A new hockey pitch at RSA latest chapter in great story

THE Royal School Armagh is the oldest school in Northern Ireland.

Founded in 1608 by King James 1 who created eight such 'free schools' as part of the Plantation of Ulster, its seniority totally eclipses that of NI capital city's 'big three'.

Belfast Royal Academy came into being in 1785. In the case of Royal Belfast Academical Institution it was 1821. And it was 1865 before Methodist College arrived.

To that add the fact that RSA's head start on Campbell College was one of almost 200 years, 1894 having been the year of that institution's opening on East Belfast's Belmont Road.

But as well as the College Hill seat of learning's antiquity being unrivalled, it now has one of the most up-to-date hockey pitches in the country.

With leaders only being able to maintain pole position by staying ahead of the pursuing pack, RSA's hockey pitch upgrade confirms a clear determination to do just that.

It was former Arsenal Footballl Club manager Arsene Wenger who once said, “At a young age, winning is not the most important thing; the most important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.”

But RSA appears to be capable of doing both, with success in winning trophies complementing the development of 'creative, skilled and confident' players, witnessed by the number of its pupils now included in regional representative squads, this in addition to the fact that the Anna McKew-captained 1st X1 won last season's Ulster Schoolgirls' Cup, beating Strathearn in the final at Stormont.

And with their excellent new pitch now functional and the fact that the school boasts 11 girls' teams, the expectation is that hockey in Armagh will continue to thrive.

The school, of course, made its name as a rugby bastion, creating history in the late 19th century by becoming the first to win rugby's Ulster Schools' Cup. The year was 1876.

But it was to be 110 years before hockey was added to the list of the extra-curricular activities. This as a result of RSA's amalgamation with Armagh Girls' High School in 1986.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Hockey is the principal sport for the girls who have already won the Ulster Schools' Cup seven times, the most recent occasion being 2022/23. That means they will be defending their crown next Spring.

The inclusion of Scarlett Taylor, Rhianna Gillespie and sisters Annie and Joni Cunningham in the Ulster U18s side which faced Munster at the weekend, while Daisy Nicholson was on UI6s' duty, and the sizeable number of Years 8-10 and Years 11-13 girls selected for their respective Regional Development squads is proof of RSA's standing in hockey circles at the moment.

And now the latest chapter in this on-going hockey success story has seen the unveiling of this splendid new pitch.

RSA's delighted head hockey coach, Mrs Judith Knox, told the Gazette, “I've been waiting 21 years for this to happen and now, finally, it has.

“I have been in with senior management year after year, asking about the possibility of getting this. Parents have been in, coaches have been in. And now, it's here.

“So I'd just like to publicly thank the Principal, Mr Montgomery – who pushed so hard for it in the background - and the Bursar, Mr McConnell, for his efforts; we are so grateful to both of them.”

As for the advantages of the pitch itself, she said, “The old gravel was horrendous, but this changes eveything. First and foremost it will enable us to improve skills.

“As well as that, the pupils are really excited about it, so they've all been coming out to give it a go. We've even been able to try some different sports on it – football, rounders, tag rugby, for example. And in summer we'll be able to use it for athletics, so it's great. I love it; I'm so pleased.

“In time the sand will bed in, so it will get even better, but even now there's quite a bit of bounce, so when a kid falls it's not as sore as the gravel surface used to be. It was awful stuff, but this is a real asset to the school.

“And apart from anything else, it saves us so much time not having to go to Ardmore. So I love it; I'm so pleased”

Similarly, the 1st XI coach Greg Thompson called it “a fitting reward for what the girls have achieved in recent years”.

“It's a fantastic facility, though there's still a few things to be completed around it,” he said. “The hope is that there will be floodlights in the not-too-distant future - and I know there is to be an area for spectators.

“It's a 2G surface - in hockey circles more commonly described as a sand-dressed pitch, though certainly nothing like as heavily sanded as used to be the case.

So, great surface and playable in all reasonable conditions, frost possibly being the one exception. But certainly our hope would be that we will have fixtures on it every Saturday throughout the season.”

Asked about its lifspan he replied, “Every pitch has a shelf-life, of course. In this case I think we're looking at 10-15 years. And even then it's only a case of replacing the carpet on top.”