Andrew Meredith believes Ireland’s wild geese must come home if they are to challenge at world hockey’s top level – and has hinted at a return to regional training in Munster.
The recommendation came in the wake of Ireland’s seventh place finish in Rotterdam in the World League semi-final, an event in which the green machine finished a couple of slots outside of the probable World Cup qualification cut-off.
Limited job opportunities in Ireland and opportunities to play in Europe’s best leagues have seen many of the country’s best ply their trade with clubs abroad in recent years. Nonetheless, Meredith believes the creation of “an elite environment” in Ireland is required to thrive in the current economic climate.
“We know the economic conditions,” said the Australian. “For instance, the Spanish complain they have no money but still have three times the budget we do. We know what we have and the model has to change if the finance isn’t there.
“I really believe the way forward is regional development in Leinster and Ulster and then expanding to Munster eventually. Players being overseas based, I think we have to create an elite environment in Ireland and workshop that.
“We can’t possibly go away and play a lot of games or have these camps. We can work on a weekly basis with the talented coaching staff that we have. That’s the way forward and so we can then spend money on support services to try and get the most out of the athletes.”
Meredith himself is not based in Ireland – he lives in Hamburg, Germany with a young family and says he “doesn’t see the value” in moving here, adding he will be present when Ireland train as a group.
[pullquote]”I really believe the way forward is regional development in Leinster and Ulster and then expanding to Munster eventually.” [/pullquote]
That he plans to expand regional training to Munster will come as a relief to the province’s ambitious young players, who were left disappointed when Cork was dropped as a training centre in April.
Ireland’s bid for World Cup qualification via the World League route was hampered by a preparation programme truncated due to cost and the unavailability through work, illness and injury of six front-line players, most of whom are midfielders.
“We came with the goal of wanting to qualify for the World Cup and that wasn’t achieved. Clearly, we are disappointed that didn’t happen but considering the interruptions we had and player unavailability, it was good for us to expose some guys to this calibre of competition.
“This is not a Champions Challenge or the old qualifiers with Russia or Ukraine. These are all teams ranked above us bar one. It’s a learning curve where all mistakes get punished.”
Meredith also hinted that he believed the players needed to take a greater ownership of their training than under his predecessor Paul Revington.
“The important thing is the structure that goes beyond the old model. Under the old coach [Revington], he did everything and went to every training session. When he left, there was a massive vacuum because the infrastructure wasn’t there. What’s critical is creating that infrastructure so that people can come and go in coaching roles and I think that will create stability in the national programme.”
“We know the economic conditions,” said the Australian. “For instance, the Spanish complain they have no money but still have three times the budget we do. We know what we have and the model has to change if the finance isn’t there.
“I really believe the way forward is regional development in Leinster and Ulster and then expanding to Munster eventually. Players being overseas based, I think we have to create an elite environment in Ireland and workshop that.
“We can’t possibly go away and play a lot of games or have these camps. We can work on a weekly basis with the talented coaching staff that we have. That’s the way forward and so we can then spend money on support services to try and get the most out of the athletes.”
Meredith himself is not based in Ireland – he lives in Hamburg, Germany with a young family and says he “doesn’t see the value” in moving here, adding he will be present when Ireland train as a group.
[pullquote]”I really believe the way forward is regional development in Leinster and Ulster and then expanding to Munster eventually.” [/pullquote]
That he plans to expand regional training to Munster will come as a relief to the province’s ambitious young players, who were left disappointed when Cork was dropped as a training centre in April.
Ireland’s bid for World Cup qualification via the World League route was hampered by a preparation programme truncated due to cost and the unavailability through work, illness and injury of six front-line players, most of whom are midfielders.
“We came with the goal of wanting to qualify for the World Cup and that wasn’t achieved. Clearly, we are disappointed that didn’t happen but considering the interruptions we had and player unavailability, it was good for us to expose some guys to this calibre of competition.
“This is not a Champions Challenge or the old qualifiers with Russia or Ukraine. These are all teams ranked above us bar one. It’s a learning curve where all mistakes get punished.”
Meredith also hinted that he believed the players needed to take a greater ownership of their training than under his predecessor Paul Revington.
“The important thing is the structure that goes beyond the old model. Under the old coach [Revington], he did everything and went to every training session. When he left, there was a massive vacuum because the infrastructure wasn’t there. What’s critical is creating that infrastructure so that people can come and go in coaching roles and I think that will create stability in the national programme.”
Over here (in Scotland) the internationals are being encouraged to seek European hockey where they can for 2-3 years, to give them a taste of whats needed but they are also expected to return and share those skills for the ‘national health’. I think the real benefit would be to get them home all at the same time and bulk up the skill base of their clubs as a flood instead of a trickle.
While I agree with our ‘Wild Geese’ returning home which can only benefit our drop in European club hockey, I also think there also needs to be a longer term plan for the youth. I feel that a structure is needed that should encourage them to keep going and not burn these kids out with 4 day weeks of fitness and gym sessions at a time when they should be nuturing a love for the sport. We hear of quite a few kids shine at underage level but drift away with disinterest when even more is asked of them to reach the national side. How many students hit 18-19 and think ‘Oh yeah I’d love a 2 hour weights session while all my new college friends are in the pub’?
Early exposure to European level hockey would be integral in combating this. Teams travelling to friendly summer tours around the hockey hubs of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany would ensure they are used to the travel and thereby less liable to find themselves shellshocked by the excitement of being abroad.
This coach is definitely not the answer for Irish mens hockey.
This has been tried before…under Passmore and whilst progress was made the team never really made the step up until the players went abroad.
Having spoken to the players I know that they feel playing full time and not working 9-5 then training (as would happen if they were based in Ireland) was much more beneficial to their development. If you go back to 2009 when Revington started the team hardly flew through the European B Division – it was only after a year of playing abroad that tangible progress was obvious. Disappointing that Munster only seems an after thought when so many players over the years come from Munster – does Meredith realise that the Hartes, Gormley, Jermyn, Bruton etc all came through Munster. Come on Munster Branch – please represent us here to the IHA.
I suppose this also begs the question what has happened to Irish Hockey’s strategy – the women have dumped centralisation which whilst a popular move and one I would agree with could be an explanation for poor results in recent matches. What is the strategy now and next as the regional approach did not work for them either? What is the plan? Similarly this seems to be a change in focus for the men’s squad. Surely to be successful you need to decide what’s right as an organisation and then invest time in that pathway, not jump around which now seems to be happening. I wonder what the Olympic council and sports council will make of this. Seems like a clear plan is needed and communicated.