Irish women’s hockey coach Darren Smith has named the squad for the World Hockey League II that will kick off in Dublin next month. The League is the next step in the qualification stage for the Olympic Games 2016 which will be held in Rio. Smith named 17 players on the panel for the competition which kicks off from March 14^th to March 22^nd. Ireland will go head-to-head with Ukraine, Turkey and Canada in the opening stages of the competition. The women in green will be hoping to bag a top two spot in the upcoming League in order to qualify for World League III.

All you hockey fans out there, give @IreWomenHockey a follow as they begin their #RoadToRio — Chloe McIlwaine (@ChloeJaneMc) February 17, 2015

UCD have the highest percentage of players on the squad with five of their players named. However, there is still one space available on the squad as Ali Meeke is recovering from a broken hand. Yvonne O’Byrne of Cork Harlequins’ has been listed as an alternative to Meeke. The remainder of the squad sees players from Loreto, Ulster Elks, Railyway Union, Hermes, Catholic Institute and Pegasus all represented. Ireland: G Pinder, C Watkins, A O’Flanagan, K Mullan, N Evans, N Daly, H Matthews, L Colvin, M Frazer, S McCay, K Dillon, E Smyth, A Connery, E Gray, N Carroll, A McFerran, C Sargent, A Meeke or Y O’Byrne.