IHA warns of financial ‘crisis year’ amid overspend

Irish hockey chiefs claim former coach Paul Revington and his management team were responsible for a €37,000 overspend as the national body faces a potential financial “crisis year” in 2013. At a special general meeting of the Irish Hockey Association on Sunday, IHA financial officer Julie Beamish said the senior men’s spending in the build-up to March’s Olympic qualifiers “should have been micro-managed”. The meeting was called by 12 clubs in the wake of the IHA board’s decision to withdraw the senior men from the Champions Challenge I in Argentina.

Initially citing the lack of a coach or manager in place, it was subsequently revealed amid public outcry that lack of finance was the primary issue. The team was reinstated after a fundraising drive yielded €60,000 in four days, and went on to claim third place with a golden goal 4-3 victory over Malaysia on Sunday, out-doing their pre-tournament billing as relegation candidates. As Ireland came face to face with their former mentor Revington – now in charge of Malaysia having finished up with Ireland in June – in Quilmes, back in Dublin the board said he was responsible for an overspend totalling €37,546 up to August 2012. While Beamish categorically rejected the suggestion that Revington was being made a scapegoat for the overspend, chief executive Mike Heskin did add that if “you ask who spent the money, you drill down into the core management of the men’s programme. That’s where the decision was made.” Club delegates replied that the IHA should have noticed such problems long before October, when the attempt was made to withdraw the side from the Champions Challenge I. Asked what financial controls were in place and whether they were adequate, IHA board chairman Dennis Millar replied: “Clearly they weren’t… we had gotten ourselves into a big mess.” He added that the board had initially hoped fundraising efforts would meet the deficit, while expressing disappointment that the IHA’s megadraw was not as successful as hoped. “We recognise people care about Irish hockey but the board was very disappointed that our local lotto was discontinued and that the fundraising event this year failed to materialise,” said Millar. “There’s disappointment people did not row in to support to help get us through this crisis [specifically referring to the megadraw].” Beamish added: “ I don’t believe anything in this document says the Irish public are not behind Irish hockey; certainly the events of October would tell you that. But I do believe the Irish hockey public are against the IHA board.” Heskin warned that 2013 had potential to be a “crisis year” financially with high performance programmes set to be trimmed to suit. Each Irish team – U16, U18, U21 and senior – is already asked for €8,100 in player contributions towards the cost of their respective programmes. Of immediate concern is February’s World League round two; it will cost between €120,000 and €160,000 — depending on training camps — in total to prepare and field sides in the men’s and women’s competitions, with further costs coming should Ireland progress to round three.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the amount the IHA receives from Irish Sports Council grants will not be confirmed until March. Irish players moved quickly in the aftermath of the victory over Malaysia to remind the public via Twitter that their financial support hadn’t been forgotten. John Jackson tweeted: “Thanks everyone who threw €’s at us. YOU all turned what could have been a 3yr setback into a momentum kick for a big future #greenmachine”. Former IHA chief executive Paul Varian, now based in Canada, called on the Irish Sports Council to respond to the team’s achievements by backing them financially. He tweeted: “Congrats @irishhockey for amazing bronze medal! Amazing how far the program has come. Huge shout out to all involved. ISC, fund this team!” Heskin revealed that Joan Morgan will now oversee the IHA’s high performance finances on a full-time basis in a bid to ensure there is not a repeat of the overspend. A prepared IHA statement outlined the potential future consequences for all concerned. It read: “In the current financial climate, it is more than possible we will find ourselves in a similar position again. Clearly, we want to maintain and enhance our place on the world stage but this will mean carefully selecting competitions which are considered the highest priority.” For those interested in the specifics of what was discussed at Sunday’s meeting, The Hook has posted a detailed breakdown of the main points discussed here and the IHA’s prepared answers to questions sent in before the SGM here.