University College Dublin (UCD) Ladies Hockey have appointed former Irish international and current Ireland Senior Team Manager Lisa Jacobs as the the new head coach of their first team. The appointment was made on Tuesday 18 May, after Jacobs had previously been appointed to the senior women’s team in November last year.
Jacobs will be very familiar with the surroundings having Captained the UCD Ladies team to the Irish Senior Cup title in 2009, as she is a former UCD Sports Scholar and UCD Alumni having graduated from UCD with a degree in Psychology. Jacobs was also awarded the Tony O’Neill Sportsperson of the Year in 2009.
In a statement on the UCD Sports website, Jacobs expressed her excitement to return to her alma mater. “I am very excited to start this role,” Jacobs said. “There is so much potential to work with in UCD, the exciting challenge will be to turn that potential into consistent high performance, at an individual and team level. Some of my best hockey memories came during my time in UCD, I look forward to making more in this new chapter.”
Jacobs played international hockey from 2006, until she retired from international hockey in 2014, whereupon she became a dual international, being named in the Ireland Rugby Sevens team on an 18-month contract.
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In 2013, Jacobs also became the first Irish woman to sign a professional hockey contract in Holland, signing for the Dutch Hoofdklasse club, Stichtsche Cricket en Hockey Club. She has scored 17 international goals over her eight-year international career.
Since retiring from playing, Jacobs has been involved as an assistant coach for both the Irish U16 and U18 hockey teams. She has a background in Executive Coaching, and will bring her double international experience to the role as head coach, while still performing her duties with the national side.
Stephen Kisbey-Green – Co-Editor
