but, in terms of long-term consequences, next week’s European Hockey Championships could have far greater impact on the health of the sport in Ireland

Róisín Upton at the launch of Circle K’s To Team Ireland initiative, giving the Irish public the chance to show off their creativity by drawing or writing a picture or message on a postcard in support of Team Ireland. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

With next week’s European Hockey Championships in Amsterdam separated from the Olympic Games by just six weeks, Róisín Upton says there is a “lot to be lost” if Ireland start thinking too far ahead.

Tokyo represents the pinnacle of the sport for the Limerick woman but, in terms of long-term consequences, the Euros could have far greater impact on the health of the sport in Ireland.

“You’re talking [possible] relegation here; there’s a World Cup qualification spot up for grabs,” she said ahead of the side’s departure.

“We’re will have some people retire after the Olympics and we don’t want to leave Hockey Ireland in a worse place for the next girls coming through so, at the moment, our only focus is on the European Championships.”

The Green Army start their campaign on June 5 against the Netherlands in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final before vital group games against 22nd ranked Scotland and Spain, the bronze medalists at the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Euros.

The target is clear: a first ever semi-final spot from the continental championship, an outcome which will almost certainly bring with it a ticket to the 2022 World Cup.

“You wouldn’t be human if the Olympics wasn’t at the back of your mind but there’s big opportunities here at the Europeans and, if we look past it, we’ll miss that opportunity.

“You want to gain momentum, you want to be feeling good about yourselves. The last thing you want is to come last in a tournament, God forbid, and then you’re going into an Olympic Games with morale being low in the squad.”

And so it becomes a matter of being able to hit peak performance twice in quick succession. Ireland’s women have been here before in 2017 and know the perils.

An outstanding run at the World League brought them to the brink of the World Cup but, hot on the heels, they produced a flat European campaign that only saw them survive relegation by the skin of their teeth.

“It’s definitely something which entered the brains of all of us who played that summer,” Upton continued.

“To play a successful tournament in South Africa, knowing we had done enough to qualify to then come back down to reality was such a tough end to the summer.

“The first thing is, physically, we are in much better shape across the squad; we are much fitter to deal with that sort of loading and peaking for two international tournaments.

“Secondly, in South Africa, the altitude and the physiological impact that would have had coming home — all the European teams coming home from there didn’t fare well.

“It impacted all teams, not just ourselves. I think we are much better shape and working with physiologists to prepare for that.”

Crucial to building the physical side of their game has been the ability to go semi-professional courtesy of Park Developments sponsorship, ring-fencing money to replace loss of earnings for employees in the squad who have to take time out of work.

“It’s meant people like me could afford to take time off work like I have. Most of the girls on the team would work part time or study part time.

“They came on board for a four-year cycle which has just completely transformed our whole programme. Without them we couldn’t have trained the way we trained for the last year, we couldn’t have made the strides that we have gained physically.

“It is where we wanted to be, we wanted to train more often.

“In a sense, it is not government funding, but Park Development have given us individual carding.”