KIERAN McCARTHY caught up with Irish hockey legend David Harte to chat about reaching his personal goals at the Olympic Games
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THERE are many reasons why David Harte has ascended into hockey folklore as one of the greats. His obvious talent – he was twice voted the best men’s hockey goalkeeper in the world. High up on the list is how much he enjoys his sporting passion. His longevity at the highest level is remarkable; he made his Ireland debut in 2006. Then there’s his drive, that indomitable desire that exists deep within, hard to quantify but there for all to see – it’s why the 36-year-old was the Ireland men’s hockey team’s first choice goalkeeper at the Olympic Games in Paris.
‘I am loving my hockey more than I ever have before,’ says the man from Ringrone, just outside Kinsale.
‘Often with high-performance athletes, when they are coming closer to the end of careers it’s really then that you know yourself so much better. You realise what perspective is on life and not just in a sporting sense; family commitments keep your feet on the ground.’
David Harte is now a two-time Olympian.
His wife Lyn and daughters Georgia and Ava are the central characters in his story, on and off the pitch. They were first in his thoughts when David decided to put his name into the mix for the Hockey India League that saw him fly out to India last week, missing Christmas at home in Utrecht with his family – but his earnings from the next few weeks will go towards a new family home and his daughters’ future education. He is thinking of the bigger picture.
His biggest fans were in Paris, too, this past summer to watch David on the grandest stage of all. It made this Olympic experience even more special than his first when he captained Ireland at the 2016 Games in Rio. And Lyn, Georgia and Ava all had front-row seats to watch their hero, their superdad, wow the world again. The target he set himself pre-Paris was to reach a new level. Mission accomplished, with room to spare.
‘As audacious as my target was, I can say that I had never before put five consistent performances back-to-back like that on a stage like the Olympics,’ he says.
‘I can look back satisfied with how Paris went and achieving my own personal goals.’
From the opening game against defending Olympic champions Belgium where the former Bandon Grammar School student was the reason Ireland only lost 2-0, he set the tone for what was to follow. Right through to Ireland’s final game, a 2-1 win over New Zealand where the headlines heralded Harte as the hero, he hit the heights he had targeted. That brings its own sense of accomplishment. While Ireland bowed out after the pool stage following four defeats in five games, David left the Olympic Village with his head held high.
‘I took in every moment I was there. Every second. Every sound. Even every taste of the foodhall. Having learned what I did from the Rio experience I wanted to make the most of this, and I did,’ he explains.
‘Realistically, this was most likely my last Olympics so I wanted to make sure I walked away from Paris and soaked it all in.
‘The morning I left Paris, where I was checking out with all my bags from the Olympic Village, I took an elevator selfie in the lift with a big smile on my face – that is something that I had never done before. It was the feeling of knowing I had completed my own personal mission there.
‘Obviously we would have preferred to get out of the group and play a quarter-final, but I left the Olympics with no regrets.’
His honest assessment of Ireland’s performance at the Olympics is that they got the best out of the group that they had there. In a tough Pool B, qualifying for the knock-out stages was always going to be a big ask. True to form, it was a step too far.
‘We knew what our strengths were: defensive work. We put in some serious shifts. In the five games we conceded ten goals in total,’ he says, and his six-foot five-inch frame in goal was a huge reason for that.
‘We have been smacked before almost by double figures by some of those teams, like Belgium and Australia, but we dug in deep. Unfortunately we were lacking up front to score more and to take our chances at penalty corners; that is something to take away as we move forward. We got the maximum out of the group that was there.’
David Harte celebrates SV Kampong's 2024 Dutch men’s title success with his wife Lyn and their daughters, Georgia and Ava.
There were rumours that, perhaps, David might hang up his international gloves, but that door is still open. He will turn 37 next April and will be 40 when the LA Games roll around, but he’s still one of the best in the business – when David signed a contract extension with his club, SV Kampong, earlier this year, to keep him there for a 13th season, they hailed him as ‘still the best goalkeeper in the Dutch league’.
‘I haven’t had any thoughts about international stuff. I haven’t made any decision on Ireland,’ he notes.
‘With the club season starting on September 14th I was straight back into it after Paris whereas the guys in Ireland weren’t back until the second week in October. There has been no time to think about it, as we were straight back into club commitments,’ he says, but does add there are still targets he wants to achieve. It’s why he doesn’t allow too much time to reflect on his achievements, that can wait until later on down the road. The fire is still burning.
‘I am not one of those guys who will rest on the success of the past. Don’t get me wrong, I look back on Paris with enormous pride, but because there are still things to be won and still things I want to achieve on a personal level, why should I bring up those moments of success now when I am still not done? That’s what retirement is for,’ he says with the authority of a man very much in look-forward mode.
The rollercoaster of life is also moving too fast right now. After the Olympics David was straight back into club action, Lyn returned to work, his older daughter Georgia started school and Ava was back into daycare. David, as well as juggling being a dad and husband with his professional hockey career, also started a new job as a lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science, sharing his knowledge and expertise on their International Sports, Management and Business course. He has a teaching background, having studied Physical Education & Biology at DCU, as well as a Master of Arts in Sport Business from Leeds Beckett University. It’s another challenge he has embraced, like he did when he set himself his personal Olympic target which he came, saw and conquered, in typical David Harte fashion.
