Tuesday, 15th May 2007 at 8:36 pm

Hockey’s Symmo hits 27

Feverpitcher keeps a close eye on South African sportsmen abroad, from the bigger names - Ernie, Benni, Ryk - to those who might not be quite so familiar. Such as hockey superstar Ian Symons, the flame-haired Olympian who’s now playing professionally in Dublin’s fast-growing league. But while he’s had quite a career, there’s one glaring gap in Symmo’s hockey CV…

…and that’s a run with the Mighty Dodos, the planet’s leading celebrity hockey team, and of whom Feverpitcher is official media partner. Symmo has a strong link to the squad, elder sister Miranda the official Dodos physio, and little sister Justine living with Mighty Dodos star winger Mike ‘Alice’ Dabrowski (although keep it quiet; her parents don’t know yet). But despite a number of pre-season trials, and a couple of games with the reserves, Symmo just never quite made the grade, and had to be content with playing for Western Province and South Africa.

So will Symmo ever realise his greatest hockey dream? At 27 yesterday, he’s not getting any younger, but he still has a couple of years to play with. And given his chief weakness was an inability to get past the third Amstel at Dodos training, a spell in Dublin could be the perfect platform to launch a late assault on the Dodos, and true sporting immortality. The hockey community will be watching carefully; for now, Feverpitcher wishes Symmo a very happy birthday.