The Irish Times have reported that Paul Revington is to step down as the Irish men’s senior coach by the end of June, suggesting the IHA will announce the decision in the coming days.
The report comes during a period of down-time for the Irish men’s team prior to the Celtic Cup at the end of June before a hectic 2012/13 series of competitions.
Autumn sees the men take on the first round of the World League before Ireland set off, most likely, for Argentina in late November for the Champion’s Challenge I.
On the domestic front, despite reaching the Irish Hockey League finals, YMCA still face a tussle for a place in next year’s competition as they battle with Irish Senior Cup semi-finalists Instonians and UCC for the two wildcard places on offer.
Their respective participations have pushed out the season to this remote part of May, making the timing especially unfortunate for the students now in the midst of exam schedules.
Initial suggestions were that they may pull out but an agreement was reached to play back-to-back on Saturday in Belfield in an effort to limit the disruption to study plans.
They will hope Andy and Roger Gray can fire from corners for the Irish Hockey Trophy champions as they bid to boost Munster’s quota to three male entries for a first time. YM look the form team with Will Powderly back to play an influential role at centre-back with their quicker counter style a huge asset.
Inst, meanwhile, might be the main target for UCC but they have bags of top level experience with Paul Gleghorne adding a corner threat to his immaculate tackling.
Mark Irwin and Julian Lewis are combative influences while William Robinson and Chris Kirk add the dash down the right flank with John Watson probing down the left. Inst and YM are Banbridge-bound on Sunday for what could be a dead rubber should both sides beat UCC in the double-header.
On the women’s side, the competition has been reduced to three entries as no Munster side took up their invite to the wildcard event, again the lack of proximity to the regular season a major factor due to Hermes IHL semi-final berth delaying matters.
The IHA competitions committee will address this issue for next season but it narrows the odds for Galway in their efforts to give Connacht a first ever IHL place.
Hermes have the pedigree and, with their internationals available and a panel battling for a place in the European squad, are a side with plenty to prove this weekend.
Again, they will hope to have their place sewn up prior to a trio to Banbridge on Sunday to face Ards as Galway play twice in Belfield – Friday (8pm) against Ards on Saturday (2pm)
Electric Ireland Women’s IHL Wildcards
Friday, May 18: Hermes v Galway, 8pm, Belfield
Saturday, May 19: Galway v Ards, 2pm, Belfield
Sunday 20: Ards v Hermes 12.30pm, Havelock Park
Men’s IHL Wildcards
Saturday 19: Instonians v UCC, 12pm, Belfield; UCC v YMCA, 4pm, Belfield
Sunday 20: Instonians v YMCA 2.30pm, Havelock Park
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Pembroke | 18 | 43 |
| 2 | • | Monkstown | 18 | 38 |
| 3 | • | TRR | 18 | 35 |
| 4 | • | UCD | 18 | 34 |
| 5 | • | Corinthian | 18 | 29 |
| 6 | • | Railway Union | 18 | 28 |
| 7 | • | YMCA | 18 | 24 |
| 8 | • | Glenanne | 18 | 14 |
| 9 | • | Fingal | 18 | 13 |
| 10 | • | Avoca | 18 | 2 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | UCD | 18 | 43 |
| 2 | • | Loreto | 18 | 42 |
| 3 | • | Railway Union | 18 | 40 |
| 4 | • | Hermes | 18 | 36 |
| 5 | • | Old Alex | 18 | 34 |
| 6 | • | Pembroke | 18 | 16 |
| 7 | ↑ | Glenanne | 18 | 14 |
| 8 | ↓ | Corinthian | 18 | 11 |
| 9 | • | North Kildare | 18 | 11 |
| 10 | • | Trinity College | 18 | 7 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Rathgar | 15 | 37 |
| 2 | • | Clontarf | 15 | 24 |
| 3 | • | Suttonians | 15 | 22 |
| 4 | • | Dublin University | 15 | 19 |
| 5 | • | Kilkenny | 15 | 15 |
| 6 | • | Weston | 15 | 10 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Loreto II | 18 | 44 |
| 2 | • | Pembroke II | 18 | 41 |
| 3 | • | Genesis | 18 | 32 |
| 4 | • | Old Alex II | 18 | 30 |
| 5 | • | Three Rock | 18 | 27 |
| 6 | • | Hermes II | 18 | 25 |
| 7 | • | Railway Union II | 18 | 19 |
| 8 | • | Trinity II | 18 | 13 |
| 9 | • | Bray | 18 | 10 |
| 10 | • | Newbridge | 18 | 7 |
May 18, 2012 7:13 am
Cookstown Hockey Club says
Unbelievable news about Revs! All at Cookstown wish him well for the future. He has made a massive difference to Irish Hockey and we thank him for giving us great moments with the Green Machine!
May 18, 2012 8:34 am
KING says
I understand that there is little detail in the article to make wild accusations and point the finger but i think there is a lot more to be read between the lines. Firstly I want to thank Revington for all he has done in Irish hockey, he will be a huge loss but we wish him all the best in the future. I think the IHA are a huge part to blame in this decision. The structure of the system and unwillingness to compromise has caused such frustration which I think is the prime reason for this decision. It is clear for everyone to see that he has brought the mens squad on leaps and bounds! as it states that he has brought us from a second-tier side to a squad that can beat any team in the world on the day. With his track record the IHA should be doing everything in there power to keep him. Like everything at the moment money is a huge issue and failure to sign a sponsor has been made out to be the clinching factor. I dont want to tar everyone with the same brush but there is positions in the IHA that are questionable. Im not too sure what a High Performance Director actually does to be honest but i say they float around from club to club telling them there doing a great job and keep up the good work followed by a nice pay-cheque. If this position was vital then every sporting organization in the world would have one but they dont!!! The exact same issue arose in the premiership a few months ago about clubs having HPD’s, what they did and was it necessary, to conclude, it wasn’t!
Keep Revs as coach and make him HPD aswell to keep the old fogies happy that we have a high performance director but give him both pay slips and he will stay, making the rest of us happy and keep mens hockey striving in the wright direction!
May 18, 2012 12:38 pm
Player says
King – You could be spot on…
May 18, 2012 3:36 pm
????????????????????????????????? says
Irish hockey you have once again proved wot a complete joke you really are!!!!!
May 18, 2012 5:38 pm
Hookedman says
To be fair to the IHA for once, they made a great move getting Revs in the first place, he has done a terrific job and I don’t think anyone with any real knowledge of the sport would have seen one of the best coaches in the world remaining in Ireland – sorry to disappoint you but that’s a fact regardless of what sort of money you think the IHA have to offer. He’s been brilliant for us and the players were lucky to work with him, but we need to move on and hopefully the IHA will get their next appointment right again.
May 18, 2012 7:38 pm
The Future says
This is gross incompetence by the IHA those responsible should now resign they have done Irish hockey probably its greatest diservice.This was the first time we had world class coach recognised by his peers by being names FIH Coach of the Year.It was also the first time that the Irish coach regularly visited clubs to see players in action and to cast the net to insure that no talent was missed ,unlike his predecessors who were nowhere to be seen and made selection based closer to a form of nepotism.
His interaction with the players and the sharing of his experience with other coaches will hopefully benefit Irish hockey in the future.It is time to get rid of the people whose actions have caused Revington to resign ,the members of the HP group who have allowed this to happen must go.We must wish Revs all the best in the future and thank him for the very positive impact and contribution he made to Irish hockey ,he will be sorely missed.
May 19, 2012 12:28 am
Hockey Fan says
Revs has been the best thing to hit Irish Hockey and everyone who cares and delights in the game will agree.There is a lot of truth in what KING said, and every effort should have been made to keep him.What were the IHA thinking of? I hope the real reason for his resignation comes out.I think a radical overhaul of the structures in the IHA need to be addressed urgently,or we are in danger of slipping back to mediocrity again.Thank you Revs for setting the highest standards, and giving the Irish hockey community its greatest buzz.It was wonderful while it lasted.
May 19, 2012 10:56 am
Heartbreak Hotel says
Changing coach is not the way to react to the disappointment of missing out on the Olympics. What would make a change is a clearout of the old guard.
May 20, 2012 12:06 am
Tribesman says
Revs is named coach of the year, what did people think would happen he is now a free agent before the olymics,he can can pick any job and fee.give credit to IHA and the high performance people for what has been done in the last few months.
May 20, 2012 11:54 pm
JB says
I agree that Revs is a big loss but think people are getting carried away here blaming the IHA.Do we really think they wanted to loss him??? I think it is unfair to start blaming them and Tribesman makes a good point.The guy has no doubt scored a job elsewhere, paid far more money than Irish Hockey could ever afford and probably doesn’t have to work as hard or put up with all the miserable buggers here.Rumour has it that he’s an offer in the bag from a big dutch club where he’ll have many top players and massive resources. Do we really think this guy is going to give up a job without having another one in the bag?!
Let’s be honest one of the biggest reasons the progress that Revs made was because he made a bold decision to send most of the players to play abroad.That has of course helped the national team and they were execllent in Dublin but what about the clubs and eventually we’ll suffer in eurpoe. We don’t get to play against the best male players in ireland now.Muller was criticised for taking all the womens players to dublin but at least they were in Ireland.
Revington did a great job, he obviously has a better offer but who can blame him or irish hockey for that matter. this year seemed to be such a great year for hockey here and i am sure another good coach can come in and build on the good work done.