Ireland handed Youth Olympic berth

Ireland will field an U-17 girls team at the inaugural World Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this August, it was revealed earlier today.

The Irish Hockey Association’s high performance director Dave Passmore will lead a 16-strong squad to the tournament in Asia, having officially secured its place in recent days.

They will challenge for Olympic gold against nations such as New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa at what will be a mini-Olympics Games, with over 200 nations participating in a wide range of sports.

“This is the perfect opportunity to develop a group of talented young athletes, many of whom have been through Irish Hockey’s talent ID system,” said Passmore.

“Whilst the tournament will be a challenging one in difficult climatic conditions it is the best way to test our young stars against the world’s best nations.”

The advent of a new junior age group between the traditional U16 and U18 slots suggests the squad is likely to be an amalgamation of eligible players within those squads.