IHA move to clarify Revington departure

The Irish Hockey Association has moved to clarify the events that led to last week’s shock resignation of senior men’s coach Paul Revington. The South African — who oversaw a rise from 18th to 15th in the world rankings, a best-ever fifth place European championships finish and a near miss at Olympic qualification — stepped down after three and a half years. Many of the squad’s players took to Twitter to express their surprise and disappointment at the decision, while the IHA faced questions about whether they could have done more to keep Revington — who has not publicly outlined plans for his own future — at last weekend’s AGM.

The national body have subsequently explained their version of the sequence of events with regard to his resignation via a statement. IHA chairman John Dennis met Revington on April 11 to convey the desire to retain his services for the next Olympic cycle. Revington indicated he needed time to reflect and would respond to the offer following a holiday, while  IHA chief executive Angus Kirkland and Dennis added that they asked Revington “if there were any aspects that he wished for us to look at that would encourage him to stay, and that we would be keen to listen and would do whatever we could”. On May 16, however, Revington informed Kirkland, Dennis and the IHA board that “he had considered all the variables around the role and felt that the time was right for him to move on”. Kirkland asked “if there was anything that could be done to persuade him otherwise” but Revington indicated that there was not. The IHA also rejected the claim made in a national newspaper last week that Revington’s departure had cost them the support of a potential sponsor, stating: “The IHA have not been approached by any sponsors with regard sponsorship being contingent on retaining Paul’s services.”