Our junior section had another great season. We had 574 registered junior players (up from 550 last year) representing Bray Hockey Club from Under 8 up to Under 18. We entered teams across all age groups in the Leinster leagues, competing against many of the best clubs in Ireland. We had strong representation at Junior Interprovincial and even Junior International levels, which is a great indication of the strength of our junior section. Our boys & girls competed in Leinster indoor tournaments in U12, U14, U16 and U18 categories and performed well. 

We have continued to put our junior development plan into practice, with particular emphasis on growing the boys side of the club, goalkeeper training and more time on the pitch for our junior players. Our coaches continue to gain experience and new qualifications which has helped raise the overall standard of coaching across the junior section. We are particularly proud of our junior coaching panel, who have all come through the junior programme as players and are now passing on what they have learned to their younger compatriots.

Our club would not exist without the large number of volunteers who help to keep it running throughout the year. Every training session, blitz, match, social event, tournament needs to be planned, communicated and executed. Our coordinators, administrators, managers, coaches and umpires showed up every week and made it happen.

Our junior administrator Kathy Lee has made a crucial contribution, in particular liaising with parents and organising match fixtures every week.

We continue to have challenges with volunteers stepping up to help where they can, securing qualified coaches and match umpires. Pitch availability is one of the main challenges but we are lucky to have great partnerships with Loreto Bray and Templecarrig School Greystones. St Gerard’s also kindly offered their sand based pitch as a backup option, which we are also very grateful for.

We are proud of all of our players, whether they are junior internationals, picking up a stick for the first time or simply playing hockey with their friends and having fun. 

Whilst there will be some hockey activities over the summer, we also look forward to taking a break before season 2026/2027 is upon us.