HOCKEY:THE SURVEY that the Irish Hockey Association (IHA) is about to undertake will hopefully provide information on the trends in the game, why people give it up and why they stay involved. All of the information regarding the sport that has 40,000 players has, to date, been pub talk and conversations at the side of pitches.
The current “talk shop” within the sport is hoping to turn that anecdotal evidence into something more scientific. In the long run it is being conducted to try to understand the dynamics of why people are involved or why they leave and ultimately how the game can grow in Ireland.
One of the fundamental issues the IHA are addressing is why men, particularly, stop playing. They want to hear from past players and are holding focus groups in three provinces to look at the reasons why player numbers are declining.
“We want to stop relying on anecdotal evidence,” says national development officer Fiona Mills. “We are trying to move away from that and rely on more factually-based information.
“We have 40,000 players out there enjoying the game and at a practical level we want to see what we can do to hold on to players.
“It is important for us to know why they play as much as why they have stopped playing.”
The men’s adult game has “plateaued”, while the number of boys has been in decline.
The women’s and girls’ game is, with considerable help from the Irish Sports Council’s Women In Sport program, vibrant and healthy in terms of numbers.
Bray Hockey Club in Co Wicklow and Navan in Co Meath are a microcosm of the problems hockey faces. Although it’s the men’s number that is problematic, and a growth of 12 per cent has been recorded in women’s adult hockey in the last four year, Bray women’s team lost upwards of 10 players from last year’s Division One side and have been forced to drop their first team this season.
Navan men were forced to drop their first team from Division Two to Division Four following the loss of seven players to emigration and movement to other clubs.
Last January a meeting for Munster clubs held in Mallow, Co Cork, showed how the boys were showing a worrying drop off. Between 2009 and 2011 numbers in the under-eight to under-14 age group fell from almost 400 to 337.
There are more figures to illustrate that the sport needs to take a look at itself in order to pinpoint exactly where the problems are.
Weekend Fixtures
Saturday
Women: Leinster League – Division One: Pembroke Wanderers v Hermes, Serpentine Avenue, 12.30; Corinthian v Loreto, Whitechurch, 1.0; Glenanne v Old Alexandra, St Mark's, 1.30; UCD v Railway Union, Belfield, 4.15.
Men: Leinster Senior League – Division One: Railway Union v YMCA, Park Ave, 1.15, ; UCD v Clontarf – postponed; Three Rock Rovers v Monkstown, Grange Rd, 2.00; Glenanne v Fingal, Glenanne Park, 3.00; Pembroke Wanderers v Corinthians 2.00pm. Division Two– Portrane v Weston; Rathgar v Suttonians TBC; Trinity v Mullingar 12.00 Grange Rd
Sunday
Men: Leinster Senior League: Division one– Glenanne v Corinthians, 2.00 Glenanne Park; Clontarf v Fingal, Railway Union v UCD – both postponed, Pembroke v Monkstown, 3.00pm Serpentine Avenue; TRR v YMCA, Grange Road 1.00pm.
