Advertisement For Smiths Of DroghedaAdvertisement For O'Reilly Glass
Thursday, 16th January 2025

Drogheda boy selected to play ice hockey for Ireland in USA

Front Page

Matthew Maher pictured with Shannon Wright, the coach of Bedford Blues Hockey Club in Nova Scotia and part of his host family for his stay.

Fifteen year old Matthew Maher who lives in Tenure and is a student at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Drogheda, has been selected to play for the Ireland Ice hockey team in Michigan USA next month.

That is all very well and good, but the problem for Matthew is that, with all the travelling, it can be very expensive to compete. So he has launched an online fundraising campaign to help with the costs.

Matthew has been playing ice hockey since he was eleven years old when he was introduced to the sport by some Canadian friends of the family.

Matthew took to the ice and loved it from the very start, he never looked back. Once he finished his ice skating lessons he joined the junior Belfast Giants who are based in Dundonald ice rink in Belfast.

Advertisement For Drogheda Credit Union Love to Lend

He progressed quickly and at age 12 he played his first game for the Belfast Giants’ under 13s team which travels to Scotland monthly to take part in the league they are part of.

Around that time he also began training every Tuesday in Gormanston College with the Flying Ducks inline hockey team from Dublin. Inline hockey is a variation of ice hockey that is played indoors on inline roller blades/ skates.

Over time Matthew came to love Inline hockey as much as Ice Hockey and he still plays with the Flying Ducks club in Banchardstown. In 2022, when he was just 13, he travelled to Spain with the under 15 inline team and made four appearances.

Matthew Maher (fourth from right, back row) pictured last year with the Irish Ice Hockey team in Nova Scotia.

Last year he was selected to play for Team Ireland at a tournament in Nova Scotia in Canada. He travelled there without his parents but, as is usual in hockey, families from host countries welcome under age players into their homes for the week of their stay.

This cuts down on costs and they feed them breakfast and dinner and bring them to all the events and games taking place and is a brilliant experience in itself.

“We have no Ice rink in Ireland and no shops catering to the sport” said Matthew’s father, Frank. “It is also an unfunded sport which is why we do our best to fundraise and highlight the sport with the hope of one day getting a permanent ice rink in Ireland. Not just for ice hockey but other winter sports like figure skating, speed skating, and curling.”

The fundraiser aims to raise €1,200 or more to cover Matthew’s costs, anything over and above that goes to other kids on the team to assist fundraising, those costs included flights and transport to kalamazoo and possibly a NHL game while they are there , any other costs for food and excursions are additional.

CLICK HERE if you would like to make a contribution

Advertisement For Smiths Of Drogheda
Advertisement For O'Reilly Glass