BY LEE MAGINNIS
HIGH flying Portadown Ladies Hockey Club are at the very top of the Ulster Premier League and have a young squad with exceptional ability. This was clearly illustrated in the recent selections for the Irish U18 and U16 squads with Portadown providing a raft of players.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that as well as having club and international commitments, along with all the associated training, many of these players are turning out for school sides also, all the while trying to balance the demands of being full time students.
Here we are taking a look at one of the young stars of the side, forward Evie Girvan, also the top scorer in the Legacy Wealth Management Ulster Premier League. Evie is blessed with superb speed, balance and skill and it is no surprise to find that she comes from a family steeped in sport.
“I’ve three older brothers who are all very sporty,” Evie relates. “They all play rugby and love football, too. My mum, Katrina, did athletics and played hockey up to having a family and my dad, James, played rugby for Ulster Schools and Dungannon 1st XV.”
Mum Katrina was actually a sprinter and Evie may well take after her, readily admitting that the dreaded long endurance runs would be her least favourite aspect of training. What she really enjoys, however, are competitive mini matches and shooting practice.
“I love being part of a team,” she says. “It’s great fun playing alongside girls who become your best friends. Hockey is fast and requires speed and skill. It’s exciting and I love how competitive it is.”
Playing in The Netherlands
Evie is really relishing playing at Portadown, her sport intertwined with friendships,” adding: “I knew a few of the girls at Portadown and was excited to be able to play with them. It’s a great club and we’ve a lot of fun playing there.”
Enjoying the sport with her friends at school and club was what caused Evie to really decide to concentrate on hockey when aged around 13 or 14. No doubt she has the natural ability to succeed in many other sports, but hockey has been the winner.
“I really don’t have time to take part in many other sports other than hockey, apart from those I play in school,” Evie admits, “though I enjoy netball, volleyball and athletics when I get the opportunity,”
Dungannon Royal School student Evie is not joking about the time commitments involved in playing hockey at her level, explaining: “I usually train twice a week for club and twice for school. I then play a school game usually on a Saturday and play for club on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons as well. Ulster or Ireland training then takes place on a Sunday.”
In what down time she has left, Evie likes to listen to music, enjoys travelling and tries to spend as much time with friends as possible.
She loves to play in front of a home crowd at Edenvilla but playing in Den Bosch HC’s Stadium in The Netherlands in 2023 with Portadown U15s is an experience that she describes as, ‘amazing!’
So what are Evie’s aims for 2025? She immediately said she wanted to play for the first time in the EY 2 Hockey League with Portadown, and guess what? Before we got the chance to ‘go to press’, she has already achieved that, playing in a 2-2 draw with Dublin side Muckross. The other part of her ambition is to win as many games as possible in the Ulster league.
“It would also be great to do well in the Premier League and hopefully to play for Ireland U18s in the coming months,” she says.
What about longer term?
“Just to play as well as I possibly can and keep on enjoying hockey. I’d like to do well in my GCSEs, do A Levels and be able to go to University. I’d also like to travel the world!”
We will be watching the career of this exciting player with great interest.
Evie in action (above and below)
