Following the recent International Hockey Federation (FIH) Annual General Meeting and Congress the Irish Hockey Association have announced that they have been granted the hosting of the Womens FIH Champions Challenge which 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 high quality games and the opportunity to gain invaluable ranking points.
OCI Chief Executive Stephen Martin said “congratulations to the Irish Hockey Association on securing this important tournament and we look forward to seeing Ireland compete at home against top teams, in preparation for the European Championship, an Olympic qualifying event”.
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.”
