AerCap to sponsor LHA Performance/Development Programme
December 01, 2019
Leinster Hockey Association Press Notice
31st October 2019
“AerCap is very proud to announce a two-year sponsorship deal with Leinster Hockey, to support their ambitious high performance player and coach development programme for the Junior Age teams,” said Aengus Kelly, CEO of AerCap. “It is a particularly exciting time for Irish hockey with the recent success of the Women’s Hockey Team at the World Cup, inspiring a new generation of junior age boys and girls. We wish the Irish Women’s Hockey Team the very best of luck in the Olympic Qualifiers.”
Leinster Hockey has seen a growth in numbers across the province with demand for places in clubs rising year on year. Growth has been particularly strong amongst girls – and Leinster Hockey are bucking the trend with increasingly high numbers participating into their teens and through exam years. One of the key initiatives has been to allow players at club level to compete with and against their ‘school year’ group rather than limiting players to their age group.
The investment from AerCap will not just benefit the elite players, but will also support provincial plans to roll out player development programmes across the province in a number of regional centres - thus ensuring that a broader base of players will be included and that both Umpire and Coach development can be facilitated.
Leinster teams have enjoyed success at the Inter-Provincial tournaments and in recent years have seen increasing numbers of junior age players selected onto the national age group panels.
Next weekend there will be 10 Leinster players on the Irish women’s team selected for the Olympic qualifying matches against Canada.
These players are fantastic role models for our young players. They are helping to inspire more to play and to dream big. Leinster Hockey would like to wish the whole team the very best of luck and we look forward to following them all the way to Tokyo 2020. The young players who will emerge from development programmes, which the AerCap sponsorship will help to make possible, are already looking towards the Olympics in Paris 2024.
Ann Ronan
Inter Provincial Programme Director
Leinster Hockey Association
About AerCap
AerCap is the global leader in aircraft leasing with 1,360 owned, managed or on order aircraft in its portfolio, as of September 30, 2019. AerCap has one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Los Angeles, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle and Toulouse.
