Dalkey Ladies Hockey Club Back In Business
Published 19/03/2002

Dalkey Ladies Hockey Club is back in business and is still one of the most enthusiastic and best of the local clubs. Dalkey Ladies Hockey Club was originally set up, in 1981, as an informal team to facilitate school leavers eager to continue playing hockey. The club continued to expand and became a successful team in the Leinster League, after first joining the league in 1982.

Few people realise just how many people play hockey in this country ñ nor in fact how good Ireland is at the sport, both in men's and women's hockey. Ireland has sent teams to the Olympics and to the World Cup, hosting the Women's World Cup here in Dublin.

The origin of field hockey is unknown, but even ancient Greek carvings show players using crooked sticks to hit a small object. Only men played field hockey for many years, but in 1889 the All England Women's Hockey Association was established. Men's field hockey has been part of the Summer Olympics since 1908. Women's field hockey became an Olympic sport at the 1980 Summer games. Rules are made by the International Hockey Federation's Rules Board and are the same for men and women. Hockey is a sport that gets a huge following in countries as diverse as USA, Spain, Pakistan, Italy, Holland, England, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

The founders of Dalkey Ladies Hockey Club were Hillary Dixon, Berni Nolan, Rachel Kerr and Colleen and Katrina Hogan. Many of the original founders are still involved in the club now, twenty years on. Berni Nolan still coaches the team and referees the matches while Colleen Hogan is playing sweeper for the team. The team soon scored some impressive successes in their first year, by winning the Junior B of the minor league. They quickly climbed the league table and ended up around the middle of the league- starting in the Minor B and moving up to the junior and then middle league.

About two years ago the club stopped for a season as some members had family commitments. It was started up again by Gillian Coffey and Mary Jane Mulligan, and has now quickly become successful again. Gillian and Mary Jane hope the club will soon return to its heyday when it fielded four teams!

Most of the current members began playing hockey in primary school, as most local schools are enthusiastic supporters of the game. Gillian began playing at the age of seven and played for Leinster under 18's in the All Ireland Championships.

Gillian is, however keen to stress that the club is open to all ñ even those with no experience. She says, "We have a mixture of young and old, both experienced and inexperienced players. We have one player who had only ever played camogie in her life, and she's already an indispensable member of the team."

However seriously the club takes the sport, they also emphasise that they are keen to put equal effort into maintaining a friendly, social air within the club. Gillian Says, "There is a strong social element to the club. We always go out for a drink afterwards and we hold a number of fund-raising and social events. We will shortly be running a number of pub quizzes. We're also planning to run a Derby between local schools. Since we have come back from the break it's been great fun, We re-started in September 2001 with one team and now have nearly enough members for a second team. We have eighteen teams in our division and have already reached seventh place."

Mary Jane added, "Leinster is a great place to play hockey as there are a lot of clubs concentrated in one area." The club train on a Wednesday evening and play matches on a Saturday, playing in both the Leinster League and the Leinster Cup. The Leinster Cup is a knockout championship, while the league operates on a scoring system.

Over the summer the members stay fit by playing tennis and other sports while some of the members go as far as to partake in the marathons. Dalkey Ladies Hockey Club is always on the lookout to recruit new members and who knows where an interest in hockey might take you. Gillian remarked, "One of our goalies got a visa to Australia on the strength of her hockey skills. She was taken on by an Australian team and played there professionally for two years."

The minimum age for players is seventeen due to Club regulations but as Mary Jane put it, Age ranges are insignificant provided you are enthusiastic to try or interested in learning the game."

For more information on the club telephone Dalkey Ladies' Hockey Club at: 086 3698363 or Email dalkeyladies@hotmail.com

 

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