HOCKEY IRELAND HAVE announced that Gareth Grundie will succeed Sean Dancer as head coach of the Ireland senior women’s hockey team.

Grundie will take the reins from 1 November, replacing Dancer who stepped away from the role in March after Ireland’s hopes of reaching the Paris Olympics were ended by Great Britain two months earlier.

Belfast native Grundie previously held the role of interim head coach with Ireland, steering the side through critical qualifiers in 2019 en route to their first ever Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

More recently, the 46-year-old achieved success with the Czech Republic women’s team, who won a silver medal at the 2023 European Championships II and a bronze at the Indoor World Cup in South Africa, the latter elevating the team to no.2 in the indoor world rankings.

Grundie, who was previously involved in Hockey Ireland’s transformative Junior Age Group programme, will lead the senior national team into a busy 2025 which includes the FIH Nations Cup in Chile in February and the EuroHockey Championships in Germany in August.

For the Euros, Ireland have been drawn in Pool A alongside 2023 European champions and the world’s current top-ranked side The Netherlands, world no.3 Germany, and Olympic hosts France who are ranked 19th in the world.

Gareth brings over 25 years of coaching experience and a proven track record of delivering world-class results at the highest levels of the sport.

Most recently, Gareth served as Head Coach of the Czech Republic Senior Women’s team, leading them to success, including a silver medal at the 2023 European Championships II and a bronze medal at the Indoor World Cup in South Africa, elevating the team to No. 2 in the indoor world rankings. His leadership also secured the Czech team’s place at the Olympic Qualifiers for Paris 2024, demonstrating his ability to build and execute long-term performance goals.

Previously, Gareth was involved in Hockey Ireland’s Junior Age Group programme and was instrumental in the rise of the Ireland Senior Women’s team, guiding them to that historic silver medal at the 2018 World Cup and helping the team achieve their highest-ever world ranking of 8th.

His role as Interim Head Coach in 2019 saw Ireland navigate through critical qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics, a first in the team’s history.