Lisa Jacob, the first Irishwoman to sign a professional contract with a Dutch club, has been appointed as Ireland women’s manager.
Jacob has plenty of credentials to help Ireland prepare for Tokyo 2020 after accruing 139 caps and scoring 17 goals in her Green Army career. She takes over from Arlene Boyles and will assist coach Sean Dancer.
Jacob signed a pro contract with Stichtsche in 2013 before retiring from international hockey the following year and taking up a contract to play with Ireland women’s rugby 7s squad for 18 months.
“I hope in my role I can support the players and staff to prepare, perform and fulfil their ambitious goals,” said Jacob.
She had previously worked as a coach developer with Hockey Ireland and has been assistant coach to the Irish U16 and U18 girl’s hockey teams.
Director of high performance, Adam Grainger said: “Lisa’s wide variety of high performance skills and hockey experiences will add to their programme as it intensifies towards the European Championship and Tokyo Olympics participation in 2021. The players and the staff look forward to working with Lisa.”
