Logue's stand may set trend for Irish players

NO PAIN, no gain appears to be the battle cry of the Irish women's team as they prepare for a gruelling 19 match programme over the next four months that, hopefully, will culminate in qualification for next year's World Cup finals in Holland.

The team will play 12 internationals, beginning with three this weekend in Cardiff, before they travel to Zimbabwe for August's World Cup qualifying tournament.

Between the short trip to Wales (where they play the hosts, Poland and Slovakia) and the expedition to southern Africa, Terry Gregg will take his squad to Vancouver for a five nation tournament (May 1st-4th), to Rome for two friendlies against Italy and, in the final stage of the build up, back to Belfield for matches against Scotland, Spain and either Germany or France.

Whether or not Irish captain Jeanette Turner will feature in any of the summer's matches is an issue still to be resolved. The Pegasus midfielder picked up an injury in her club's recent trip to Utrecht and Gregg admits that she "doesn't feel optimistic" about her prospects of playing in Zimbabwe.

In Turner's absence, Mary Logue of Muckross has been appointed captain for the first time in her 92 match international career, a decision Gregg says was a simple one in the light of the commitment she has given to the international team.

"Mary Logue is the one person in the team who said, right, I'm not going to play for my club in the League finals in Galway, I'm not going to the Europeans with my club, I'm going to make Ireland my priority this year. I think she's the perfect example for the others, she's totally committed to the Irish team and it's a good reward for her to be captain - she's a popular choice."

Logue's decision to make herself unavailable for Muckross for last weekend's Irish Senior League finals and next month's European Club finals in Sicily was a major blow to the club but she says that the near professional demands on amateur internationals made it impossible for her to play for both club and country in the coming weeks.

"At the end of the day I'm an amateur and I'm working full time. I had just negotiated time off work for my international commitments and I really didn't feel I could go in again and say I need another few days' off for club hockey. When we were given our, international schedule for the coming months I just looked at it and thought this is ridiculous, I can't play club hockey on top of this. Then, when I got the captaincy as well, I really felt it was a matter of having to decide which was my priority," said Logue.

"What I would really hate is not to be at my best for all these matches and I would hate, at the end of the summer, to say God, if only I had made a few sacrifices and just planned my time better. Playing in Galway would mean playing six games in eight days and that's ridiculous, you Just can't do that. I really had to decide what was more important to me. I know that there were people in Muckross who were not happy with my decision but, at the end of the day, it was the first time that it had ever happened."

Logue's Muckross team mate Sandra O'Gorman has taken the reverse stance on the club v country issue and has made herself unavailable for Ireland this summer. Gregg insists the "door is still open" for her to come back in to the squad for Zimbabwe, but the goalkeeper says her mind is" made up.

"I've had a few conversations with Terry and he knows where I stand. I'm not prepared to give the commitment and time that's needed for Zimbabwe. I've got a lot of loyalty for my club and I know that I would have been under pressure not to go to Sicily - I gave a strong commitment to them that I would see them right through to Sicily and that's exactly what I'm doing," said O'Gorman, who also cites work and financial pressures as reasons for not making herself available for international duty this summer. She insists, however, that she will be available for Ireland next season.

Meanwhile, Lynsey McVicker, O'Gorman's Irish team mate from the 1994 World Cup finals in Dublin, is on the verge of a surprise return to the international set up. McVicker, who is now living in America, will be drafted in to the squad for the tournament in Canada and, if she impresses Gregg, will be a serious contender for the final 16 that travel to Zimbabwe.