Blake – the right man for the top job

Michael Blake has been appointed high performance manager and chef d'equipe to Ireland's senior show jumping team ahead of this all important Olympic year.

Michael Slavin

8 January 2020

Michael Blake has been announced at the senior Irish show jumping high performance director \ Sportsfile

Challenge is no stranger to Clare’s Michael Blake who was recently appointed high performance manager and chef d’equipe to Ireland’s senior show jumping team for the tough season ahead.On many occasions down the years I have seen his tenacity, persistence and determination against the odds on display – such as when he hosted a national grand slam at his home centre in Tuamgraney. Through both the O’Briens and the Blakes of his mum and dad those attributes are certainly in his DNA. His aunt Edna O’Brien truly exhibited them as she rose to the pinnacle of international literature.

Challenge is no stranger to Clare’s Michael Blake who was recently appointed high performance manager and chef d’equipe to Ireland’s senior show jumping team for the tough season ahead.

On many occasions down the years I have seen his tenacity, persistence and determination against the odds on display – such as when he hosted a national grand slam at his home centre in Tuamgraney. Through both the O’Briens and the Blakes of his mum and dad those attributes are certainly in his DNA. His aunt Edna O’Brien truly exhibited them as she rose to the pinnacle of international literature.

Challenges ahead

These traits are no longer Michael’s own but now belong to Ireland and the destiny of our senior show jumping squad during 2020. As always in an Olympic year, the challenges are three fold – a good Aga Khan performance, retaining our place in the FEI Nations Cup division I and of course delivering the all but unreachable goal of Ireland’s first ever Olympic team show jumping medal.

But there is another challenge which is a bit more subtle facing Blake. That is the bringing together of our disparate diaspora of riders and blending them into a focused force with a shared dream.

To be successful he will have to bring his talents and enthusiasm to bear on the key message that the greatest part of each rider’s legacy in the long run rests not so much on individual successes but rather on what they have done for their country’s team. If we look back on the legacy of the likes of Tommy Wade, Seamus Hayes or the dream team of Eddie, Con, James and Paul; it is their team successes that make them Irish legends.

Professional pull

Just as with all current professional sports, the pull of lucrative individual success in modern day show jumping is great. The attraction of €1m Grand Slam or six figure Global Champions Tour is huge. Di Lampard discovered this when she took over as the first ever lady chef d’equipe of the British team. But as was proven in last August’s Aga Khan she found a way to have some of her top ranked rides put the Union Jack before all else when it truly mattered.

Michael Blake has the vision, ambition, spark and enthusiasm within him to do that for the Irish team. Above all else he has to be his own man, beholden only to the challenge he has taken on.

Stallion inspections 2020

This year’s HSI Stallion Inspections take place at Cavan EC on Tuesday, 10 March. Entries must be in by Friday 17 January. You can contact Antonette Doran at 045 854508 or Lorraine McMahonat 045 854517. Application forms are online at horsesportireland.ie. For inclusion in the Approved Stallion Book 2020 entries must also be in by 17 January.