Sarah Torrans admits Irish women’s hockey team face ‘huge challenge’ to make Olympics

Next month, the national women’s and men’s hockey teams will compete in Olympic qualifiers in Valencia. If the women do make it to Paris, it will be their second consecutive appearance at an Olympics.

Ireland’s women face a familiar job of having to rise above their ranking. There are four countries rated higher than Ireland (ranked 13th in the world) in the eight-team event. Only the top three make it through to Paris next year.

So more punch-above-their-weight performances will be required, but that’s nothing new for some of these players.

“We have always said that we would have to beat one, if not two, top-ten teams to qualify (for the Olympics), and we have done that recently. We beat Spain twice in two friendly games at the start of last month. They are a top-ten team,” said Torrans, who just missed out on final selection for the silver medal-winning World Cup squad five years ago but was part of the panel at the Tokyo Olympics.

“We know it will be a huge challenge, but we are looking forward to it. Even the teams that are ranked below (us) will probably step up as well. We know we have to step up too.”

The squad will have the benefit of having two experienced players returning who have been there and done that. Anna O’Flanagan and Chloe Watkins took time away from the set-up and were big losses for last year’s World Cup after their starring roles in the 2018 edition. They also helped the team qualify for their first Olympics over two years ago.

“It’s been brilliant. Experience is huge coming into an Olympic year. I think only a handful of the players in the squad played in Donnybrook that time (when they qualified for Tokyo) and we have spoken about what’s at stake in the Olympic qualifiers. Having players like that is great, as they know what we are going into. It increases competition as well,” added Torrans.

As a dry-run of sorts for what lies ahead, the Irish team will take part in a week-long five-nations tournament in Valencia. The event, which starts this weekend, also features Belgium, the world’s fourth-ranked side, and Spain, ranked eighth.

Those two nations will also be looking to secure an Olympic place next month.

“We will be playing teams that we meet in January, so we will be trying to show them something and trying to keep some stuff a secret. It will just be great to play together as a team,” said Torrans.

After arriving home on December 23, the squad will have three or four days off before trying to hit peak performance in mid-January. So, it will be a low-key Christmas, but the players are prepared to make the sacrifices required.

“Knowing what’s at stake in January will keep us motivated. We’ll sacrifice some of the potatoes and stuffing if we have to! To qualify for the Olympics is the main goal,” declared Torrans.