Lewers shocked the Irish hockey world last month by announcing his withdrawal from the senior men’s international team in order to make himself available to play for Great Britain (GB).

The 24-year-old Belfast-born defender, who recently signed a two-year extention to his semi-professional deal with Dutch club HGC, called time on his Ireland career after winning 89 caps in just four years.

Lewers, who played with Annadale before moving to the Hague last summer, will now be forced to spend three years out of international hockey, under eligibility guidelines laid down by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and Federation of International Hockey (FIH) in the early 1990s.

Lewers says he has played his last game in a green shirt due to a desire to play in the Olympics, something he believes will not happen under the current Irish set-up.

“I don’t think Ireland can qualify for the Olympics at the minute,” he said. “It’s not because I think the players aren’t good enough, it’s because the structures at the highest level are somewhat lacking.

“From what I’ve seen there have been no changes in the past three years. I don’t believe the structures are there to help give these talented players the best possible chance of qualifying for major tournaments.

“I have to make a decision if I want to do something in hockey. I don’t want to sit back and wait and see if anything will be done.”

Lewers said he will declare for England when his enforced three-year hiatus from international hockey ends in July 2011, giving him 12-14 months to make the Great Britain team ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London, which they are automatically qualified for.

Iain Lewers (right), seen here during his Annadale days, believes Ireland won't make the London Olympics without improvements to hockey's top-level structures. Picture: Des Barry/Irish Examiner

“It is a selfish decision, but I’m the same as everyone else, I have goals and aspirations and as long as you have those you have to look after yourself,” he explained.

“I don’t owe anyone in Irish hockey anything, I gave four or five good years to it, I don’t think anyone can argue with that. I won’t especially miss international hockey, I have a decent way of compensating for it by playing in a league against top players, where every match is near-international standard.”

He added that he did not believe his decision would encourage other top Northern Irish-born players, such as Banbridge’s Eugene Magee and Mark Gleghorne of Instonians, to defect, insisting that “it’s a very personal decision, and it’s not something you come to lightly”.

IHA chief executive Angus Kirkland admitted it was a blow to Irish hockey to lose Lewers who, in a strange twist of fate, played his last game in a green shirt against Great Britain at the Setanta Sports Trophy in June.

“It’s certainly disappointing to lose a player, there’s no question of that,” he said. “Sadly, it’s somewhat out of our hands. He’s been part of a squad that’s been working and improving and getting better year by year, so it’s certainly disappointing.”

Lewers‘ decision came just a fortnight after the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) Alastair Ross controversially called for Northern Irish-born players to be allowed to represent Great Britain, without sacrificing their international careers in tournaments where England, Scotland and Wales compete separately.

Mr Kirkland acknowledged that other players may explore the option taken by Lewers: “There’s obviously the potential for other players to look at what he’s done, but it’s an individual decision, and I know Iain didn’t make it lightly.

“Aside from the whole issue of moving from one national team for another, and all the pulls on the heartstrings that may or may not bring to someone, there’s the personal element of whether the player will make another team.

“The big pull in this instance is that Great Britain are guaranteed to the in the Olympics. They have a higher world ranking than Ireland and a bigger playing population, so that’s obviously something he’s weighed up and he’s confident in his ability to make that team.”

Ireland assistant coach Craig Fulton admitted that Lewers, who is widely acknowledged as one of the team’s world-class players along with former HGC team-mates Eugene Magee and John Jermyn, will be missed, but said the future was still bright for Irish hockey.

“It’s a huge disappointment. He’s come through quite strongly in the last 18 months, and in terms of going forward for the next cycle he was always in our plans, and now he’s not, so we have to back to the drawing the board and mix it up a bit,” he said.

“However, we have got a strong U21 group coming through, ten of whom were on display in the Celtic Cup, so we’re not in dire straits. There’s a lot of talent out there and we’ve got to harness it.”

Fulton believes Ireland’s improvement over recent years, which has left them on the brink of joining hockey’s elite, will deter other players from following Lewers‘ lead.

“The players that know what we need to do to perform, we’re not that far off. If we were drastically off the money I think it would be a different scenario (regarding people declaring for Great Britain),” he said.

“I think this group who have been through the qualifying tournaments know that massive changes aren’t needed, it’s just little details.”

“Iain will get his hockey in Holland but to take three years out of international hockey at the height of his career…who knows what will happen? It’s a tough decision, but you’ve only got one life.”

Lewers will become the first Northern Ireland-born player to represent Great Britain in more than two decades if he succeeds in making the 2012 squad.

Jimmy Kirkwood and Stephen Martin helped Great Britain to gold at Seoul in 1988, prior to a ruling in the early 1990s which prevented players representing both Ireland and Great Britain.

Lewers‘ move is not without precedent in recent years. Laurence Doherty and Marilyn Agliotti played for Scotland and South Africa respectively, before taking a three-year hiatus and declaring for the Netherlands.

The bar has been raised immeasurably this year, with the IHA taking full advantage of this summer’s Olympics in Beijing as some of the world’s top teams pencilled in Dublin on their warm-up itinerary.

There was some scintillating hockey played at Belfield this year, particularly in the men’s section where only Canada’s willingness to win ugly has spoiled the feast of attacking hockey served up by Ireland, Pakistan and Great Britain.

The inclusion of world number six Pakistan has been particularly beneficial off the pitch, where they have received stellar support from Pakistanis living in Ireland.

On matchday two, they cheered on their team riotously against Great Britain, then stayed in the stand to cheer on the Irish against Canada, joining swathes of schoolgirls singing hockey-tailored versions of Ireland’s Call.

Pakistan's Shakeel Abbasi, right, believes Ireland need more games against top-level opposition to improve their world standing.

Given the hosts were the only team competing not heading to the Beijing Olympics, the tournament appeared to go true to form. According to some of the international stars gracing the National Hockey Stadium this week, both our teams are typical of an all-too-familiar Irish sporting stereotype – good enough to beat anyone on their day, but lacking one or two elements that differentiate the pretenders and the champions.

“The biggest difference between Ireland and the other teams here is the technical side,” explains Pakistan forward Shakeel Abbasi. “There isn’t enough skilful attackers in their team.

“We drew with Ireland a few years ago in a World Cup qualifier, and they were very good that day, but they have a younger team now. They’re solid in defence and good on short corners, but they don’t play enough matches against better teams.”

Abbasi knows all about the benefits of regular, top-class international hockey. He has amassed 181 caps at the age of just 24, and is a firm believer that practice makes perfect.

“You have to play a lot of matches to give your players confidence. To do that, we have brought 12 or 13 younger players with us to Europe who have got game-time against Belgium, Germany and France, and the teams here.”

Such experience was certainly in evidence at Belfield in June. Pakistan never panicked when two goals down against Ireland and three in arrears to Great Britain, salvaging results from both games. By contrast, Ireland blew two-goal leads in both their matches, and men’s coach Dave Passmore can’t have been happy with the way his side unsettled by some roughhouse Canadian tactics.

“It was disappointing to concede two goals from almost identical situations, and as a young group we have to learn quickly from these situations to prevent us repeating our mistakes,” he said.

Passmore can rightly point to the fact that his side are in transition, following the retirements of four of their most experienced campaigners. But the exposure to top-level teams will have done their youngsters the world of good, particularly rookie strikers Mitch Darling and Alan Sothern, who both chalked up their first goals in a green shirt.

Abbasi’s point is echoed by South African women’s captain Marsha Marescia, who is one of the best midfielders in the game, as evidenced by the World Hockey All-Star award she claimed last year.

“You just have to look at the progress America have made in the past four years from competing against teams ranked above them,” she says. “They’ve come on leaps and bounds, so the Irish should look at that. Ireland have a good team, but not enough outstanding individuals.”

Marescia also points to a highly-competitive schools structure that has a conveyor belt of hungry young players ready to replace the older ones when the time comes for them to focus on their careers.

By contrast, most of Ireland’s players emerge from a relatively shallow pool of 10 or 12 top nurseries in each code. The signs are nonetheless encouraging, with Leinster producing a raft of talented boys, while both the eastern province and Ulster have a golden generation of girls bubbling under, as evidenced by 2007′s bronze medal at the U16 European Hockey Championships.

But for the moment, there are a few causes for concern. Ireland women’s coach Gene Muller this week stated his belief that his side can break into the world’s top ten. However, he must first unearth an out-and-out goalscorer, decrease the reliance on Nikki Symmons and Louisa Moore at short corner time and harness the dribbling talents of Jenny McDonough and Shirley McCay.

Increased pitch-time against quality opposition will help, but the flipside of the coin for both Ireland’s teams is the commitment required. The country’s elite players have all played on at least four continents as part of an 11-month season – a necessary evil as Ireland put more resources into getting to the Olympics than ever before.

All of Ireland’s players are amateur, and their professional and academic lives can suffer from being away for months at a time.

Counteracting this is the ASPIRE (Athletic Support Programme Ireland) venture, now in its second year, which helps ensure players aren’t out of pocket. Three elements comprising corporate sponsorship, employer support and philanthropy give the financial assistance to help players reach their potential, and the IHA are hoping the benefits will be reaped on the pitch in the coming years.

“Our teams were the best prepared they’ve ever been for the Olympic qualifiers, and the increased professionalism has sparked a belief in our players that they aren’t just there to make up the numbers,” says the IHA’s Katie Roche. “However, given the age profile of our squads, the 2012 Olympics represents a more realistic target.”

In the meantime, the precocious talents of the likes of Pembroke Wanderers’ Stuart Loughrey, Hermes starlet Chloe Watkins and Irish Examiner Junior Sports Star Award winner Amy Stewart are being groomed for greatness. If they can observe the technical lessons from this year’s Setanta Sports Trophy, Irish hockey has much to look forward to.

*An edited version of this article was first published in the Irish Examiner in June.

WHEN John Jermyn confirmed his return to Cork Church of Ireland after a season spent playing semi-professionally with HGC in Holland, Garryduff breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Nobody begrudged the former Ashton schoolboy the chance to compete in the top domestic league in the world – not to mention the inaugural EuroHockey League, which HGC reached the final of – but everyone connected with the club is surely glad to have him back.

Jermyn stepped back onto home turf at Garryduff for the first time in more than a year last month in the green of Ireland, as Dave Passmore’s side ended their season with a Celtic Cup win.

But this was no hometown ego parade for the 83-times capped drag-flick specialist, who believed he has a point to prove.

While his Irish team-mates at HGC, Iain Lewers and Eugene Magee, looked like players reborn in June’s Setanta Sports Trophy, Jermyn was uncharacteristically subdued. A peripheral figure on the wing, he appeared to have left his renowned penalty corner prowess behind in Holland.

John Jermyn in action for HGC against Terassa in the EHL.

“I wasn’t playing well leading up to that tournament, and Dave (Passmore) wasn’t happy with me so he put me on the bench a lot. It was a very unsatisfactory tournament for me personally,” he admits.

“I’ll be looking to redeem myself this weekend. This is the last international stuff for the season, so it would be nice to go out with a bang in front of the home crowd.”

Jermyn managed just that, and was a key figure as Ireland posted wins over Wales and France, while his trademark drag-flick returned with a vengeance when he plundered Ireland’s second in the 2-2 draw against the Scots.

Jermyn got his chance with HGC thanks to international team-mate Phelie Maguire, who pioneered the trend of Irish players playing semi-professionally in Holland in 2006/07.

On Maguire’s recommendation, Jermyn and Lewers met with HGC coach Paul van Ass, who subsequently watched them in friendlies against Germany and at last year’s European Championships, and decided he’d seen enough.

The timing was perfect for Jermyn, who had just finished his Blackhall exams and would not be starting work as a solicitor for another 12 months.

“I knew if I hadn’t gone away, I would have regretted it at the end of my hockey career,” he says. “A big point in going to that club was the coach. He wouldn’t be very tactically aware, but his man-management was excellent. If I needed to go home for some reason, he’d just say ‘Take all the time you need, just do a bit of training while you’re back in Ireland.’ He was fun to play for.”

Jermyn was also part of the team’s penalty corner unit, where he says he learned a lot from Dutch legend Bram Lomans, who has more than 200 international goals to his name, and he enjoyed being immersed in his chosen sport.

“They eat, breathe and sleep hockey over there, so everyone’s really enthusiastic and there’s a great atmosphere at the club,” he explains.

“But the Irish guys weren’t put under any pressure to get a part-time job, which made it boring some days – though that was probably our own fault. You’d be getting out of bed pretty late and all that…everything was focussed towards hockey. Still, I can’t complain, we couldn’t exactly moan to the lads back home who were starting work at half eight in the morning.”

A broken toe limited Jermyn‘s participation in the final weekend of the EHL, but he has fond memories of it nonetheless. He’d never seen the like of the swathes of colour in the stands, or the sheer volume of TV cameras as the hockey world zoned in on Rotterdam.

The home side, who boasted the likes of Pakistan goal machine Sohail Abbas in their ranks, had the Indian sign over Jermyn‘s HGC all season, but they turned the tables in the semi-final, running out 7-4 winners in an enthralling contest. However, a fluked extra-time goal saw them lose the final 1-0 to German outfit Uhlenhorst.

Now back on home soil, Jermyn hopes the Celtic Cup galvanised hockey in his hometown, despite the inclement weather that interrputed the majority of the games.

“It’s very important to have this tournament in Cork, to get people to see hockey and publicise the game down here. The internationals are always on up in UCD and people aren’t going to travel up from Cork every time for those. Hopefully this will lead to us having a few more tournaments in Garryduff.”