September Check-In with Róisín Upton

It’s been a busy few weeks since Róisín Upton returned home from the World Cup. From getting back on the pitch, to delivering sessions in clubs, presenting at Hockey Ireland’s Coaching Conference and already planning what comes next for UP, September has been full-on.

We caught up with Róisín to talk about life after the World Cup, saying yes to things that feel a little scary, what UP is really trying to build and some exciting plans for 2027.

Wow, it has been a busy return to UP activities since coming back from the World Cup. How are you feeling?

Busy, but really energised by it all.

It was important to me that we prioritised getting back out into clubs this September. We had so much amazing support throughout the World Cup and there has been a real buzz around hockey, for me, it was about taking that excitement and hopefully using it to lift as many people UP as we could.

The last few weekends have been brilliant. Getting out to clubs, meeting young players and coaches and just seeing how much people genuinely love the game has reminded me why we started doing this in the first place.

And what else has been happening with you away from UP?

Quite a lot!

I recently took on a promotion at work which, if I’m being completely honest, felt a little overwhelming alongside rehabbing my injury, trying to get back playing club hockey as soon as possible and wanting to keep building UP.

But I also realised that I need to practise some of the things I want UP to stand for.

Sometimes that means saying yes to opportunities that feel a little scary. It means working out what actually needs to be prioritised rather than trying to do everything at once, and being quite deliberate about how I use my time.

I map out my days, but I’m getting better at making sure there is downtime and fun in there too. I know I’m at my best when there’s some balance.

I got to go to Katie Taylor’s fight with three of my best friends recently and there were honestly a few moments where I had tears in my eyes. Not just because of Katie’s talent or what she has achieved, but because of the impact one person can have on so many others.

I came away feeling really inspired and thinking, we can do more through UP through our amazing team, so there have been a few ideas swirling among everyone and excited to see how they develop in the coming months!

For anyone who still isn’t quite sure… is UP just bucket hats and water bottles?

The bucket hats definitely became a bit of a fan favourite at the World Cup!

And of course we love seeing people wearing the merchandise because every time you spot that UP logo somewhere it feels like our little community is growing, which is exactly what we want.

But UP is about so much more than that.

At its heart, it is about people and connection. We want to create experiences that bring people together, help them learn and hopefully leave them feeling a little more confident or inspired than when they arrived.

Over the last few weekends I’ve been running sessions in clubs and some of my favourite moments have been really simple ones,  seeing the pure love people have for hockey, watching someone improve from the start of a session to the end, or seeing a player leave wanting to go away and practise something they’ve just learned.

That’s what we want to create.

A genuine love of learning. Being willing to try something, get it wrong, reset and go again.

Because sport will give you plenty of highs and plenty of lows. Having people around you who support you through both is incredibly important.

That sense of education, empowerment, team and community is what we want UP to represent.

You also presented at Hockey Ireland’s Coaching Conference. What was that experience like?

I loved it. Phil Oakley at Hockey Ireland put so much work into the conference and it was brilliant to see so many coaches coming together to learn and share ideas.

Dave Passmore was the main speaker,  Dave is an internationally renowned coach and someone who has been a mentor and friend to me for many years, so getting the opportunity to present alongside people of that calibre was pretty special.

One thing I really enjoyed from the day was that it wasn’t just people sharing success stories.

There were conversations about things coaches find difficult, areas where they want more support and things we can collectively do better.

That’s hugely important.

We are really keen for UP to work alongside organisations like Hockey Ireland, Local Sports Partnerships, clubs, schools and coaches to create more opportunities for people across the wider sporting community.

There is so much knowledge within sport. The more we can share it, the stronger the whole community becomes.

Accessibility seems to be something you’re thinking about a lot with UP too?

Definitely.

One of the things we’ve been working on behind the scenes is identifying funding opportunities that clubs and schools may be able to access when they want to work with UP.

We never want the answer simply to be, “Here’s what we offer and here’s the price. Take it or leave it”

Every club and every community is different, so we want to understand what they actually need and then tailor what we do around that.

A big part of that is also looking at ways of creating sustainable funding.

We don’t want these experiences to become one-hit wonders where a club manages to fund one session and that’s the end of it.

If we can help clubs find ways to build programmes that continue, develop their coaches and create opportunities for more young people over time, that’s far more powerful.

And you’re already looking ahead to 2027?

We are!

Our first UP Overnight Camp this summer was something we learned a huge amount from and the response was incredible.

We also know there were families who really wanted to come but couldn’t because holidays were already booked by the time we launched.

So we’ve listened.

Next summer we’ll be running additional overnight camp opportunities and, this time, people will have much more notice.

We’ll be releasing Save the Dates in the coming weeks, with the aim of opening bookings this side of Christmas.

That feels like a big step for us.

There are lots of ideas being worked on behind the scenes and plenty we still have to figure out, but that’s probably part of what makes building UP so exciting.

We’re learning, listening and evolving as we go.

The goal underneath all of it hasn’t changed:

Create great experiences. Build genuine connections. And find more ways to Lift People UP.

If your club or school are keen to hear more, please email heyteamup@gmail.com