We are delighted to announce our exciting news as we launch our new club, Laois Hockey Club. We are looking forward to a bright future for hockey within Laois.
The decision was taken earlier in the year by the two clubs to look to amalgamate to form one new hockey club. Both agreed that the amalgamation of the Portlaoise Ladies Hockey club and Abbeyleix Hockey Club was a great idea with the aim of encouraging, promoting and developing hockey within the county. This would cater for all players in Laois from 6 years of age right up to senior level under the umbrella of one club.
This comes at a vital time as the sport of hockey continues to grow in popularity thanks to the international success of the Irish Ladies team in recent years. The establishment of Laois Hockey Club now provides a clear pathway for underage hockey players to grow and develop into senior hockey players within the one club. In the past Abbeyleix Hockey Club was the just a junior club while Portlaoise Ladies Hockey Club was only a senior ladies hockey club. With this amalgamation and the introduction and success of hockey within Dunamase College in Portlaoise over the recent years, we really hope that hockey becomes a sport of choice to all within our county.
The popularity and growth of the sport of hockey was evidenced in both clubs over the last number of years. In Portlaoise Ladies Hockey club there was the introduction of a seconds team for the first time in a number of years, with both teams successfully competing in the Leinster Hockey leagues Division 7 and 11 respectively. The ladies’ firsts won their division this year to gain promotion to Division 6 for the coming season. Similar success was seen for Abbeyleix Hockey Club with the growing number of children (boys and girls) participating and competing throughout all the age grades. For example, this past season the Inters girls finished the season by winning Leinster girls Division 6.
After several months of work behind the scenes we are delighted to launch our new club Laois Hockey Club with our new club logo. The hockey season begins in September 2023, so keep an eye on our social media pages on both Facebook and Instagram for updates on how to become involved within our club.
The first Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the newly established Laois Hockey Club took place on May 3rd 2023 and below are our committee members elected for the coming season.
Laois Hockey Club Committee:
- Chairperson: Susan Fingleton
- Vice Chairperson: Liz Poustie
- Secretary: Ann Talbot
- Vice secretary: Jayne Telford
- Treasurer: April Kent
- PRO: Jenny Keegan
- Welfare & Safety Officer: Seamus Lahart
- Designated Liaison Person: Garry Luttrell
- Facilities & Equipment Officer: Marie Thompson
- Development Officer: Wes Wilkinson
- Social Officer: Hazel Peavoy
- Club Captain – Senior: Karen Fingleton
- Club Captain – Junior: Jonathan Walshe
- Fixtures & Umpire Secretary – Senior: Claire Igoe
- Fixtures & Umpire Secretary – Junior: Ruth Wilkinson
