Trinity Hockey Reaches International Standards

Posted on: 22 September 2014

Another milestone was celebrated recently in the long history of hockey at Trinity.  When Dublin University Hockey Club was established in 1893 and Dublin University Ladies Hockey Club in 1905, the unique natural grass setting of College Park was home to both clubs.  Fast forward to Saturday 13th September 2014, when students, alumni, parents and guests gathered at Trinity Sports Grounds in Santry for the official opening of the new international standard water based hockey pitch. 

This state of the art facility is the first phase of a larger development at the 34 acre site in Santry, the result of which will provide much needed facilities for Trinity student clubs as well as access and community benefit for local clubs, groups and individuals. It is anticipated that the overall project at Santry will provide unrivalled benefit to the local community.

The ceremonial duties on the day were carried out by Club Captains Toby Sherwood and Alex Spain and the Trinity Hockey clubs will relocate back to their home ground after an absence of four years.  The Ladies Club currently field five teams in the Leinster League and hope to maximise home advantage to challenge for honours in the Topflight league.  The Men’s Club meanwhile aim to regain their Division Two status in 2014/15.

Commenting on the significance of the day, Head of Sport at Trinity, Michelle Tanner said: “This is the first step in our plan to re-establish Trinity Hockey as a leading player at university and national levels.  The opening of this international standard pitch provides both clubs with a much needed home and further indicates the value placed on sport in Trinity as an integral part of the Student Experience.”

Speaking at the event, College Registrar, Professor Shane Allwright stated:  “We want to establish a ‘sporting hub’ in Santry for the benefit, not only of our students but also of the local area. The location of the Santry site lends itself to community engagement opportunities and I want to stress that this is a key objective of the overall project.  As academic champion for Civic Engagement in Trinity, I am 100% supportive of this objective and I look forward to learning more about  the development of community links and  to welcoming more local people to the Trinity playing fields, here in Santry.”

Trinity hosted Queen’s University Belfast and Three Rock Rovers in matches to mark the opening of the pitch, preceded by an Alumni game that brought together graduates from both clubs to relive their Trinity Hockey days on an international standard surface.