Double Cup winning success built on RS Armagh’s solid foundations, says head of hockey Judith Knox

Racing out of her net to close down the angle, the Armagh stopper flung herself down to block Emily Adamson’s one-on-one effort that looked destined to level the scores and force a penalty shoot-out for the title.

Instead, Cupples made the stop, Armagh would triumph 1-0 thanks to Scarlett Taylor’s third quarter penalty corner strike to defend their title and, watching on from the sidelines, the school’s Head of Hockey Judith Knox couldn’t have been prouder.

“Vicky actually had something personal with that,” Judith explains.

“Whenever they were in third year in the Junior Cup Semi-Final, we played Killicomaine and we were the better side that day but just could not score.

“We lost on a penalty shoot-out and Vicky was devastated. She’s worked so hard since then.”

As co-captains Annie Cunningham and Ellie Stevenson lifted the Belfast Telegraph trophy for the second season in a row, Knox was left to reflect on another successful season for her girls, one that isn’t over yet.

Not only are the First XI headed to the Kate Russell All-Ireland Championship — which is being held in Armagh — in a couple of weeks’ time, but before then the Royal School have plenty of Finals still to contest as not only are their Seconds into their Cup decider, but so are their Thirds. And, amazingly, their Fourths. Even if they were to lose all three Finals, it would still be a remarkable run of success for the school to be involved in so many games with silverware on the line.

It is rare for a team to have their Firsts go to three consecutive Finals let alone have all four of their senior sides playing in their respective Cup Finals.

For Knox, who now focuses her own coaching primarily on the junior school having previously been in charge of the seniors, she sees their squads go through the entire school and can see the success coming through the ranks, so this kind of run is no shock to her.

“I have to thank Christine Russell for that and the work she does in the local primary schools. She goes around the schools and gets them all enthused,” praises Knox, a former player herself with Ballymoney.

“Then they go to club at mini level, train on a Saturday morning and then come to us. There were whispers of a great group coming through but we didn’t expect two years in a row. The current Upper Sixth were so tiny when they came in!

“But the Lower Sixths we knew were going to be special, I don’t think they lost a match in the junior school at all. It was a shame they never got to play in the Junior Cup because of Covid.

“And then the group below that, they won the Junior Cup and the June Smith (All-Ireland Championship). The group has just grown in confidence, they were a dream to coach, and now they’ve shot up to whatever team they play for in the senior school.”

It helps that the school now have their own set of modern pitches, opened last year, that they can train and play on, but Knox has also seen the benefits of a strong coaching staff around her, including First XI head coach Greg Thompson.

As well as that, the drive to play and compete is high at Armagh. Despite only having an intake of around 50 to 60 girls in each year, Knox reveals that they have found around half of them want to play hockey, which means it’s not hard to fill four senior teams and has actually had them considering whether it is worth setting up a Fifths, too.

“We’ve got eight coaches in the school now compared to three or four when I started. It gives us more strength in depth and I think that’s why the Threes and Fours are doing so well,” she continues.

“The girls have high expectations for themselves and not just in hockey, whatever they do. The parents always ask us how we get up for training every Saturday morning and, honestly, they’re worth it.”

Unsurprisingly, the recent run of trophy success has only lit a fire under the coaches and the teams coming up through the junior school to be the next ones booking their passage to Stormont PlayBall.

And with another set of talented players already making their presence felt within the school, Knox is confident the Armagh Royal School conveyor belt will keep going and they should remain a major force.

“We reckon we could challenge for the next two years at least,” insists Knox.

“Our Under-12s won the Junior All-Ireland two years ago, so we know they’re good and they’re going to come through. After that, we’ll see.

“They’ve watched these girls do this and they have that desire. They do have potential, we’ll just see what happens.

“And we’re looking forward to hosting the Kate Russell. The girls were hurt in the way they lost last year, by just the one goal (to Old Wesley, Dublin), so they’re determined to go one better this time!”

And as far as the approach goes? It will be the same as it always is — although Knox admits they are aiming big by thinking about what else they can provide to enhance their hockey programme.

“It isn’t all about the winning Cups. It’s not that we start the season thinking we have to win Cups. Yes, we do want to win Cups but we want to see them develop, and especially in the younger school we want them just to enjoy it,” she adds.

“That’s why we have a Third XI and a Fourth XI, so that as many girls can play as possible and we actually don’t have enough pitch space for all of them.

“We’d love more pitch space, more coaches.”