Hockey

1^st XI winning the McCullough Cup

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Hockey at RBAI is associated with a long-standing tradition of success throughout Ulster and Ireland. Ever since the first game was played in the school in 1907, the Hockey Club has gone on to become one of the most successful in the country. The 1^st XI has won the Burney Cup (Ulster School’s Cup) 16 times and the McCullough Cup 16 times; a record within Ulster Hockey. Since the All-Ireland Schoolboys Championship began in 1982, RBAI have won the tournament 7 times and appeared in 12 finals, again a school's record. The school has also had a history of success at U13, U14, U15 and 2^nd XI levels, having won the respective cup competitions on numerous occasions.

RBAI has been well represented in Ulster and Ireland underage teams with a total of nineteen former pupils having gone on to represent Ireland and/or Great Britain at Senior International level. In 1972 Terry Gregg became the first former pupil to play Hockey at the Olympic Games when he represented Great Britain in Munich. This feat has since been repeated by four more players when Mark Gleghorne (Great Britain), Paul Gleghorne (Ireland), Michael Watt (Ireland) and John Jackson (Ireland) all played in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The school currently has nine pupils playing for Ulster underage teams, with four of them also representing Ireland at U16 and U18 level.

The RBAI Hockey Club plays matches and holds practices on the state-of-the-art water-based hockey pitch at Shaw’s Bridge. The pitch is used by RBAI teams on a daily basis and the school offers a strong consistent fixture list on Saturday mornings. The Hockey Club strives to expose pupils to the highest level of coaching expertise alongside an ethos of fun and enjoyment. Each year group receives coaching from fully qualified teachers within the school, high calibre external coaches and past pupils of the school who return to offer their knowledge to the next generation.

The 2022/23 season proved to be a successful one for the Hockey Club with the U13s reaching the semi-final of the Bannister Bowl, the U14s finishing runners-up in the Ferris Cup, the U15s winning the Richardson Cup, and the 2^nd XI reaching the semi-final of the Prior Shield. The 1^st XI also won both the Herbie Sharman Shield at the All-Ireland School’s Tournament and the McCullough Cup for the first time in 17 years. Unfortunately, they couldn’t repeat the same feat in the Burney Cup going out in the semi-final. On top of that we had a number of boys selected for Ulster for the interprovincial series with Michael Hollway, Jacob McIlhatton, John Cunningham, Fred Harrison, Matthew McAreavey and Robbie McAreavey all playing for Ulster U16s, George Palmer for the U18s, and Allen Lyons and Callum Ullah for the U21s. Michael, Jacob, John and Matthew were all then selected for the Ireland U16 squad to play in tournaments at Easter and during the summer.

U15 team (Richardson Cup)