DAVID Harte is proof that while form can be temporary, class is permanent.
After four years since his last international game for Ireland the two-time FIH World Goalkeeper of the Year is back in goal for the Green Machine.
He is 35 years old now, but the motivation and desire to play is as strong as ever, and add to his 229 Ireland caps.
‘I’m so excited to be back in green,’ Harte tells The Southern Star ahead of the European Championship II that Ireland are hosting at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, starting this Sunday (July 23rd-29th). ‘When you get to this stage of your career, you play for a lot more than just yourself; it’s family-based, so it’s for my wife, my kids.’
The chance to play for Ireland alongside his twin brother Conor was another motivation, and they did line out together in a recent series against Wales. Surprisingly, the hugely experienced Conor (with 259 caps) wasn’t included in the subsequent Irish squad for the Europeans. Instead, David will fly the Harte flag.
Another motivation to return is directly linked to one of his worst moments in sport: Ireland’s controversial loss to Canada in 2019 that denied them a place at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Harte sat out the two-legged play-off because of an ankle injury.
‘One of the lowest feelings I had was over in Canada and I said that won’t be the final chapter in my international hockey career; that was always something that kept me going and spurred me on,’ Harte added.
During his four years away from the Irish set-up the Ballinspittle man maintained contact, waiting for the right opportunity to return. Covid struck in early 2020. Then in May 2021 he suffered a 19-centimetre rupture of his left hamstring; that sidelined him for a lengthy spell. In late 2022 he could have rejoined the Irish team for the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup in South Africa, but David and his wife Lyn had a newborn Ava, a little sister for Georgia (3), and life was too busy.
‘I had to say no, I couldn’t just up and leave my wife in The Netherlands with a newborn and a toddler to look after,’ he explained, but the stars have aligned now and he’s back in green.
‘It’s brilliant to be back playing internationally. I had my first capped games recently against Wales, it had been a long time coming,’ he said, as preparations built for the European Championship II. This is an important tournament for the Irish men’s hockey team: a top two finish will put Ireland in contention for a spot at next summer’s Olympics in Paris.
‘The team went through quite a dip,’ Harte admitted. ‘The last major tournament that we qualified for was the World Cup in India in 2018. We missed out on the European Championship A division in 2019, missed out on the Tokyo Olympics, and then missed out on the European A division again this summer, which was a tough blow. We have been slowly picking ourselves back up. Hopefully we can kick on by doing the business in the European Championship II; it’s the B division we are hosting. We need to finish in the top two to secure an Olympic qualifying tournament ticket, which will be in January; it’s really important that we do that.’
Harte and Ireland will play the Czech Republic on Sunday (6pm), Ukraine on Tuesday (25th, 7.15pm) and the final pool game is against Portugal on Wednesday (26th, 7.15pm). Back in green he will be keen to remind everyone why he was twice voted the best goalkeeper in the world and show that he still has it.
