[dropcap]I[/dropcap]rish women’s hockey international and DCU student Sarah Torrans expects to see a rise in interest in hockey in DCU this year.
Hockey rose to prominence this summer at the Women’s World Cup, where the Irish team achieved their best ever finish earning them a silver medal. This came as a surprise to the country as well as the team itself.
“It was always in the back of our minds to do well and to show everyone what we have, but to get a silver medal was a bit of a shock to everyone”, Torrans said.
At just 19 years old Torrans already has 14 caps for Ireland and was in the reserves for the World Cup making her the youngest player in the 22-player squad.
“I was in the reserves so I didn’t play myself but it was nice to watch the others do so well, they trained so hard.”
The team were given a civic reception outside of Dublin’s City Hall on Dame street on their return from the World Cup, an event that Torrans has fond memories of.
“It was amazing. We were looking out the window about half an hour before we were due to go on stage and there was no one there, but when we walked out on stage there was about a thousand people there.”
Off the back of an impressive campaign in the World Cup, Torrans and the rest of the team are as hungry as ever for more success. “The Tokyo Olympics is the next big thing, the qualifiers are coming up in May and June so all our focus is directed towards that for now.”
There are also positive signs for the year ahead for DCU’s own hockey team, who were promoted to the cup after winning the plate at last year’s Intervarsities in October.
Torrans has big plans in store for both DCU and herself. “For DCU I hope that we can get results in the cup and hopefully stay up, for myself I really want to make the tournament squad [for next year’s Olympics] and play a few games.”
While hockey is an amateur sport in Ireland there are professional leagues abroad that Torrans has her eye on. “A few people have gone abroad to play in say, Belgium and Holland, so I plan on doing that in a couple of years.”
Eoin Harte
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