Limerick woman in Ireland squad for Junior Hockey World Cup

LIMERICK woman Anna Horan has been included in the 20-strong Ireland hockey squad which will compete at the women’s Junior World Cup in South Africa next month.

Defender/midfielder Horan currently plays with Catholic Institute Hockey Club. The former Crescent College Comprehensive star has enjoyed a whirlwind return to Ireland after a season in the United States’ NCAA system.

Horan has helped Catholic Institute to their highest ever position in the EY Hockey League. Another Catholic Institute player, Hannah Kelly is among four non-travelling reserves named by David Passmore for the tournament in South Africa which takes place at Potchefstroom from December 5 to 17.

Anna helped Crescent College win the prestigious Kate Russell competition in 2019.

This is the first time that Ireland will contest the women’s Junior World Cup.

It comes following the Junior Green Army’s late invitation to the competition off the first reserve when Australia and New Zealand withdrew due to Covid-19 restrictions. Their involvement in the Junior World Cup has been made possible by the considerable support of SoftCo, Park Developments and new additions Uniphar who announced their sponsorship of the team which will also encompass a top international Six Nations tournament next summer.

The late invite made for a short, sharp preparation phase but coach Passmore and the panel had banked a large volume of work into an extensive summer programme, taking in series in Spain, Belfast and London.

Ireland will start their campaign on December 5 against Zimbabwe before meeting top ranked the Netherlands a day later. The pool phase concludes with a tie against Korea with the initial target to finish in the top two of the four team group to reach the quarter-finals.

The Ireland squad is largely drawn from that selection with a couple of new faces coming into the fold since October.

U21 Junior World Cup:

Ellie McLoughlin (GK)                 UCD / University College Dublin
Holly Micklem (GK)                     Old Alex / Trinity College
KJ Marshall (Def)                        UCD / University College Dublin
Caitlin Sherin (Def)                      Loreto / Dublin City University (Co-Captain)
Emma Paul (Def)                        UCD / University College Dublin
Sarah McAuley (Def)                  UCD / University College Dublin
Ellen Reid (Def)                           Loughborough Students, Eng / University of Loughborough
Caoimhe Perdue (Def/Mid)         UCC / University College Cork (Co-Captain)
Anna Horan (Def/Mid).                Catholic Institute / Mary Immaculate College
Siofra Murdoch (Def/Mid)           Harvard, USA / Harvard University
Christina Hamill (Mid)                 Loreto / Technical University Dublin
Amy Elliott (Mid)                         UCD / University College Dublin
Lisa Mulcahy (Mid/Def)              Loreto / University College Dublin
Sophia Cole (Mid/Def)                UCD / University College Dublin
Charlotte Beggs (Mid)                Ulster Elks / University of Ulster Jordanstown
Siofra O’Brien (Fwd)                   Loreto / Technical University Dublin
Nadia Benallal (Fwd)                  Beeston, Eng / Nottingham Trent University
Rachel Kelly  (Fwd/ Mid)            UCD / University College Dublin
Yasmin Pratt (Fwd)                     Loreto / IT Carlow
Aoife Taaffe (Fwd)                      Loreto / University College Dublin
 

Non Travelling Reserves

Gemma Ferguson (GK)              Ulster Elks / University of Ulster Jordanstown
Hannah Kelly (Fwd)                    Catholic Institute / National University of Ireland, Galway
Eva Lavelle  (Mid)                       UCD / University College Dublin
Lucy Crowe (Def)                        Railway Union / University College Dublin
 

2021 Junior World Cup schedule (Potchefstroom, South Africa; all times local)

Pool A

Sunday, December 5: Ireland v Zimbabwe, 9am

Monday, December 6: Ireland v Netherlands, 1pm

Tuesday, December 8: Ireland v Korea, 11am

Friday, December 11 to Thursday, December 16: playoff/classification matches