Hockey: Paul Revington will be tasked with leading Ireland to the London Olympics in 2012 after being named as the new men's national coach today. The South African, who succeeds Dave Passmore, will take up the new role early next year.
Revington, 35, was in charge of his native South Africa from 2001 until 2006 and oversaw both the 2004 Olympic and 2006 World Cup campaigns. He comes on board as Passmore, who had been in charge since 2004, steps aside to concentrate on his new position of high-performance director.
"It is an honour for me to be appointed," Revington said today. "I have watched the Irish team grow consistently over the years and am excited to become a part this organisation."
Outgoing coach Passmore reflected fondly on his time at the helm and spoke of his aspirations for the future.
"We can look back on the fact that we have made significant progress and laid the foundations for this group to now go on and get the results we came so close to achieving," he said in a statement.
"The athletes have sacrificed so much over the past few years as have the staff, many of which are volunteers. I hope they have enjoyed the journey (the highs and lows) as much as I have, and I look forward to watching the team achieving greater success moving forward."