Paul O’Brien, chair of the IHA's National Indoor Working Group, said of the enlarged competition: "We've been delighted that the expansion of the indoor game witnessed in recent years in Leinster has continued. To have 27 teams from all around the country competing in this year’s event means we have a truly all Ireland competition for the first time in over a decade.
“Indoor hockey is a fast moving and exciting version of the sport with much to offer the player and spectator alike with the development of technical skills, plenty of goals and end to end action."
Both the men’s and women’s sides of the competition are structured to include a qualification tournament from which six women’s and eight men’s teams will emerge to qualify for the finals weekend on February 6-7, 2010 at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin.
With the creation of the National Indoor Trophy competition, there will not be a separate Leinster men's indoor league competition this season, however the Tony Byrne Cup will be awarded to the winner of the National Indoor Trophy Competition.
The women’s qualification tournament is structured as three groups (one group of three teams and two groups of four) playing in a round robin format, the top two of each group qualifying for the finals day.
The men’s qualification stages has four groups of four with the top two teams in each pool will qualify for the finals day.
Women’s Qualification Stages
Group A (Saturday, January 23, 2010; NBA): Corinthian, Galway, Loreto
Group B (Saturday, January 23, 2010; NBA): Avoca, Glenanne, Hermes, Old Alexandra
Group C (Saturday, January 24, 2010; NBA): Bray, Pembroke Wanderers, Railway Union, UCD
Men’s Qualification Stages
Group A (Sunday, December 20; Dublin City Uni): Trinity, Galway, Pembroke Wanderers, Three Rock Rovers
Group B (Sunday, December 20; DCU): Clontarf, Corinthian, UCD, YMCA
Group C (Sunday, January 24, 2010; NBA): Glenanne 2, Monkstown, Railway Union, Suttonians
Group D (Sunday, January 31, 2010; DCU): Annadale, Avoca, Belfast Harlequins, Glenanne 1
* To get a feel for the action, here's one of Paul O'Brien's YouTube clips from the 2007 World Cup:
1 comment:
Congrats to Paul O'Brien and the Indoor Committee for organising this event. The Indoor tournament has always been something that we have looked forward to every year, and over the last few years has been expertly organised by Paul, Stephen and co.
Really looking forward to this national event and great to see non Leinster clubs back in the mix
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