Hockey: Ireland's Jill Orbinson announces her retirement

Orbinson Announces Retirement

Ireland’s sweeper, Jill Orbinson announced her retirement earlier this week. Orbinson who has been an outstanding defender for the Irish team since she earned her first cap against Scotland in 1998, has been a staple in the Irish set up marshalling the defence.

Orbinson, 29,  who has amassed 139 caps for Ireland made the decision to retire from the international stage before the build up towards the Olympic Qualifying Tournament commences "I have been thinking about giving up since the Europeans," she said. “Now is the right time for me, however I would have liked to have had a bit  longer to work with our coach  Gene Muller, his coaching has been exciting and I will miss both the girls and all the management.” she continued.

Orbinson has performed for Ireland on the world stage on numerous occasions including the at World Cup in Australia in 2002, the World Cup Qualifier in Rome 2006 and most recently the Europeans in Manchester August 2007. 

Orbinson has been a stalwart of the Irish defence and has displayed composure, confidence and skill in some of the most pressured of situations; skills that will no doubt be missed by the Irish set up. “Jill has been a fixture in this team as our sweeper for the last nine years. She is a courageous and skilled player whose retirement leaves us with a big hole to fill” commented coach Gene Muller.

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish Jill well on behalf of the team and management” he continued.

Jill was also keen to express her thanks for the support she has received during her international career “I would like to thank the IHA, ESB, Sports Council NI, Sports Institute of Northern Ireland and The Irish Sports Council for their continued support particularly in the last couple of years, which has been invaluable and enabled me to take time out of work to commit to training.”

Much like the reasons Captain Caulfield retired, the commitment that is required by these players is often a huge contributing factor to retirement
“The amount of commitment required to play for Ireland is huge and after nine years I felt that I was unable to give that commitment any longer."

Orbinson, a physiotherapist will continue playing hockey for her club Pegasus, with whom last year she did the double, winning the ESB Irish Senior Cup and the ESB All Ireland Club Championships.

Upon hearing about Jill’s retirement, Chairman John Dennis was quick to comment “Jill has been a great international athlete and she will be missed. Her commitment and dedication to the game coupled with her skill are to be admired. On behalf of the IHA I would like to wish her all the best in the future and we look forward to seeing her playing for Pegasus this season.”