Dec 02,2024
The run up to Christmas and New Year's is always a hectic time but for Ireland men's national team hockey goalkeeper David Harte, this Yuletide will be especially busy.
That's because the two-time Olympian will be half the world away, playing in the revived Hockey India League, which will run from 28 December to 1 February.
The Cork native previously played in the competition for four consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2017 before it fell by the wayside.
But when it became clear that Hockey India were bringing it back, Harte jumped at the chance to return.
"I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences there. And let's be honest about it, as a hockey player goes, you don't have many opportunities like this in your career or your sporting life to financially earn what you can over there in that short space of time,"
Watch the full interview above
The main downside for Harte is the wrench of being away over Christmas.
"The biggest hurdle for me will be missing Christmas with the family for the first time ever and especially the two small ones but eventually daddy will explain when they're a bit older to understand the reason why he's doing it, for our future and for the family," he says.
"But there will be tough times sitting somewhere in India on 25 December thinking I wouldn't mind being back home in Ireland."
The format of the league takes inspiration from cricket's Indian Premier League in the sense that it is a competition run over a short space of time and made up of eight franchises representing some of India's major metropolises.
The squads themselves are put together with the cream of the crop of local talent as well as a dollop of the world's top players like Harte.
Players were assigned to their franchises via an October auction, with Harte being picked up by the Tamil Nadu Dragons, based in the city of Chennai on the southern tip of India.
Harte and the Dragons' other overseas stars will fly out to Chennai in mid-December for a crucial training camp that will both allow the team to gel together as quickly as possible but also - given that this year's competition will be confined to two host cities in the country's north-east - present an opportunity to spend valuable time getting to know the region they're representing and pressing the flesh with local fans.
Building a relationship with supporters was something Harte was able to experience in his original run in the league.
All four of his previous seasons were in Mumbai - first with the Magicians in 2014 and then Dabang from 2015 to 2017, including a "special" campaign when his twin brother and fellow Ireland international Conor was a team-mate. The goalkeeper's popularity got to a point that some supporters released a music video in his honour.
But immersing himself in the local culture was the most rewarding aspect of his time in Mumbai, such as rubbing shoulders with Bollywood superstars and navigating the city's vibrant streets in a once-in-a-lifetime mode of transport.
"We were making our way to one of the first games in the Hockey India League a number of years back with Dabang Mumbai and there was so much traffic we ended up having to get a horse and carriage to it," he recalled.
"It was the only quickest way to get across on the footpath, so things like that will definitely stay etched in my memory for the rest of my life."
An Indian winter will only be the latest staging point in a frenetic 2024 for Harte. The summer was dominated by the experience of playing at a second Olympics, with Paris 2024 being "everything you could possibly imagine" for a veteran of Ireland's Rio 2016 adventure.
"It was just ten out of ten, it was absolutely fantastic," he says, with the opportunity to mix with sportspeople from other disciplines particularly memorable around the Olympic Village.
The heat - and this writer can attest to that - at the Yves du Manoir Stadium where the hockey competitions were held, was also unforgettable.
"I had an ice bucket with me for all five games, topped up regularly by our team manager," he recalls.
"I wear a WHOOP (watch) on my wrist, kind of like a smart reader and it showed me that I'd basically hit one of the highest zones for the maximum amount of time that I've ever done in a warm-up/match and the most amount of calories burned."
Earlier in the year, Harte demonstrated his evergreen nature by winning a third Hoofdklasse title with his club Kampong SV, with 2023-24 particularly special as it was his first league triumph since becoming a parent.
Fluent in Dutch and a popular figure in Utrecht given he has spent almost a decade-and-a-half there, it has become a home from home, second only to county Cork. But into his late 30s and with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Harte is not making any steadfast decisions about his short-to-medium-term future at Kampong or with Ireland.
The one thing that is crystal clear is the destination where his longer-term future lies.
"Right now, no real decisions to make with regards to calling time with my national team career or calling time on the club career," Harte says.
"But I know, for example, that home will be calling on the island of Ireland sometime eventually. My wife's from Belfast so I know she'll be trying to get back there eventually at some point in time and I said to her after the support that she's given me - and knowing the future of my daughters going to the likes of primary school - it's also my turn to return the favour and follow her."
Watch the full interview above via YouTube.
