Ms Lisa Jacob:

As a member of the Hockey Ireland board, I would like to take a little time to give the committee an insight into the current position in which the sport of hockey finds itself, the key challenges it faces and the broad strategic direction the board is proposing to take over the next three to five years. I propose to speak to three key areas that together take up a significant part of the board’s time and resources. These areas broadly map to many of the key areas set out in the recent National Sports Policy 2018-2027. The three areas I will focus on are governance; structures; and strategy, with particular reference to participation and development.

It is important to record that Hockey Ireland’s approach to governance is led and informed by the principles of good governance as outlined in the governance code for the community, voluntary and charity, CVC, sector. The board has a governance subcommittee which, on a "comply or explain" basis, monitors, reviews and updates or develops policies and other by-laws on an ongoing basis to meet the ever changing needs of the sport and its membership. In fact, over the past 18 months the subcommittee has successfully completed a comprehensive update of the organisation's by-laws and policy documentation. Governance is a regular item on board meeting agendas triggered by update reports from the subcommittee. Our approach to governance also includes a new method for sourcing and recruiting members to the board. We aspire to gender equality and look to provide a positive role model to our provinces and clubs in this regard. This is evidenced by the fact that our 12-person board had until very recently a 50:50 gender split. We believe we were one of the few sporting boards to achieve this level of equality. However, due to the recent loss of one of our female board members, we currently have a 7:5 male to female split. This still falls above the minimum best practice target of 40% which is set, for example, for State boards. The presidency of Hockey Ireland, which rotates between the four provinces, also looks to ensure, where possible, that there is a gender rotation through each new presidential term.

On structures, Hockey Ireland has recently rolled out and implemented the first comprehensive database of its membership. The introduction of this type of information system was a strategic priority in our last strategy and when fully operational will provide invaluable feedback that can be used for the benefit of the entire membership. While there are a few outstanding gaps - namely umpires, schools, third level, and masters players to be added - the next big cohort of the hockey family to be accommodated is our volunteers, the lifeblood of the organisation on a day-to-day basis. Members of Hockey Ireland are currently catered for through membership of their respective clubs which, in turn, are affiliated to their respective province. The new database will help to link these members more closely to the national body and at the same time will provide the clubs and provinces with easy access to additional information such as lists of members with skill-sets such as coaching qualifications, umpire accreditation and administrative experience.

On strategy, Hockey Ireland caters for the hockey community on an all-island basis. This bring significant advantages but also adds a degree of complexity to the administrative process required to manage the sport across two different jurisdictions. As with any sport there are areas of greater club and player density. These are driven partly by an urban-rural divide but are also an artefact of the manner in which the sport was first introduced into the country over a hundred years ago. From a board perspective this presents a significant opportunity as there are communities within both the urban and rural areas that are keenly interested in developing sport and in particular the sport of hockey. The recent successes of the national senior men’s and women’s teams has served to create a positive impression of a sport that can be played throughout one’s lifetime. The men’s participation at the Rio Olympics, the women’s silver medal performance at the world cup and subsequent qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games have provided exemplary roles models for the younger generations. Hockey as a sport caters equally to both genders and all ages, from 4 years to 80 years plus, as evidenced at a recent masters hockey tournament. As Mr. Pels said, it is also important to note that the sport of parahockey is continuing to grow and provides, through the club system, the opportunity for individuals with intellectual difficulties to participate and enjoy the camaraderie and health benefits of the sport. The current public profile of the sport was brought to a crescendo at the Olympic qualifier tournament, held in the Energia Stadium in Donnybrook at the start of November this year. While the success of the women’s team in such a nail biting finish was fantastic, the fact that over 12,200 people attended over the two nights of the weekend showed that interest in the sport was at an all-time high.

While perceived as expensive, hockey is at its most basic level a relatively inexpensive activity. In essence, there are only three requirements to get a community up and running to get started in the sport; a playing surface, hockey sticks and balls and a coach with an understanding of the basic skills of the game. The provision of the equipment has an easy solution that Hockey Ireland and the clubs and provinces can provide if appropriately supported. The two challenges are the sourcing, training and certification of an adequate number of coaches and volunteers and also finding suitable areas for playing and practising. It is interesting to note that currently a group of 60 girls practise and play regularly on a GAA pitch in Waterford. We also have a number of examples of schools and community groups, sometimes in conjunction with their local sports partnerships, LSPs, and hockey clubs, taking up indoor hockey in local halls. Ireland did in the recent past have quite a number of clubs and players playing indoor hockey. This is an area that Hockey Ireland sees as a potential opportunity for developing the game and introducing it to new community groups of all ages. Another creative initiative that started relatively recently is the concept of hockey for mums and hockey for dads. Innovative clubs decided to provide the opportunity for parents to learn and play hockey, at their level, while waiting for their children to complete their training and practice sessions. In some instances up to 60 adults availed of the chance to try the sport out and as a result started to get more embedded in the clubs and sport as a whole. Most parishes across the country have access to an indoor hall that can be easily set up to accommodate hockey, thereby subverting the immediate need for expensive outdoor facilities to be developed.

The board of Hockey Ireland recently held a full-day session to finalise the strategic pillars for the sport over the next three to five years. We were joined that day by representatives from Sport Ireland; the Olympic Federation of Ireland; members of the current senior men’s and women’s squads; a representative from our junior age group, JAG, teams; people representing the four provinces; Hockey Ireland staff; and, Hockey Ireland's European Hockey Federation representative. Participation and development was one of the pillars that everyone agreed was key to our strategic development as a sport. In fleshing out the pillar we called out the need to expand the geographic footprint of the sport, increase the number of players at all levels and all ages and broaden the number and skills of volunteers who are involved in hockey, be they coaches, umpires or administrators. The consensus was that the main means that will help us to achieve this are collaboration with other sports organisations, local sports partnerships, schools and colleges and local communities, whereby they will provide the people resources be they players or volunteers and Hockey Ireland and the LSPs will work to provide the expertise and infrastructure to allow things to happen. As an organisation and community, we believe we have much to contribute to a healthy and inspired Ireland. We thank the Chairman and committee for their time and for affording us the opportunity to meet with them today.