Delivering at senior level is the target

Men's Hockey: By chance Pat Rowley's World Hockey Rankings appeared last month just before Wesley College finished runner's-up in the European Youth Championships in The Hague, Holland.

It is not the first time young Irish teams have been there at the end of European competitions with hopes of winning. In 1978, the Irish under-21s were beaten by Holland in the European Cup final in College Park. Last year the Irish under-18 team, quite phenomenally, won the European Championship.

There has never been any problem for Ireland in producing technically good players. From the relatively small pool of 42,000 (male and female) the national side has been able to punch its weight at non-senior level and occasionally excel but then fall away.

Rowley, who produces his personal and unofficial world ranking list annually, bases it on form over a period of time so that one-off performances are not necessarily given overdue weight, has Ireland ranked at 16 in the world.

It's a respectable ranking but down on the one-time high of 13 and way off what last year's under-18 team would be ranked if there were such a thing in that age group.

Holland, the side Ireland defeated last year in the under-18 final, are ranked second to Germany in Rowley's senior list. But in five years' time Holland are likely to occupy close to the same position or higher in the senior rankings while Ireland, although their rank may go up, will not have improved enough to threaten medal positions in senior international tournaments or qualify for the Olympic Games.

One of the biggest questions facing Irish hockey and one that has been around for sometime has been how to deliver at senior level with proven young talent available.

The Irish women, unluckily, found out last year, as the men did before them, that come World Cup finals time the national team is off the pace.

Reasons why this occurs are plentiful - money, amateur ethic, time off work, etc, but maybe a different way of thinking about what Ireland wants to achieve is an alternative and some people have suggested a narrow focused targeting of specific events, such as the 2008 Olympics, and channelling more energy into those.

To change is going into the unknown; to stay the same is committing Ireland to a respectable ranking just outside major tournaments and far from any senior medals. In that context, the question also arises of what is the purpose of having an under-18 team who are European Champions.

World Ranking (at March 2003): 1. Germany 2. Holland 3. Australia 4. Pakistan 5.Korea (Sth) 6. Argentina 7. New Zealand 8. India 9. England 10. Malaysia 11. Sth Africa 12.Spain 13. Japan 14. Poland 15. Belgium 16. Ireland 17. Scotland 18. Russia 19. Switzerland 20. Italy.

SATURDAY: Irish Club Championship Playoffs: C of I v Corinthians, Garryduff 12.30; Three Rock Rovers v Instonians, Grange Road 2.00; Lisnagarvey v Glenanne, Blaris 2.30; Annadale v Cork Harlequins, Lough Moss 2.30.