Just a couple of weeks since Olympic hopes were crushed, new Irish coach Graham Shaw is already plotting a path toward the next major competition, the 2018 World Cup in London.
On Saturday, he will become the first Irish person to head up the national women’s team in competitive action since 1997 when his side begin the EuroHockey Championships II in Prague with a tie against France.
Shaw took on the role from Darren Smith who stepped down three weeks ago in the wake of Ireland’s agonising World League campaign, one which saw dreams of a trip to Rio in 2016 crushed in a penalty shoot-out against China.
For this second tier competition, Ireland are the highest-ranked side by some distance. A top-two finish from the eight-team line-up will bring promotion to the top tier, an absolute imperative as Ireland seeks to continue their recent improvement.
“We don’t see ourselves as a tier-two side,” he said. “The main aim is to get ourselves into the top two and make sure we are now competing in A-level competition and ready to go for the World Cup qualifiers in two years time.
“Basically, we need to be playing higher-ranked teams on a regular basis rather than ones way below us [like this week] with the ultimate aim to be in the top ten in the world.”
Given the shot turnaround time since World League Round Three, Shaw says he won’t be implementing wholesale tactical changes at this stage but has several enforced personnel switches.
Emma Smyth and Kate Dillon have retired while Nikki Evans is still recovering from a broken jaw sustained against South Africa. Anna O’Flanagan, Áine Connery, Emma Gray and Lizzie Colvin are also unavailable.
As a result, Emily Beatty, Deirdre Duke, Naomi Carroll, Stella Davis and Chloe Brown are back in the fold while Kerri McDonald, who will debut against France, and Kate Lloyd are the newest faces.
“I am looking forward to seeing how they go and maybe start pushing for a more cemented place in the squad. Nearly the whole forward line has changed but we have some young girls coming in, between 20 and 23 years of age, with a lot of time ahead of them.
“It’s up to them to prove how much they want to be part of it and how hard they are going to work for it every time they pull on the jersey and Prague is no better time to start that.”
Ireland meet Ukraine on Sunday before completing their initial group on Tuesday against the hosts, the Czech Republic.
