Martin laments funding disparity

Olympic Council of Ireland chief executive Stephen Martin admits the funding disparity between Irish and English hockey is just one reason why the threat of Irish players defecting to Great Britain won’t go away anytime soon. Last week, Cookstown pair David Ames (23) and Ian Sloan (19) followed in the footsteps of Iain Lewers and Mark Gleghorne by quitting Irish hockey after winning 64 and 21 caps respectively. They will declare for England and GB in April 2015 once a three-year wilderness period from the international game has been served. Both players outlined the personal ambitions of playing and competing for medals at major tournaments such as the Olympics and World Cup that motivated their decision, although Sloan also offered a parting shot to Irish hockey when declaring that “the structures are not in place to deliver consistent success”.

Bangor native Martin won 135 caps for Ireland but also represented GB 94 times, claiming Olympic bronze and gold with them in the 1980s. That dual option was removed in 1991 when Ireland began attempting to qualify for the Olympics, which they have yet to manage despite a near miss in 2012. Lewers has been the most successful convert thus far, and was an ever-present in central defence as GB finished fourth in London last summer. “Ulster players do have an option for playing for Great Britain at Olympic games, but they have to take those three years out,” Martin told BBC Radio Ulster. “As Ian Sloan has said, he wants to be the best he can be, play with the best players in top tournaments and have a chance of winning medals – not just try to qualify for tournaments. “That’s disappointing from an Irish perspective; the best years of his and David Ames’ careers will, if they make that transition (get selected) be with England and GB.” The day after Ames and Sloan’s departures were confirmed, it was revealed that £27 million has been allocated to England Hockey over the next four years, £15.5m of which will support the England and GB teams. By contrast, the Irish Hockey Association received around €874,000 in 2012 to support grassroots hockey and all eight of its high performance teams, and future funding allocation is at the mercy of the Irish Sports Council and Sport NI’s annual budgets.

“Britain’s women won a bronze medal in London and the men finished fourth; they haven’t actually done that well to be honest with you, if you look at the resources they’ve put into hockey,” said Martin. “Ireland do need to look at ways they can generate resources for their teams. But look at the most recent competitions; Ireland having won bronze at the Champions Challenge I; which puts them around ninth in the world on that basis. They’re not that far off, because England were relegated from the Champions Trophy and will now play against Ireland in the Champions Challenge I over the next couple of years. “Money isn’t everything; certainly Irish hockey has done well with the limited resources they have, and could do a lot better and have more consistent success if they had more resources. But it’s hard to compete with £27 million over a four-year cycle.” The absence of a soccer-style rule where a senior international cap commits a player to a country forever has led to frustration within Irish hockey circles that players can develop and prove themselves within the Irish system before jumping ship. Martin confirmed a widely-held fear in Irish hockey that Irish players are actively targeted by GB. “If you look back over the years, the successful teams GB have produced, particularly in my day when we won medals, were when there were Ulster players in the team,” he said. “I know for a fact GB are keen to try and ensure that they strengthen their team and have some Ulster players in there.”