Following the recent International Hockey Federation (FIH) Annual General Meeting and Congress the Irish Hockey Association is delighted to announce that they have been granted the hosting of the Women’s FIH Champions Challenge

The tournament will be staged in University College Dublin from Sunday 19th June to Sunday 26th June 2011.

The event is for teams ranked 7 to 15 in the World and as such will feature teams from all four corners of the globe including New Zealand, Japan, Korea, India, USA, Spain and South Africa.  The Irish Team, sponsored by the ESB, is currently ranked 15 in the world and the event will afford them both tremendous matches and the opportunity to gain invaluable ranking points.

Coach Gene Muller stated “To have the opportunity to compete against teams of this calibre at our National Stadium in UCD is very exciting for us. We look forward to challenging ourselves against some of the best teams in the world next June.”

David Passmore (High Performance Director) highlighted that “this is a perfect and timely opportunity for us to measure the progress made through the CPP program and will provide an excellent platform for the team to develop towards the European Championships in August”

UCD Ladies Hockey club will have strong representation at the tournament with students Chloe Watkins and Niamh Atcheler on the team. Both Chloe and Niamh are currently members of the newly introduced Elite Athlete Academy. Present on the team is former UCD Captain Lisa Jacob.  

FIH Tournaments 2011:

FIH Indoor World Cup – Poland, 8-13 February, FIH Women’s Champions Trophy, The Netherlands, 25 June-3 July, FIH Men’s Champions Trophy – India, 26th November-4th December. FIH Women’s Champions Challenge 1 – Ireland, 18/19 – 25/26 June, FIH Men’s Champions Challenge 1 – South Africa, Dates TBC, FIH Women’s Champions Challenge 2 – Austria, 8-14 May, FIH Men’s Champions Challenge 2 – France, 3-9 July