Boyne Cup organised to retain and develop hurlers in Meath

By Cian O’Connell

Retaining and developing players are some of the main aims in Meath GAA’s innovative Boyne Cup tournament for U13 hurlers.

Twenty clubs are participating in the winter competition at the National Indoor Arena in Abbottstown.

Earlier in the year, Meath GAA piloted the event at U14 level, but the focus is now on the winter programme for U13 hurlers with several dates scheduled.

Meath GAA Head of Games Christine O’Brien is encouraged about the positive response. “We've focused it on U13s over five divisions,” she explains. “We’ve six dates in Abbottstown, every division plays on two dates. For instance, two divisions came up on November 9 and we will have them back then on the first weekend in January.

“We'd two dates in November and we've four weekends in a row in January. That will culminate in the finals on the first weekend of February. That will be five divisions playing finals. We've 20 teams at the moment; they're divided into five divisions of four teams.

“Everybody gets two dates where they get four hours of hurling, six games in total. The top two in each division, we will invite them back for February 1 for the finals.

O’Brien is delighted that clubs have embraced the initiative in such an enthusiastic manner. “We've got complete buy in, it is every club,” O’Brien says.

“In the pilot we'd only 14 at that stage, but we knew ourselves doing the pilot it was just to trial it out. We were trying to trial the rules and the competition format on what we were doing. We knew we wouldn't get everybody in, there were other competitions happening.

“The fact we went U14, in hindsight, we were thinking that we need to come back down an age group lower, just to make it fit into our fixtures schedule in Meath. We'd have a very busy fixtures schedule, I don't always agree that all the games are what we want, I think we need a little bit more time for development. That is exactly what this competition is.

“It just allows us to run a development competition that aligns with our new hurling pathway. We're not clashing with other fixtures; the players aren't playing anything else at this time of the year. It has worked out perfectly for us.”

Young hurlers and club coaches are enjoying the experience according to O’Brien. “It is a perfect fit, at this time of the year you'd be going out in muck and desperate conditions to hurl, but to go up there with nothing to affect your hurling, you just go to play,” she says.

“The condition is the same every day we go up, it is indoor, it is perfect. It is brilliant. I even saw the players, the first day they walked in the door, they were just in awe at the venue.

“The venue has really got a buy in from the clubs, the parents and coaches are delighted, never mind the players. It is such a spectacle for coaches and parents to witness, it has been very positive.”

Close to 250 hurlers are getting opportunities to play in the nine a side format and O’Brien is adamant about the significant benefits for clubs. “Coming up with the idea, we had our objectives and reasons why we wanted this competition,” she says.

“One of them would be playing for your club and the pride of parish. We'd have a number of amalgamated clubs across competitions in Meath, and we just felt having a nine a side competition, every club should be able to field on their own.

“If you're a Boardsmill or Rathmolyon, rather than amalgamating for some of the competition, you can actually field on your own. Let the lads play, let everybody play, getting full games.

“That was one thing we wanted to do, to make sure we'd that pride of parish, and an opportunity to play for their clubs. The second reason was having a development competition; we wanted to align something to our new hurling pathway.”

O’Brien highlights the relevance and value of working on a style of play. “We're looking at this short game, keeping possession, playing through the lines,” she adds. “We'd have started this concept throughout hurling coaching conferences at the beginning of this year.

“This was just a follow on, to formulate a competition that'd have the players focusing on those areas. The third reason was to have a meaningful competition that would actually lead to player retention. We're all aspiring - in a lot of our coach education workshops - to have as many as possible for as long as possible.

“That is exactly what this does, it gives every player opportunities to play. Nobody is being left at home or left by the wayside by not getting to play. It is focused on that age group, players born in 2012, the only reason to bring players that are younger, born in 2013, is if they didn't have nine.

“Some of the clubs genuinely wouldn't have nine players aged 13, they might have to bring a couple of 12-year-olds.

“They all have the focus that the 13-year-olds must play ahead of them; you only bring a 12-year-old to make up teams. They will get their opportunity next year. In fairness to the clubs, they've really bought into it, and it has been very positive.”