Step back in time as familiar family names rise to the fore

MEN'S HOCKEY: WATCHING THE under-16 and under-18 interprovincial series on a pleasant day in St Andrews College last Sunday proved a step back in time, of sorts.

Ross Canning, David Cole, Lee Cole, Ziggy Agnew, Freddie and Harry Morris, Robbie Clarke, Ben Chadwick, Jaz Henry and Luke Madeley; those names stood out for a very good reason.

They are the sons of former players. There was also a McKee playing for Ulster (with former international, John, watching on at the back of the crowd).

Memories of playing with and against their parents illustrates the swift passing of time – but it’s also interesting as the familiar names suggest the sport’s gene pool seems rather small.

There is and always has been an important and strong family connection in the game but another pitch-side conversation suggested participatory numbers are down considerably in boys’ hockey.

That the same family names are popping up is obviously a passing on of the genetic material and with both Diddy and Jonathan Cole watching their sons and nephews, if anything was a certain bet it was that whoever emerged from the Cole family would be talented at hockey.

But what about the size of the pool of players? What about the shrinking numbers which allows those family names to emerge so strongly at interprovincial level?

In rugby player Simon Easterby’s biography he refers to six players going for every position at higher levels in the sport and you have to wonder if that could ever happen in hockey.

On the one hand recurring names are a clear strength of the sport as well as a pleasant aspect of it and, given the ranking of the men’s and women’s Irish teams inside the top 20 in the world, there is no apparent current problem at international level.

But the same family names coming through in such numbers seems also to be an obvious weakness, not because the kids are not talented because they evidently are, but because the sport needs a broader sweep to stay stronger for longer. An honest question would be whether the net needs to be cast further afield and how can the sport do that? Just a thought . . and it didn’t spoil a great day out and a double win for Leinster.

Saturday: Leinster Senior League: Division One– Fingal v YMCA, 1:30pm ALSAA; Corinthians v Monkstown, 2.00pm Whitechurch; Glenanne v UCD, 2.45pm Glenanne Park; Clontarf v Three Rock Rovers 1.00pm, Mount Temple; Pembroke Wanderers v Railway Union, 2.00pm Serpentine Ave.