TUMILTY DETERMINED TO BRING ALL IRELAND GLORY TO BANN
MARK Tumilty is determined to bring All Ireland glory back to Banbridge Hockey Club.
The 33 year old former Lisnagarvey coach was this week appointed as the successor to Suzanne Evans at Havelock Park on a two year deal.
It's a return to were it all began for the man who has spent the last 14 years of his career at Garvey. He started his career at Banbridge Academy, won every honour available with the school and represented Ireland at every underage level.
A supremely tenacious goal scoring forward Mark also became a regular fixture in the Banbridge first team in the early 1990's, helping the team to the Irish Senior Cup final in 1994 - where ironically they lost 2-0 to Lisnagarvey in what would prove to be his last game for the club.
"When I decided to call it a day at Garvey it was a massive wrench for me as I have played and coached there for 14 years. I felt I had taken the squad as far as I could and felt the time was right to step down," he said.
"At 33 I still wanted to be involved in the game at a top level but I didn't know where I was going to end up. I wasn't aware that Suzanne Evans was stepping down. But when the opportunity arose to go to Bann, it was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.
"They have a great squad of players and I am looking forward to working with them. Banbridge is a hockey town and they expect their team to be successful and I hope that they soon will be winning major trophies once again.
"It is also a chance for me to develop as a coach. I'm looking forward to preseason and meeting up with the players. It's going to be a massive challenge and managing expectation will also be a challenge.
"It has been a long time since Bann won an All Ireland trophy but if we can get the right attitude and commitment, hopefully the silverware will soon be back at the club."
Banbridge Hockey Club President, Eugene Magee said, " I am delighted with Mark's appointment which concludes an intensive selection process during which many names were linked with the post. After meeting with Mark, it became clear that he was the unanimous choice of the Club Committee.
"We believe that in Mark we have a coach who has the qualities to bring silverware to Havelock Park."
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Weather for Banbridge
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 6 C
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