Stephen Dowds and Craig Bruton withdraw from Irish squad

Two players have had to withdraw from committing to the Irish men’s hockey squad, which is currently preparing to take part in the Olympic Games in Rio.

Speaking at a promotional event for Irish hockey's "Obsessed" campaign in which they hope to raise a shortfall of €225,000, Irish coach Craig Fulton confirmed that Stephen Dowds and Johnny Bruton withdrew their names because of the time and financial commitment required to prepare for and travel to the Rio Olympics.

Primary reasons

While Fulton said the conversation that took place between himself and the two players was confidential, business and work pressures were the primary reasons.

There is no Government funding available to support individual players in the sport. They have, though, received significant state support for tournaments and other programmes.

“There is confidentiality there,” said Fulton. “It was a difficult conversation and we tried everything. We really did. In elite sport no matter what it is there are no guarantees and in the middle of it . . . would there be a business to come back to. Would there be x, y and z, so it was not easy.

“We’ve had it for two years now. When I first took over we played against England and lost 3-0 and 6-0. We had a very young group of players that turned out. On the back of that there were 60 per cent of the experienced group not playing, either working or away.”

Bruton, from Cork but who played in Dublin with, among others, Monkstown and Three Rock Rovers has his own business, while striker Dowds informed Fulton last year that he would not be available.

Over the past two years the Irish hockey squad has been at its busiest in its history. Last year the team played in 43 games, while between now and the Olympics they will take part in 22 international matches, having already played 13 games.

Off-pitch preparations

To play at that level and face sides that rank up in the top six in the world combined with the off-pitch preparation demanded of the players is a full-time job. All the teams they will face in Rio are full time.

Some of the players such as goalkeeper David Harte, who is based in Holland and also plays in the professional Indian league for six weeks of the European season, are professional. However, a substantial rump are in full-time careers and struggle to make themselves available for all of the away tournaments.

“Over 12 to 14 months it was trying to get everyone back but we must accept the situation that these players are now in careers,” said Fulton. “So how do you get these players to commit when they only have x days left from their company. They come in for the main tournament. So you are juggling the whole time. You need a squad that is big enough to cover a full 12-month programme.”