OCI grant to assist Beijing mission

HOCKEY:Irish hockey is to benefit from a once-off grant of $85,000 (€65,349) from the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), aimed at helping qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The Irish men's hockey team is currently in South Africa at a training camp, while the women's team is heading there on Friday.

The grant aid comes from the Olympic Solidarity arm of the International Olympic Committee, which shares out some of the money from the television rights of the Games in order to provide financial assistance at national levels for the development of sport.

"While the Irish Sports Council is responsible for the funding of our High Performance programme, this grant award, negotiated through the good offices of Pat Hickey at IOC level, will provide vital additional support to our men's and women's squads in pursuit of their Olympic goals.

"It will greatly enhance our preparations for the forthcoming European Championships and the 2008 Olympic qualifying tournament," said IHA chief executive Paul Varian.

This year will be an important year in gauging whether Irish hockey can step up to the challenge of qualifying for the Beijing Games. Both the men's and women's teams take part in the European Championships in August.

"We all want an Irish hockey team there, hopefully two, and the OCI are delighted to be able to help the cause through this important grant. This is part of our ongoing work with the national federations and government agencies to ensure we have the best possible support in place for athletes and teams to qualify and perform well at the Olympics," said OCI ceo Stephen Martin.