As the Olympics bound men's Irish hockey team prepare to take off to South Africa for the first stage of their preparation for Rio, coach Craig Fulton knows that the next eight months will be a much fuller test of Irish mettle in the face of fully professional teams.
The two Olympic Pools were drawn before Christmas and Ireland is the only non-professional side in Pool B among Holland, ranked two in the world, Germany ranked three in the world, Argentina (6), India (7) and Canada (14).
Ireland has already stepped up a level with an unprecedented bronze medal at last year’s European Championships just reward for a work ethic that will continue in South Africa.
Eight matches
The squad of 25 players will have eight matches over 11 days and will also train on the days they have scheduled matches, something the players normally would not do.
“We don’t get a big block of time together and January is that time so we have to make full use of it,” says Ireland’s South African coach Fulton.
“This is huge for us and we are taking quite a big staff. We’ve two physios and we’ll train twice a day and play in the evenings. We’ve 25 players. The main message is continual improvement. This is the time to do that.”
Ireland face problems of removing players from work, if they can. Some are with professional teams and can make the adjustment but if anything the number of players that are home based playing with Irish clubs and working has increased in recent years.
Government funding has not yet kicked in and there’s some frustration that detailed planning cannot happen until the figure is known. It is hoped that will happen soon.
Ireland have managed disparities of resources before and while qualifying for Rio is breaking through to another level, it is not the end point of where the team want to be. It is all laced with realism but Ireland are not giving up on a podium finish.
“You only go to the European Championships to finish on the podium. You only go to the Olympics to finish on the podium,” says Fulton. “I put no limits on the team. But we have got to be realistic. We are against professional teams, whose plans are two years in advance. But I am a great believer in if we get ourselves into good shape, we can have a go at anyone.”
That has been borne out over the last two years with results against Britain, Spain, Pakistan and Holland, sides Ireland traditionally did not beat.
“It takes a lot of belief and soul searching to know that you can play against these teams,” says Fulton. “Also our conditioning is critical. But mentally, yes, we have had a break though. That has definitely happened.
“I think now the big message to the squad is to focus on January not Rio, not the Olympics. We have a great opportunity in South Africa to get things right.”
