Former Lisnagarvey player of the year Chris Gregg (pictured) looks set to appear at the Junior World Cup as he was this week named in the 18-man English squad to travel to Malaysia in June.
The 20-year-old, who competed for Ireland up until U-18 level, is one of eight Loughborough students to make the English panel having impressed in the two years since he has been eligible to play for his adopted country.
Indeed, he has already tasted international success in 2009 as part of the bronze-medal winning Great Britain team at the recent Youth Olympic Festival in January in Australia.
16 comments:
is this not what we should have our junioor players competing in?? instead f junior world cups and olymic games ireland keep plugging the 'ireland A' system where the highlight for the players is a celtic cup!! is it not true that it is at these big tournaments that players learn quickest by being exposed to high pressure environment tournament hockey of a prolonged period of time? is it no time we went back to the tried and tested U21 system and competed at a world level than carrying on with our tired and clearly ineffective Ireland A programme??
Here we go again!!!
Can we not also make this sort of thing work for us??
How about emulating some of the soccer teams of the past and pick up some English players with Irish Grandparents??
I mean Barry Middleton must have relations down Cork way, Sophie Bray has gotta be from the Garden County oringinally!!
So....if having an Under 21 hockey team competing in European Championships and Junior World Cups is such a bad idea, then how come The Netherlands, Germany, England, Spain, Poland, Russia and Belgium all have Under 21 teams competing in the upcoming JWC.
Surely our players would gain invaluable experience of REAL competition hockey that would stand them in good stead, rather than this Ireland A nonsense where they don't play under the pressure of tournament competition?
Presumably the relegation of both our 21s from A Division a few years back made it an easy decision to drop both squads.
well done chris!!!
fantastic player
Of course Ireland needs to reintroduce under 21 teams - won't happen for money reasons though.
I have said it before.... What incentive do the Ireland 'A' team players have.... a weekend to portugal two years ago, a celtic cup, maybe a weekend trip to germany etc.
An u21 world cup is a massive tournament and all the major hockey nations in the world play in this competition.
If money is the issue, do you know that the german team only have an u16 team every second year to save money maybe but also to prepare for the u18 Europeans and maybe to assist in funding an u21 squad.
Will an u21 team ever be reintroduced or will we continue on this 'A' team route.
Maybe regional sessions funded by each province for u16 and the 1st Irish team at U18 and leave funds for the U21s, I think a lot of good irish talent is lost in those years because it is a huge step from u18 to full the the full set up and i think the Irish development is not working as well as competitive tournaments would at U21s. Looking at the best in the world Germany do not even send u16 teams to europe anymore, they mainly play in 4 Nations at easter. We need to start using the little funds available to keep talented players competing at U21 level and they will if they are actually working towards major tournaments.
Interesting points about getting U21 team going again.
For me I still believe the senior interpros should be shelved and the money should go in some way to either help the Ireland A set up or if you so wished the U21's.
The U21's should never have been removed. Yes money was an issue, but many involved in Irish hockey wanted the U21's to stay as it provided a step to senior international hockey. The powers at be at that time said that we had no need to have a U21 team as they could through the A team bring forward good players. I am not doubting this, my point would be that, yes only a few U21 players made it all the way but all that coaching and experience went back to the schools and the clubs for everyone to learn from.
Now we have small regional squads and the gap is growing between the elite and the rest.
On another tack if my daughter or son was good enough to play international hockey and through parentage had the chance to play in a world cup I have no doubt what i nwould advise them to do, and playing for Ireland may not be the option.
Several of the A team players have trained twice a week on top of club training for 3 years and played about 7 or 8 matches that is not really bringing forward this age group.
The players in the recent U21 deserve a shot at this type of tournament, for their good, the clubs good and for Irelands good.
I agree get rid of the "A" teams and reintroduce the under 21's they were scrapped because of money, there is such a massive gap between Under 18 and Ireland A, this is where we are loosing players, players need the Under 21 to play in decent tournaments that can only improve their game and thus strengten the senior squads
Right so clearly everyone is in agreement that there should be an under 21s team.
But what about Chris surely we should be congratulating him on his fantastic achievements since leaving the island.
please bring back tht under 21 team!!!!
the chance to play on a world level for your own country is a huge ambition for every player and the jwc provides this option!!!
ireland a sud become a training squad for those neither on the ireland under 21 or senior panels to allow for further development of players....lets get ireland competing again on the european and global front.
The last time Ireland competed in the Junior (U21) World Cup was 2001.
The squad was as listed below.
All would be at their prime now (aged 27-29)
Where are they now ?
How many made it as regular senior internationals ?
Is that as expected ?
Better or worse value than Ireland A ?
Name Age
Mark Ruddle 20
Neill Slane 21
Ian Allen 21
Joe Brennan 19
Karl Burns 20
David Eakins 21
Alan Giles 20
Michael Harte 21
David Hobbs 19
John Hobbs 20
Simon Irvine 21
John Jermyn 19
Allan Kershaw 21
Peter McConnell 20
Simon Ramsden 19
Johnny Quigley 19
Philip Smith 21
Stephen Symington 21
Coach: George Blackwood
Assistant Coach: Dennis Pritchard
Physio: Hope Fisher
Doctor: Rob Jones
Manager: Steven Hiles
Ref: http://in.rediff.com/sports/menjwc01.htm
Would have to ask DoctorDto clarify what the means by better value than Ireland A.
My take on it is that it has to be judged on two levels. Firstly how many internationals did it produce, but also how many players have been at the TOP level at their club sides and continued the development of hockey at our top clubs.
Mark Ruddle 20 - International
Neill Slane 21 - ???
Ian Allen 21 - Playing for top club
Joe Brennan 19 - Interntional
Karl Burns 20 - International
David Eakins 21 - International
Alan Giles 20 - Top club player
Michael Harte 21 - ????
David Hobbs 19 - International
John Hobbs 20 - Top club player
Simon Irvine 21 - ????
John Jermyn 19 - International
Allan Kershaw 21 - ???
Peter McConnell 20 - Top club player
Simon Ramsden 19 - ???
Johnny Quigley 19 - Top club player and International
Philip Smith 21 - top club player
Stephen Symington 21- back playing now bits and pieces???
This is often the thing that people miss. Yes it is about internationals but those players who didnt make it can still contribute hugely to a club side.....stronger clubs stronger Irish side, no question.
Think it is quite a good return all told
To fill in a few gaps, Mikey Harte has been ever-present with his home club Bangor; Allan Kershaw won a world of stuff with Pembroke before moving to Scotland for studies; Philly Smith played a decent amount of international games. Giles is Ireland A setup.
To fill in a few gaps, Mikey Harte has been ever-present with his home club Bangor; Allan Kershaw won a world of stuff with Pembroke before moving to Scotland for studies; Philly Smith played a decent amount of international games. Giles is Ireland A setup.
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