Thankful for Turkey? Your average American at Thanksgiving might be, but Three Rock Rovers certainly aren’t.
The decision to hold the EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge II in Malatya, south east Turkey — over 3,700km from Dublin — has caused logistical problems for Ireland’s national indoor champions.
The club, who have players involved with Ireland’s Olympic qualification build-up and are coming to the business end of the domestic outdoor season, initially pulled out of the competition due to the obvious logistical and cost issues.
But some innovative fundraising by the Rathfarnham outfit’s members has seen them raise the best part of 6,000 in recent weeks to take part, as they seek to return Ireland back up to the third tier of European indoor club hockey following Pembroke Wanderers’ relegation in 2011.
They will be under-strength as they tackle the national champions of Georgia, Norway, Finland, Bulgaria and the Turkish hosts, Anadolu Atesi, in more ways than one.
Irish internationals Phelie Maguire, Peter Blakeney miss out while Michael Maguire has returned to Royal Uccle in Belgium after their winter break.
In-form goalkeeper Stephen West has been released to play by the Irish management, but his gear – as well as all the team’s sticks – have been lost in transit, pushing their first game back as a solution is found.
South African Jody Hosking will be a key midfield pivot with Colin Huet when things do get going, while Stephen Bredin guests for the side, travelling from his new base in Qatar.
Indoor Hockey is ideal for countries with harsh winters, who have the indoor facilities to cater for the superb sport of hockey, when their climate prevents the “real sport of Field Hockey” to be played outdoors.
It is a joke for a minority developing sport in Ireland to subscribe to, and to and encourage the indoor game, when we cannot even fully support our young outdoor athletes in their efforts to qualify for the Olympics. It is time to get the priorities right.
As regards different rules for different competitions within the outdoor game, now that is the real joke…
Expecting senior umpires and players to remember what exact competition they are playing in, as in the “heat of battle” a ball is played over the shoulder, is a travesty of fair play.
To expect athletes and officials to remember what exact competition the fixture is, in any sport, is an absolute joke. The rules of the sport are clearly stated http://www.worldhockey.org, and any alternative interpretations dictated by European competition should be either ignored, or implemented fully in the sport.
Different rules for different competitions are not acceptable.