Shirley McCay (born 7 June 1988) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the

2018 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England. Defending champions ...

final. McCay has played in the

Women's Irish Hockey League The Women's Irish Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by Hockey Ireland that features women's teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the A ...

for Old Alex, Ulster Elks and

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

. She was a member of the Ulster Elks team that won two successive Irish Senior Cup titles in 2014–15 and 2015–16. Since 2015 she has been Ireland's most capped women's field hockey international. According to some sources she is also "Ireland's most capped sportswoman in any code" and the holder of "the most international caps by any Irish athlete (male or female) across any sport".

Early years, family and education

McCay's hometown is Drumquin,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

. She is the daughter of Robert and Hazel McCay. She has a sister, Lindsay. She was educated at

Omagh Academy Omagh Academy is a grammar school in Omagh, County Tyrone, located at 21-23 Dublin Road. The school currently has 670 pupils. The school is one of the top performing grammar schools in Northern Ireland and is ranked one of the top 30 Grammar Scho ...

and

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The insti ...

Domestic teams

Omagh Academy

While attending

, McCay was encouraged to play

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

by her PE teacher, Mary Swann. She was captain of the academy under-14 team which won the Ulster Junior Schoolgirls' Cup. In 2005 she was a member of the Omagh Academy team that won the

Ulster Senior Schoolgirls' Cup The Ulster Senior Schoolgirls' Cup is an annual competition competed for by schools affiliated to the Ulster Hockey Association, a branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition has been in existence since 1907 and is currently sponsored ...

and the Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships. In addition to playing for Omagh Academy, McCay also played senior club field hockey with Omagh and Randalstown.

Ulster Elks

McCay first played for the Ulster Elks during the 2008–09 season. She re-joined the Elks for the 2014–15 season, teaming up with among others, Megan Frazer and

Stephanie Jameson Stephanie Jameson (born January 23, 1982) is a former Canadian women's field hockey international. Between 2012 and 2017 she held the record as Canada's most capped women's field hockey international. She represented Canada at the 2002, 2006 a ...

. She subsequently helped the Elks win the Irish Senior Cup in both 2014–15 and 2015–16. After the Elks were relegated from the

at the end of the 2016–17 season, McCay switched to

KHC Dragons

During the 2009–10 season McCay played for KHC Dragons.

Old Alex

Between 2010 and 2014 McCay played for Old Alex in the

. While playing for Old Alex, McCay also studied journalism at

Pegasus

Since 2017–18 McCay has played for

in the

Ireland international

McCay represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at Under-16 and Under-18 levels before making her senior debut. She made her senior debut in January 2007 against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In April 2011 she captained Ireland as she made her 100th senior appearance against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In March 2015 McCay was a member of the Ireland team that won a

2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 The 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 was held from February to March 2015. A total of 24 teams competing in 3 events took part in this round of the tournament playing for 7 berths in the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League ...

tournament hosted in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, defeating Canada in the final after a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. On 11 June 2015 McCay made her 200th senior Ireland appearance at the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals in a game against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In July 2015 she was also a member of the Ireland team that won the

2015 Women's EuroHockey Championship II The 2015 Women's EuroHockey Championship II was the 6th edition of the Women's EuroHockey Championship II, a field hockey championship for women. It was held from the 19th until the 27th of July 2015 in Prague, Czech Republic. Qualified teams ...

. In the final against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, McCay made her 209th senior Ireland appearance. As a result, she became Ireland's most capped women's field hockey international, moving one ahead of Nikki Symmons. In January 2017 she was also a member of the Ireland team that won a 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 tournament in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, defeating

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

3–0 in the final. In August 2017 she made her 250th appearance at the

2017 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship The 2017 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship was the 13th edition of the women's field hockey championship organised by the European Hockey Federation. It was held from 18–26 August 2017 in the Wagener Stadium, Amstelveen, Netherlands. Th ...

. McCay represented Ireland at the

and was a prominent member of the team that won the silver medal. She featured in all of Ireland's games throughout the tournament, including the pool games against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the quarter-final against India, the semi-final against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the final against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. During the tournament McCay scored against United States and was named player of the match in the pool game against India. Before the World Cup, McCay announced she would probably retire after the tournament. However following Ireland's success, she said she would reconsider. She announced her retirement from international play on 9 September 2021. McCay was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

for services to hockey and to the community in Northern Ireland.

Field hockey coach

Since 2013 McCay has worked as a coach for the

Ulster Hockey Union The Ulster Hockey Union is the governing body for field hockey in Ulster. It is affiliated to Hockey Ireland. It organises a number of leagues and cup competitions for clubs and schools in the province. These include the Ulster Senior League, t ...

Honours

;

Women's Hockey World Cup The Women's FIH Hockey World Cup is the field hockey World Cup competition for women, whose format for qualification and the final tournament is similar to the men's. It has been held since 1974. The tournament has been organized by the Internat ...

**''Runners Up'':

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Women's FIH Hockey World League The Women's FIH Hockey World League was an international women's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation. The league also served as a qualifier for the 2014 Women's Hockey World Cup, 2014 and 2018 Women's Hocke ...

**''Winners'': 2015 Dublin, 2017 Kuala Lumpur *Women's EuroHockey Championship II **''Winners'':

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I The Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I was an international field hockey tournament, played every two years. It was introduced in 2002 by the International Hockey Federation in order to broaden hockey's competitive base at world level. The Cham ...

**''Runners Up'':

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Women's FIH Hockey Series **''Runners Up'': 2019 Banbridge *Women's Four Nations Cup **''Runners Up'':

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

*Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier **''Runners Up'':

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

; Ulster Elks * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2014–15, 2015–16 ;

*Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships **''Winners'': 2005 *

**''Winners'': 2004–05 *Ulster Junior Schoolgirls' Cup **''Winners'': ?

References

External links

*
Shirley McCay
at

Hockey Ireland Hockey Ireland, previously known as the Irish Hockey Association, is the governing body for field hockey in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organising both the Ireland men's national field hockey team and t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCay, Shirley 1988 births Living people Ireland international women's field hockey players Female field hockey players from Northern Ireland Irish female field hockey players British female field hockey players Women's Irish Hockey League players KHC Dragons players Irish expatriate field hockey players Female field hockey midfielders Female field hockey defenders Irish field hockey coaches People educated at Omagh Academy Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Field hockey players from Northern Ireland Irish field hockey players Sportspeople from County Tyrone Irish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic field hockey players for Ireland Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century sportswomen from Northern Ireland