Muller confident elite plan will yield Olympic place

Irish women’s coach Gene Muller yesterday reaffirmed his unwavering belief that a “progressive and bold” centralised preparation programme (CPP) will yield dividends in the form of Olympic qualification in 2012. The 24 players involved in the scheme, which will see Dublin become the sole base for an intensive, 10-month training regime, were namedyesterday at the launch of the programme. Muller wants his elite players at his disposal in the run-up to the 2011 European Championships, knowing that a top-four place would secure automatic Olympic qualification. The South African has had to bat off criticism from a number of club coaches, who believe the cost will be prohibitive in such austere times, and forecast ruinous consequences for club hockey.

But addressing such concerns, Muller, speaking exclusively to the Southern Fried, insisted that ongoing failure to secure a seat at international hockey’s top table would have bigger implications for the sport here. “My true belief is that if the national team does not begin to do better, we’ll be facing a much bigger problem for hockey in Ireland in the future, than the loss of players to a national programme,” he said. “Given the current funding structures, with so much emphasis on performance, Ireland must address the way in which national teams prepare and perform. “International hockey is becoming so much more competitive, and I think Ireland needs a systemic change. We’d done things a certain way for such a long time, but it just wasn’t enough, because we were having difficulty closing the gap (to the top nations) — and the gap was getting bigger. “We’ve gone down a route that 10 other countries have gone down in the last few years, and I think that’s inevitable, given the way the international game is going.” While Muller said he sympathised with clubs losing players to the programme, he argued that of the five moving to Dublin, the majority were in “transitional periods” of their lives, having finished college. “I can’t just say that it’ll have no impact whatsoever – the reality for a province like Munster is that three players are moving,” he explained. “But it would hardly be a positive indictment of a league to say that three players leaving will destroy it. We’re talking about a small amount of players. You can of course push the angle that this is bad for a league, but if you’re resourceful or creative, you could see that as a possibility to develop more or new players. “Historically, players leave leagues all the time; I fail to see that two players from Ulster and three from Munster would have an adverse effect on the league. “With the regional (Irish training) system, and the fact we were preparing for national events on a piecemeal basis, player availability for clubs was lower than it will be now in a fully centralised system. The number of matches will increase, taken against the last two or three seasons. “Obviously, the issue for the clubs then is who the player chooses to play those matches for. “When we discussed this with the team, we said ‘if your circumstances permit you to do it, then it could be an advantage to do so. But we’re an amateur sport, and there are things that are more important to players, such as the ability to have a job, or be near family and friends.

“From talking to those players who can (centralise), they see this as an opportunity, not a sacrifice. But I can understand how some players could see it as a loss, and those players have decided not to move.” His view is backed up by one of the five players to move to Dublin, Cork native Audrey O’Flynn, who is ending a successful soujourn at UCC to begin a new stage of her career with Leinster kingpins Hermes. “Some critics are saying the CPP will be detrimental to the Munster league, because it is going to lose players to the programme,” O’Flynn told Southern Fried. “But of the three Munster-based players leaving the league, myself and Julia (O’Halloran) were finishing university, so may have been leaving Cork anyway, while Sinead (McCarthy) has only been playing in Munster for a year. “It would’t say much for the quality of the league if three players leaving would have such a big impact on it.” Muller admitted he found it perplexing that the CPP plan has drawn criticism for the effect it may have on club hockey, while more than a dozen of the men’s national side have decamped to foreign pastures – leaving Paul Revington with a logistical headache, as he told The Hook this week –  with little negative reaction. “If you’re a men’s hockey player, and you’re good enough, you can make quite a good living overseas, and it’s a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “But I find it perplexing that there’s criticism of an idea – which I think is quite progressive and bold – to improve a national programme. It’s one not just driven by me, it’s driven by the IHA and driven and fed within the team. “You’ve a group of players who have agreed to it, and are no longer happy with the lowest-common-denominator kind of thinking, who want to excel. “So I do find it perplexing that one stream is really criticised, and the other stream is not.” Regarding the cost of the CPP venture, Muller said the Irish Hockey Association will be able to run the CPP programme within their budget, adding that the scheme would not be a runner without the sponsorship of ESB. He stressed that “nominal” contributions will only be made to the five athletes moving to Dublin – “they certainly won’t be making money from this,” he added –  a move that has buy-in from thesquad. Ceasing training operations in Cork and Belfast, eliminating the cost of assembling players for training or matches and participating in less games at home and abroad will further offset expenses, Muller added. Critics of Muller’s reign have pointed to a lack of progression in recent years as reason not to back the CPP plan under his stewardship.

Muller’s best result in tournament play thus far has been matching Ireland’s best-ever finish of fifth in the 2009 European championships, while picking up two bronze medals — but failing to earn a shot at qualification — for both the Olympics and the World Cup. However, he argues that that would remain Ireland’s lot, unless changes such as the CPP are made. “The Europeans are by far the most critical event Ireland plays in; we have survived, when many teams have faltered and been relegated,” he explained. “In some ways, we still punch above our weight. “You’re always going to have critics or detractors, but there’s a pig-headedness in me, which thinks we will overcome that. The people who are criticising are just not optimistic enough to create conditions for success. “We have played nine or 10 matches this year against teams who are in the top 10 in the world; so we’re not hiding our players, we’re educating them and exposing them. You’re bound to lose many of these games, but it’s where you end up is critical. “We live with out results, we keep plugging away, and the accumulation of that, I believe, is an Irish team that will qualify for major tournaments in the future.”