David Balbirnie, steeped in Irish hockey all his life and a former general secretary of the European Hockey Federation, took to Twitter to express his exasperation. “For Irish Hockey to lose one national team coach before a major tournament was unfortunate, but to lose a second national team coach before another major tournament does not leave one with confidence in the administration of hockey in Ireland.”That, said Pels, was unfair. Shaw was under contract through to the 2020 Olympic Games, Pels confirmed, but he dismissed Balbirnie’s suggestion that Hockey Ireland should, therefore, be compensated by their New Zealand counterparts. — R. David Balbirnie (@RDavidBalbirnie) March 6, 2019 NEWS: @SharpieG is moving on from Hockey Ireland to take up a new role as head coach of the senior women with @BlackSticks. Back home, there’s some turbulence to be overcome too for Irish hockey, last summer’s World Cup adventure now seeming like a distant enough memory.

Source: The Irish Times March 06, 2019 18:56 UTC