IHA: The Irish Hockey Association has announced the expansion of ESB's national sponsorship of women's hockey in Ireland to include support of girl's hockey.
The sponsorship also includes naming rights of the IHA's Annual Hockey Awards and commitment to increased financial assistance to the Association's preparation and development of the women's national teams.
The addition of the girl's hockey and the IHA's Annual Hockey Awards to the Women's Hockey sponsorship will double ESB's overall investment in Irish Hockey.
ÔÇ£We are delighted that ESB have furthered their commitment to Irish hockey by extending their sponsorship into underage female hockey in Ireland,ÔÇØ said IHA Chief Executive Paul Varian today.
ÔÇ£Clearly the company has been sufficiently impressed by what they have seen in the development of Irish hockey in the first year of their sponsorship to decide to expand their involvement and we are very excited at the prospects of enhancing our partnership with them.ÔÇØ
ÔÇ£ESB was very pleased with how its sponsorship of women's hockey performed over the last 12 months and the extension of our sponsorship to include girls hockey will add greatly to the development of the sport at grassroots level,ÔÇØ said Mr. Padraig McManus, Chief Executive of ESB.
Under the terms of the new sponsorship, ESB will sponsor Irish hockey's two junior age group (JAG) national squads at U16 and U18 level and also sponsor the Kate Russell (All-Ireland Schoolgirls) Cup.
Coupled with their existing sponsorship of the women's senior and development teams and the ESB Women's Irish Senior Cup and ESB Women's Club Championships, the company now receives comprehensive exposure at all levels of female hockey in Ireland.
