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News for 31 January 2018

All the news for Wednesday 31 January 2018


5 Nations Invitational Tournament (M) - Day 2
Malaga (ESP)


SCO v CAN     1 - 2
ESP v IRL     3 - 2

Rank Team GP W D L GF GA GD P
1 Ireland 2 1 0 1 6 4 2 3
2 Scotland 2 1 0 1 4 3 1 3
3 Spain 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 3
4 Canada 2 1 0 1 3 5 -2 3
5 United States 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0

FIH Match Centre



Canada claim win against Scotland in Malaga


Photo by Duncan Gray

Scotland men lost 2-1 to Canada at the 5-Nations in Malaga as preparations continue for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April. It was their second match of the tournament after a 3-1 win over USA yesterday.

After an even opening to the match the first chance went to Canada from a penalty corner. It prompted a good double save by Tommy Alexander, first low to his right, and then standing tall to the rebound.

The second quarter saw Scotland start well and come close to taking the lead. Gordon McIntyre ran through one-on-one but was denied by the keeper before winning a penalty corner.

Youngster Murray Collins was then denied from back-to-back penalty corners, both saved at the goalkeeper’s bottom left corner to keep the Blue Sticks at bay.

The opening goal was not a long wait, and it was Canada who took the lead when an attack down the left saw Matthew Sarmento slip the ball under the advancing goalkeeper and into the net.

A quick retaliation from the Scots nearly brought a goal. Kenny Bain almost equalised when he shot wide from a penalty corner as Scotland battled back.

It then went to 2-0 from a well-executed penalty corner, the ball was deflected by Brendan Bissett into the net to give Canada a wider lead.

Scotland pulled one back right before half time when Kenny Bain sailed a penalty corner into the top right corner to make it 2-1.

Scotland started the second half with menace. Lee Morton ran at speed into the Canadian D but shot straight at the leg guards of the goalkeeper.

Scotland began to turn the screw in their hunt for an equaliser but had a succession of penalty corners met by a stubborn Canadian defence.

They were then denied by a top drawer save from a penalty corner. Bain’s drag flick was denied by an exceptional diving save under the crossbar, at the top right corner, which kept the score at 2-1.

Scotland continued to press for an equaliser in the closing stages but Canada held out for a 2-1 win in Malaga.

Scotland next play Ireland in two days’ time.

Scotland men’s Head Coach Derek Forsyth said, “Today’s performance was a big improvement on yesterday and we’re pleased with the display. It was disappointing to not get anything from the match, but it’s the improvement that was important.

“We’ll be looking to improve further in the next match and work towards selection for the Commonwealth Games. Everybody is challenging well for positions.”

Scotland 1-2 Canada (K. Bain)

Scottish Hockey Union media release



Spain Edge Close Encounter With Green Machine



Encounters between these two sides are always tight and today was no difference. Sean Murray was causing the Spanish defence trouble from the opening minutes as he created a chance from nothing; darting out of his own half and swiftly into the Spanish circle only for his pull back pass to be intercepted at the final moment. Jamie Carr was called into action 2 minutes later as a Spanish drag flick look destined for the top corner before Carr got a strong stick to it to deflect it wide. The action continued at pace and this time the chance fell to Peter Caruth who smoothly spun his marker but didn’t fully connect with his close range shot and Quico Cortes booted the ball clear. The exchange of chances didn’t let up and Stuart Loughrey had to intercept and clear a shot in front of goal. A penalty corner each in the space of 90 seconds saw both Carr and Cortes make further saves to keep the game at 0-0 approaching half time. Arguably the chance of the half was manufactured by Chris Cargo who picked up the ball in his own half before calmly slipping the pass to O’Donoghue at the top of the Spanish circle, but the shot across goal missed the outstretched Murray at the back post by inches.

O’Donoghue was denied by both the crossbar and Cortes’ glove as he continued to chip away at the Spanish resolve. But it was Spain who eventually broke the deadlock in the 40th minute when Marc Miralles picked up Sergie Enrique’s pass on the far side of the circle to then fire into the far corner on his reverse. Cortes couldn’t keep out the Green Machine’s 5th penalty corner though as Matthew Nelson got a diving deflection on O’Donoghue’s drag to draw the game level. Spain regained the lead with a phenomenal goal as Carr booted the ball clear it lofted to the perfect height for Alvaro Iglesias to volley it into the net on the run in the 53rd minute. But captain Conor Harte was on hand to draw the game level once again less than a minute later with a powerful drag flick. The game looked set to be a draw, a result which would have been a fair account of a tight encounter, but the pendulum swung in Spain’s favour once again and Xavi Lleonart shuffled the ball over the line at the back post following a bobbly pass across the circle. Johnny Bell came on as kicking back as Ireland went searching for an equaliser, one that likely would have come, but the clock ran out and Spain took the spoils.

Ireland’s next match is on Thursday February 1st against Scotland at 4pm (Irish time). Live here!

Rewatch today's match below:
https://youtu.be/IYemKgutMJU

5 Nations, Spain

Ireland 2 (Nelson, Harte)
Spain 3 (Miralles, Iglesias, Lleonart)

Starting: J Carr, M Bell, C Cargo, M Nelson, J Dale, P Caruth, S O’Donoghue, S Murray, P Gleghorne, C Harte (Captain), L Cole

Subs: J Bell, N Glassey, J McKee, D Fitzgerald, D Walsh, J Duncan, S Loughrey

5 Nations Match Details in Spain:

January 29th at 2:30pm Ireland 4 vs 1 Canada in Carranque
January 30th at 5pm Ireland 2 vs 3 Spain in Carranque
February 1st at 5pm Ireland vs Scotland in CHP Benalmadena
February 3rd at 2pm Ireland vs USA in CHP Benalmadena
*All times listed are local

Irish Hockey Association media release



Final Match of Series Finishes on a High Note, USWNT Defeated On Late Goal



PALO ALTO, Calif. – Anyone's game for the taking, the final match between the U.S. Women’s National Team and No. 1 The Netherlands had fans sitting on the edge of their seats. Scoreless through the first half, the Oranje tallied one three minutes into the third quarter and it only took a minute later for USA to find the equalizer. The battle persisted until The Netherlands netted the game winner with five minutes remaining and take the series with a score of 2-1.

"We didn’t make key changes," said Janneke Schopman, USWNT Head Coach, when asked about what went into preparation for this final match. "We went further down the road on the journey and worked on our goals we set at the start of the series."

USA came out in this match with a different fire than the previous three. On attacking in the first 5 minutes, USA had some circle entries but were unable to produce any outcomes. The Netherlands was quick to respond using their one and two touch passing to eliminate downfield. In the 12th minute, the Oranje earned their first penalty corner but Jackie Briggs (Robesonia, Pa.) denied the drag flick attempt. A second penalty corner came at the end of the quarter, but the chance went over the end line.

In the second quarter, The Netherlands came off the line quick tallying a shot that forced Briggs to make a diving save. A few more close chances came for the Oranje with one redirect going just wide and a goalmouth scramble resulting in no outcome. USA didn’t let off the pressure as Jill Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.) earned their first penalty corner where Ashley Hoffman’s (Mohnton, Pa.) drag was deflected wide off a defender’s stick. The halftime score stood locked at zeroes.

The Oranje held possession in the opening minutes of the third and as they continued knocking, their forward exertion paid off when Marloes Keetels finished a swift passing pattern to grab a 1-0 lead. USA was quick to respond as they instantly took possession the other way and earned a penalty a minute later. Kathleen Sharkey (Moosic, Pa.) got the equalizer off a straight strike to make it 1-1. The Oranje continued to threaten and almost received a penalty stroke, but the play was reviewed and overturned.

As the final quarter commenced, both team's knew they had to make the most of their opportunities. In the 46th minute, USA’s Ali Froede (Burke, Va.) received a 5-minute yellow card giving The Netherlands a player advantage for a period of time. This was short lived as two minutes later, Kitty van Male also received a 5-minute yellow card for not being five yards from the play. This foul happened inside USA’s attacking quarter resulting upgrading to a penalty corner. Unsuccessful on the attempt, The Netherlands’ used their quickness to beat a few USA defenders and take possession down field. USA tried to dribble it out of the backfield and Lidewij Welten stripped the defender, took it into the circle and grabbed the game winning goal. USA didn’t let up and countered a minute later and earned back-to-back penalty corners. The first attempt struck an Oranje foot and the second drew excitement within the crowd as the shot was deflected off a defender’s stick and rung off the crossbar. The final score stood at USA 1, The Netherlands 2. 

"The Dutch set the standard in world hockey," commented Schopman. "It’s now up to us to work hard every day to get closer to their level by playing to our own DNA. I’m very happy how the series progressed for us and look forward to our next training block in Chula Vista."


Stefanie Fee & Janneke Schopman, USWNT Head Coach

Another highlight in today's competition was that USWNT defender Stefanie Fee (Virginia Beach, Va.) received her 100th international cap.

The U.S. Women’s National Team has a regeneration period before heading to Chula Vista, Calif. to continue their West Coast training block. The squad will take on Canada from February 21-25 in a closed test series.

USFHA media release



T&T lose hockey warm-up

Nigel Simon

T&T senior men’s indoor hockey team flicked off their final warm-up series ahead of their participation at the Fifth FIFTH Indoor Hockey World Cup carded for Berlin, Germany from February 7 to 11 with a 7-4 loss to Holland Premier Division club, HC Den Bosch, yesterday.

For the “Calypso Stickmen”, Australian-based forward Akim Toussaint of Paragon netted a pair of goals, while Shaquille Daniel and Marcus James, both of Defence Force got one each in the defeat after trailing 5-2 at the half-time.

Commenting briefly on the outcome T&T coach Raphael Govia said it was good effort from the team considering it was their first match on the tour, in very cold conditions and a long journey from T&T.

Today, the Solomon Eccles-captained team will come up against Den Bosch again from 1pm (TT time) with the hope of reversing yesterday results against the Dutch club which is preparing for a final on Saturday.

Following today’s match, Govia and his 13-man squad will complete its warm-up series against Venlo tomorrow before the final 12 players are selected to move on to Berlin.

T&T team qualified to the World Cup after Eccles led the team to the 2017 Pan American Indoor Cup Men’s Tournament title with a 7-0 win over Argentina at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in Georgetown, Guyana last October.

At the World Cup to be played at the Max-Schmeling-Halle, T&T will come up against Czech Republic in their first Pool B, match on February 7 from 12.45pm (Germany Time) and then Poland at 7.30pm to close out the first day.

On February 8, the “Calypso Stickmen” will come up against Australia and Kazakhstan before closing out the round-robin series versus host Germany.

The Trinidad Guardian



South African Hockey Teams Announced for Commonwealth Games



The South African Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams that will take part in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, were today announced by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

The South African Women, powered by Private Property, have stuck with consistency and stuck with largely a combination of the players that faired so well at the FIH World League Semi-Finals and the African Hockey Cup of Nations.

Stalwarts of those tournaments, goalkeepers Nicole la Fleur and Phumelela Mbande will continue their battle for the number one spot in a team led again by Nicolene Terblanche. 2016 SA Hockey Player of the year Celia Evans, Quanita Bobbs, Shelley Jones, Ilse Davids and Dirkie Chamberlain all feature in an extremely experienced line-up attempting to win South Africa’s first ever medal at a major hockey tournament.

Nicole Walraven, Lisa Deetlefs and Jade Mayne are all included in the team after sitting out the African Hockey Cup of Nations win, while the SA u21 and  Premier Hockey League Junior Player of the tournament Ongi Mali, makes her debut for the senior women's team.

Head coach of the South African Women's team, Sheldon Rostron shares:

"We are confident in the team that we have selected, with a well-balanced squad having both speed and the power to achieve at the Commonwealth Games. Our hope is that we achieve a top-four position to compete for a medal in the final playoffs. We have rewarded both senior players as well as the new squad members who have been performing well in 2017. The addition of youngster Ongi Mali, who has been the promising player in her age group, along with Kristen Paton, who did really well in the African Qualifier, points to this.

We believe that all positions are based on merit and with the design of the team in mind of the opposition we will be facing. We have been working hard on growth areas following some successes at the World League. The ladies are currently at camp focusing on growing their technical base as well as working on key conditioning components and team building, ensuring that the unit functions to full capacity.

We have invested a lot of resources ensuring that each athlete is well managed and ready for this eventful year. The Commonwealth Games is an important part of growing our success and the performance at this event is key to our performance objectives and goals we have set for 2018."

The South African Hockey Men, on a high from the incredible victory over Egypt in Egypt to win the African Hockey Cup of Nations, will once again look to Tim Drummond to lead the team as the skipper.

Three men that are headed to Berlin for the Indoor Hockey World Cup have been selected namely 2017 AFCON hero Jethro Eustice, Ryan Julius and Reza Rosenberg. There is also space for Ryan Crowe, a formidable player of the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup. He is joined by Tevin Kok, Siyavuya  Nolutshungu and Nqobile Ntuli from that team that secured South Africa’s highest ever finish at any World Cup.

Keenan Horne, who has impressed whenever he has put on the green and gold, Clinton Panther and Gowan Jones all earn themselves recalls and another opportunity to pull the Protea on to represent our country

Convenor of selectors Allistar Fredericks share his thoughts on the squad:

“We have opted for a very exciting young team that has enough experience to be very competitive at the Games. We also looked at individual performances at the FIH World League, Africa Cup and PHL to put this team together.

With the new cycle starting, there are a few regular guys, who over the years have been fantastic representatives for SA, but have been left out to give a few new boys a chance to experience and perform at this huge event. The door has however not been closed on them, with the 2018 World Cup in India still to come in the latter part of this year, so the door is open to all who have not made this team and performances at various organized events will be monitored closely. We wish our Commonwealth Games team all the best and know they will deliver performances and represent us with pride.”

South African Commonwealth Games Hockey Squad

South Africa Hockey Women

Phumelela Mbande - Goalkeeper
Nicole le Fleur - Goalkeeper
Erin Hunter
Nicole Walraven
Lisa Deetlefs
Celia Evans
Nicolene Terblanche - Co-captain
Shelley Jones
Quanita Bobbs
Kristen Paton
Ilse Davids
Stephanie Baxter
Ongiziwe Mali
Dirkie Chamberlain
Candice Manuel
Sulette Damons - Co-captain
Jade Mayne
Bernadette Coston
   
South Africa Hockey Men

Gowan Jones - Goalkeeper
Siyavuya Nolutshungu – Goalkeeper
Daniel Bell
Jethro Eustice
Gareth Heyns
Tyson Dlungwana
Austin Smith
Daniel Sibbald
Timothy Drummond - Captain
Reza Rosenberg
Ryan Julius
Owen Mvimbi
Clinton Panther
Nqobile Ntuli
Dayaan Cassiem
Keenan Horne
Tevin Kok
Ryan Crowe

The Commonwealth Games hockey tournament takes place at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre from the 5-14 April 2018

SA Hockey Association media release



Asian Champions Trophy hockey 2018: India, Pakistan to clash in Muscat tourney

Oman’s Muscat will be the venue for the Asian Champions Trophy 2018 in October. India and Pakistan will be in fray in the six-nation hockey tournament.



Harmanpreet Singh of India and Ali Shan of Pakistan battle for possession during the 5th-8th place match of the Hockey World League semifinal at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on June 24, 2017 in London. India and Pakistan will clash in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey 2018 to be played in Muscat, Oman between October 18 and 28.(Getty Images)

A mouth-watering clash between India and Pakistan is in the offing in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament to be held in Muscat in October 2018. Considering the huge number of Indians and Pakistanis working in Oman, the October 18-28 championship will be a real feast for hockey lovers.

The Asian Champions Trophy hockey championship was started in 2011. This is the first time Oman will be hosting the bi-ennial meet. The 2016 edition was played in Malaysia with India beating Pakistan 3-2 in the final.

Oman will play host to five top nations in Asia -- India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, and Japan. Oman qualify as hosts.

India (world no. 6) will be the top ranked team as per international hockey federation (FIH) rankings followed by Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan and Oman.

“With no bilateral series between India and Pakistan in recent years, Asian Champions Trophy hockey provides a perfect platform for one of the most-popular viewership events in the world. The India-Pakistan match viewership at the Asia Cup in Dhaka, last year had a much better viewership than any other FIH event and was even more than hockey matches at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games,” said Asian Hockey Federation CEO Tayyab Ikram.

“With a live telecast assured across 100 nations, the Asian Champions Trophy is the blue riband event of the AHF. We at the AHF are making attempts to bridge the gap between top-tier and second-tier teams and as part of this endeavour, we had the Asia Cup in Dhaka and now will have the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat,” said Ikram.

The Asian Champions Trophy hockey will help three World-Cup bound teams -- India, Pakistan and Malaysia -- prepare for the FIH World Cup in Odisha from November 28-December 16, 2018.

Hindustan Times



It’s mind over matter for hockey coach Marijne

Harpreet Kaur Lamba
 

Sjoerd Marijne

India hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne wants his players to eliminate the word “if” from their mindset.

Just four months into the job, the 43-year-old Dutchman — who replaced countryman Roelant Oltmans — has had a busy time guiding the team in three tournaments, with decent results. India won the Asia Cup last October, finished with a bronze at the World League Finals at home in December and rounded off the recent tour to New Zealand giving a close run to Olympic silver medallists Belgium.

But Marijne knows that it is not enough.

In an year, when India are lined up to face top nations at the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games and the World Cup at home, Marijne says his focus is on the most critical aspect of modern hockey — the mind.

“Let me explain,” says Marijne as he settles for a chat with this newspaper here on Tuesday. “See, we are looking at results all the time, we want to win, but at the same time I cannot forget about the process. I have been told (by Hockey India) to get results and I can only do it with a proper system in place.

“I have a large pool of players whose talent and skills have brought them into the national camp. But a lot more is required at this level. The most significant thing at this level is the mental aspect.

“You can have talent, skills and expertise but if you don’t have the mental ability to cope with pressure and take right decisions on the field, it can all come down to nothing. So that’s why I say if.

“For example, a drag-flicker takes a penalty corner and there are only 60 seconds to go for the hooter. He knows that if he scores through this opportunity, he can win India the match, but what shall he be thinking? Shall he think, ‘what if I miss it?’ or shall he ponder, ‘what if I score and become a hero?’

“The answer is neither of these. He should think about his job and skill execution and only that. There is no place for ‘if’.

“You cannot be thinking about the outcome at this time because it creates pressure and leads to mistakes. But then we are so hardwired to think about the outcome that we forget the task at hand, and for me, it is important to make the players understand that.”

Marijne says that his “player-driven approach” is a part of this process, where in he wants them to constantly think, analyse and decide.

So what about his own role as a coach and involvement?

“Do not think of all this in isolation,” says Marijne. “I am very much a part of it and it is a two-way process. I first make them think about what they want to do and how, and then I step in to help complete the picture. I am the one who gives shape to that picture and show the direction.”

He elaborates, “The moment you are on the field, you are your own boss.

“Many times in a match, the players have to make choices and decisions and they cannot turn to me each time and ask ‘now what do I do?’

“So, I want them to learn to decide and it has to begin from the training camp itself. If they cannot decide now, how will they make the right choices on the field? So, we involve them directly and get them to learn the intricacies of the process,” he said, adding that they have put in place a leaders’ group consisting of senior players, who help carry the message to the group.

For 2018, Marijne has marked the Asian Games in Jakarta and the World Cup at home as “key tournaments” saying they will look to make slow and steady progress with each event.
 
The Asian Age



Marijne happy with team's show in four-nation hockey

Manuja Veerappa

BENGALURU: Indian men's hockey team has begun the year on a promising note with a two-week tour of New Zealand for a four-nation invitational hockey tournament.

Back from the tour in which the Manpreet Singhled squad returned a mixed bag against Belgium -the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalists - chief coach Sjoerd Marijne believes the tournament was a huge learning curve for the team with the debut of four young players and the return of mainstay goalkeeper PR Sreejesh from an eight-month injury lay-off.

Speaking about the team's performance in the two-leg tournament in which New Zealand and Japan were the other two teams, Marijne told TOI on Tuesday, "We came back with a few takeaways. One of things we wanted to improve was consistency and we did that during the tour. Off the four matches against Belgium, we lost two matches closely and won and drew the other two."

The Dutchman also pointed towards the improvement in field goals and penalty corner conversions. "We have more field goals and PC conversions. Also, the position of players and the conversion rate inside the (striking) circle has improved."

The coach was also happy with the performance of the debutant s- goalkeeper Krishan Pathak, midfielders Simranjeet Singh and Vivek Prasad and striker Dilpreet Singh. "It was nice to see how fast they pick up the seniors' style. They have talent is known, from here on they need to show character and mental strength to become better," pointed out Marijne.

The Times of India



It’s a three-horse race for the MHL Premier Division title

By Aftar Singh


Tough battle: Tenaga’s Nik Muhd Aiman Nik Rozemi (right) says the team have to focus on penalty corners against KLHC.

KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu, KL Hockey Club (KLHC) and Tenaga Nasional are in the running for the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division title.

The East Coast team lead the six-team standings with 18 points while star-studded KLHC are a point adrift. Tenaga are third with 16 points.

All three teams have two matches left to play.

Terengganu take on TNB-Thunderbolt today before facing KLHC on Friday.

Defending league champions KLHC take on Tenaga today. Tenaga wrap up their fixtures against Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) on Friday.

Terengganu will start as favourites against Thunderbolt, who comprise players with an average age of only 19. They outplayed Thunderbolt 6-2 in the first-round match.

Terengganu coach Sarjit Singh said they needed to collect full points against Thunderbolt to stay on course for the league title.

“Thunderbolt are no pushovers as they have young players who give their best in every match. They run for every ball and are fast on the counter attacks.

“We need to take our chances well as we learned our lesson against Maybank last Sunday. We came back from a goal down to win 2-1,” said Sarjit.

KLHC can expect a torrid time with Tenaga, who beat them 4-2 in the first round.

Tenaga forward Nik Muhd Aiman Nik Rozemi said they still had a chance to win the title and it would all depend on the outcome against KLHC.

“We’ve beaten KLHC in the first round and we can do it again. But it’s not going to be easy this time as KLHC have improved a lot.

“We need to focus on our penalty corners as our conversion rate is rather poor.

“We also need to play well defensively as KLHC have skilful forwards. We also can’t afford to concede penalty corners,” said Muhd Aiman.

KLHC coach Lim Chiow Chuan said his team did very well to beat UniKL 3-1 last Sunday but expected another tough encounter.

“It’ll be another tough match against Tenaga,” he said.

“We just want to make sure that we recover well and maintain our good performance.”

The Star of Malaysia



Pakistan Hockey not getting due attention, says committee

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee that met on Tuesday called for uplifting the game of hockey in the country, saying that despite being the national game it wasn’t getting due attention of the policy makers.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter Provincial Coordi­nation met here at parliament house with MNA Abdul Qahar Khan Wadan in the chair to discuss the decline in the standard of hockey.

Committee member Sardar Mohammad Shafqat Hayat Khan said there was a pressing need to conduct talent hunts at district level.

“Like cricket, they should scour for talent at the district level,” he said.

The committee hailed the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for hosting the World XI and termed the development as positive sign for the game.

PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Senior acknowledged before the committee that hockey has been vanished from educational institutions.

“There is a need for setting up a hockey centre in Islamabad,” he said.

The Committee recommended that the sports federations should be made independent and their funds should be enhanced and the PHF should aim at getting private sponsors.

Earlier IPC minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada briefed the committee about the steps taken by the Ministry for flourishing the sports activities in the country.

He also agreed with the committee that incentives should be awarded to the hockey players.

Meanwhile, the committee also discussed the appoi­ntment procedure for new director general of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), as incumbent Dr. Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera is going to retire next month. The minister IPC said that in the current lot of officers of PSB, no one is eligible to be appointed as new DG. The committee also formed a sub-committee under the convenorship of MNA Sardar Mohammad Shafqat, which will give recommendations for criteria of appointing new DG.

Earlier, the committee also recommended that the government should initiate steps from promotion of sports in educational institutions as committee members said that private schools should not be awarded NOC without fulfilling the requirement of a reasonable play ground and sports facilities to the students.

Dawn



Elun Hack Picks U18 Boys Squad

Following a series of training sessions in December and January Irish U18 Coach Elun Hack has selected his squad as they continue to prepare for the U18 Europeans in Santander in July.

Commenting on the squad selection, Hack said “It has been incredibly difficult to make this selection, the players have all worked extremely hard and given a fantastic account of themselves. I believe that we have selected a talented and hard working group of players and look forward to seeing how they deal with and respond to the coming months, as we look to finalise the squad for Europeans in the summer. Congratulations to those selected.”

  Surname First Club School
1 Adams Luke Three Rock Rovers Wesley College
2 Barlow Mark Banbridge Banbridge Academy
3 Brophy Tony Church of Ireland Ashton
4 Chakraborty Shomik Railway Union St Killians
5 Dale Scott Banbridge Banbridge Academy
6 Duggan Mark Clontarf Mount Temple
7 Edgar Andrew Lisnagarvey Friends School, Lisburn
8 Empey Alistair Three Rock Rovers The High School
9 Gibson Fergus Annadale Sullivan Upper
10 Greaney** Josh Corinthian Wesley College
11 Haycock Jack Cookstown Cookstown
12 Hunter Patrick Lisnagarvey Wallace HS
13 Johnson Ben Kilkenny Newtown, Waterford
14 Kidd Oliver Lisnagarvey Friends School, Lisburn
15 Lawless David Clontarf Mount Temple
16 Lynch Johnny Lisnagarvey Wallace HS
17 Lynch Harry Three Rock Rovers The High School
18 McCarthy Harry Waterford Newtown, Waterford
19 McCollum Robert Three Rock Rovers Wesley College
20 Milliken Matthew Lisnagarvey Friends School, Lisburn
21 Morris Harry Lisnagarvey Sullivan Upper
22 Murphy Cian Pembroke Wanderers St Andrews College
23 Raben Jake Hurley HC International School of Amsterdam
24 Ramsey Ewan Avoca Newpark
25 Robson Tom Annadale Sullivan Upper
26 Romoli Matteo Monkstown St Andrews College

** Josh Greaney invited to attend as could not attend the final two training sessions due to injury.

Irish Hockey Association media release



Michael Crooks Leaves Hockey Australia

Alexie Beovich

Hockey Australia’s (HA) National Talent Pathway Manager Michael Crooks has resigned after four years in the organisation.

During his time in the organisation, he has played a key role in aligning HA’s talent pathway programs to the high-performance programs, and he has been the driving force behind the implementation of the High Performance Plan and National Training Centre programs through the organisation’s partners.

“Michael has been a fantastic colleague and a great contributor to our sport,” HA High Performance Director Toni Cumpston said.

“Whilst I am saddened to lose such an asset from our programs, I wish Michael all the best for the future.

“He has been offered a new challenge as a General Manager of Development and Governance at Baseball Australia. As a former baseball athlete, the fit and the opportunity for Michael is exciting.”

Michael leaves HA in the middle of February but will be following the sport closely from the side line.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working at Hockey Australia,” Crooks said.

“The tireless dedication displayed by our athletes and coaches across the country has us in a very strong position for success in Tokyo and beyond with the excellent young talent coming through our network programs.

“Our High Performance programs are heading in the right direction under Toni’s leadership and I’ll be passionately watching our performances from afar grateful for the opportunity to contribute towards the success of our national teams in this great sport.”

The role as HA’s National Talent Pathway Manager will be advertised shortly.

Hockey Australia media release

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