A lot done, more to do

Southern Fried isn’t sure whether Phil Oakley has recurring nightmares involving hockey sticks, but we wouldn’t be surprised, given the 29-year-old Clare native pretty much eats the sport for breakfast, lunch, dinner and probably a midnight snack as well. Oakley is the Irish Hockey Association’s western regional development officer, which brings both Munster and Connacht into his remit, a full-time, multi-faceted position that sees him working with the branches to organise underage blitzes one minute, and helping to establish a club in the wilds of County Mayo the next, while training youth leaders in between. As if that wasn’t enough, Oakley also lines out for Belvedere and coaches the women of Cork Church of Ireland, but he couldn’t be happier; this hockey junkie only picked up a stick for the first time at 18 years of age at UCC, and hasn’t looked back. He’s also well-placed to take the pulse of the future of Munster hockey, a particularly hot topic this year given the merry-go-round at the start of the season on the men’s side of things.

His Belvedere side took the unprecedented step of demoting themselves from the men’s Division One, citing the need to build from the bottom again to secure the club’s future. Bandon B subsequently followed suit, and Catholic Institute briefly flirted with the idea of joining them in Division Two. Thankfully, the Rosbrien outfit decided to stay put, but the overall message was clear – something has to be done to increase player numbers. “We’re in a good position on the girls side of the sport, the U10 and U12 blitz in Quins in November had more than 600 attending, which is absolutely huge,” offers Oakley. “But on the boys side, the numbers are declining across the board, so we need to address that. In comparison to girls hockey, you might have had 170 boys at the biggest blitz last year. That’s probably the biggest challenge, to get boys and mens hockey back on its feet.” The push is on at secondary level, and a number of clubs, such as C of I, Catholic Institute, Limerick and Ashton, have increased their numbers partially off their own back and also with Oakley’s help. But as Oakley points out, having just five schools playing boys hockey in a province the size of Munster “isn’t good enough”. He knows a short-term fix isn’t the answer here, which is why the majority of his efforts is aimed at primary school level. Here the emphasis is on forging links between clubs and primary schools. “Kids at 13 or 14 are more likely to streamline into one sport, whereas 11 or 12-year-olds are still trying everything,” he says. “Trying to set up those links is very difficult. Ashton School have had good links with C of I for a long time, which has been strengthened by someone like Dave Hobbs going back teaching and coaching. Quins had that for a while too. So maybe getting ex-pupils back into the schools might be one option. “Or, they could set up new club-school links – if there’s a school in their area that they would like to target, we can help them out with things like equipment and help them source a coach. It’s a case of them either setting up a link with a school that is playing hockey, such as one from our Tricks 4 Sticks programme, or if it’s a new school we can help them develop a link. “But the school must be open to bringing hockey in, it’s very difficult to set up the sport in a school that have no interest in hockey. Its not simply a case of pointing out a school and we arrive at the door with a bunch of sticks.” Oakley has attempted to facilitate the process via the aforementioned Tricks 4 Sticks programme, a further development of an initiative suggested by the Munster branch which was successfully piloted in Cork last year, and will be rolled out nationwide. He wrote to schools across Cork city and county in targeted areas where there are clubs that can facilitate new members inviting them to participate.

This year, 26 schools took part, with Quins forward Dave Egner making his way around to each school, taking specially-designed sessions aimed at capturing the interest of kids who were complete beginners. Each participant was given a letter for their parents detailing the club(s) in their area, training times and contact details. On the back of this venture, Bandon invited participating schools to the club for an open day last year, and increased their underage section by 10% as a result. A finals open day of sorts, coached by Irish internationals and other high-profile players, held near the end of the school year, copper-fastened the process. Long-term, the idea is to set up primary schools leagues, which has already been done in Limerick, with eight schools now partaking in regular blitzes. The programme is also running in parts of Leinster and as far afield as Clones. Oakley admits that not all clubs grasped the nettle, but is happy that the programme can now expand and improve. “Some clubs didn’t take the opportunity and that’s what we need to change this year – it was a learning process for us as it was the first year,” he says. “This year we wanted to grow the programme by another 10 schools, which will mean there will be 30 participating in Munster. This wouldn’t be possible without the Irish Sports Council, who have given us extra funding as they really believe in the programme. “We’re giving information to the clubs so it’s up to them to grasp that opportunity, and while some clubs have been great, we need more to follow suit and be proactive. They need to understand that we are here to support but we can’t do all the work for them – they need to take the first step. “To be fair, a lot of the clubs have been very supportive of the programme this year, and the key for us is that they can account for any successes that the programme has in their club. We need to measure the numbers Tricks 4 Sticks are generating, so that we know if the investment has been worth it.” Of particular interest to Oakley, and Munster hockey in general, is the development of the game in Limerick, to maintain two natural centres for the sport to bloom. Being a university team, UL naturally don’t have an underage section, but Oakley is happy to report that both the Catholic Institute and Limerick clubs are at full capacity in terms of underage girls, and their underage boys sections are going from strength to strength. Therefore, he has taken steps to form a third junior girls club working out of Crescent College, but finding coaches is proving to be the biggest stumbling block. The IHA are hopeful that the new club will begin to find its feet in 2009 and will officially be set up for the 2009/10 season. This isn’t a unique problem in the Treaty City – Oakley explains that Institute have their own pitch but a dearth of coaches, while Limerick have plenty of volunteers but not enough pitch time. He also cites the latter – named Emerging Club of the Year at the most recent ESB Irish Hockey awards – as the blueprint for other clubs looking to strengthen their youth section.

“At Limerick, when you come along with your child, the coaches are waiting for you, and say ‘We’ll take your son or daughter provided you give up a Saturday to come and help’, so they guarantee volunteers,” he explains. “After that, you’re taken to see a presentation of what is expected of both parents and kids, so no-one’s under any illusions. Then you’re taken into another room where Gilmour Sports sort you out with all the gear and safety equipment. “They already have a waiting list of kids aged five who won’t start for three years – that’s how forward-thinking they are. They’ve got 450 kids in their system, and you could only think of the potential they could have if they had their own pitch.” Predictably, both Institute and Limerick still have spaces for boys, and the focus is on developing the game in mixed and all-boys schools as a result – for example, Institute’s Ireland A international Kym Daly is coaching in the Model School, a mixed school where some of the boys now attend Catholic Institute. As you’d expect, the processes aren’t confined to the cities, though Oakley cites the development of rural clubs as “one of our main failings so far” and is hoping to beef up the work done outside Cork and Limerick. Attempts are being made to link a burgeoning junior section in Kilmallock with the fledgling senior club in Bruff, while Oakley says Tipperary, Clonmel and Moyne Thurles are clubs that the IHA would like to see junior sections being formed in, as there is currently no underage hockey in the county aside from in schools. In the Déise county, where the distance required to travel to any away game can be a major deterrent to players, he is trying to foster links between the Waterford club and WIT, with a strengthening underage section now doing well in Dungarvan. To this end, Oakley has been encouraging Newtown School to work with both the area’s senior clubs to help develop their underage sections. Oakley is also forthright with his opinions on steps to develop hockey at veteran and committee level. He is attempting to formalise a six-a-side women’s veteran structure on the basis that “if you get those club members back playing, the are more likely to help out” on the volunteerism side of things as well as offering opportunities in hockey to those no longer playing it. He acknowledges that those on the Munster branch don’t have it easy, copping flak from all sides yet soldiering on because no-one else seems to want the responsibility. “Since I picked up a stick the make-up of the branch hasn’t changed that much in terms of the volunteer base, with few new volunteers taking on roles. This leads to volunteers becoming frustrated and burnt out, but the problem is that there aren’t enough people willing to come forward,” he offers. “It’s up to the branch to find ways of changing that, and we are trying to bring in people to do smaller projects, where the branch can also lend its expertise and ideas. In some ways it’s disappointing to see the same people there year in, year out, but at the same time I have to admire their commitment – without them the whole thing will fall apart. “The branch now need to find ways to increase the number of volunteers and replace themselves. At AGMs people just won’t put their hands up to take up a role. People aren’t as generous with their time as they used to be, that has changed a lot in ten years. “People become frustrated with it, which is understandable as everyone can’t be happy. And part of it as a sign of the times. But the sport’s going to die unless we find a way to bring people back in.” To help remedy this, the IHA runs a youth leadership programme for 15-21-year-olds – Oakley says 50 have been trained in Munster alone in 2008 – who go back to their clubs and umpire, coach, manage teams and help out in general.

He also singles out Mary Walsh – the IHA’s Volunteer of the Year – and her youth committee for the work they have done in implementing the transition to the new underage structures piloted by Mick McKinnon: “Without her, my job would be very difficult.” While Oakley, as you’d expect, paints a bright picture for the future development of Munster hockey, he acknowledges there is a major cloud on the horizon. The government’s decision to curtail funding for substitute teachers is expected to have serious knock-on effects for sport in schools, and is hardly conducive to schools welcoming a new sport with open arms when they can barely keep their existing ones running. “The big issue here is for schools whose teachers undertake their training sessions and go to matches. A lot of schools employ external coaches so that teachers aren’t required to leave class, but it’s expensive and not all schools can afford it,” says Oakley. “It’s a real shame, especially for smaller schools or schools where hockey is played and it may not be their main sport – I would be concerned that in schools like this, fringe sports may be removed with the focus and funding going on the main sports. Of course, this affects all sports and not just hockey, so I’m sure we’re not the only ones worried about this. “Hopefully it won’t have any effect on our primary school work, but I can see some major consequences on getting the sport into new schools for the reasons I pointed out above, unless we can find external coaches from local clubs and build links there. “Alternatively, we need to ensure that anyone who wants to play hockey can be given that opportunity, and if that has to be in a club instead of a school because of lack of funding, then that’s what needs to happen.” Despite these obstacles, Oakley is satisfied with his overall raison d’etre and has a clear message to anyone worried about the future of Munster hockey. “People need to realise we’ve only had a regional development officer for 18 months, it’s going to take a hell of a lot of time for us to turn things around, even on the girls side there are clubs who could be much stronger,” he offers. “People need to be patient first of all, we’ve had some reasonable success in the first year. I did a presentation on my first yea for the branch AGM and once I completed it I was surprised by the amount we’d actually achieved. “It’s great to hear people’s opinions and I don’t mind criticism where it’s deserved. We need people coming forward with ideas, because we don’t have all the answers, and we don’t claim to. But on the other hand, people will often ignore the successes and focus on the negative things, which can be quite frustrating. “When you put yourself in a public position, people think you’re there to be kicked about, and when you do something good, you often don’t get the recognition you deserve. I’m not saying we’ve done anything fantastic, but we’re trying our best and we have seen progress, as long as we’re seeing that I’ll be happy.”