Collie McGurk's legacy lives on in Lavey's new generation of hurlers

By John Harrington

Colm ‘Collie’ McGurk’s death in 2022 at the age of 55 was a devastating loss not just for his family but for everyone associated with Lavey GAA club.

Club chairperson, Paddy Chivers, said of McGurk after his passing that "Pound for pound he was probably the bravest Lavey man of all time,” and nobody quibbled with that assessment.

In his playing days with the club McGurk won one All-Ireland senior club football championship, two Ulster senior club football championships, four Derry senior football championships and a remarkable 12 Derry senior hurling championships.

When his own playing days ended his gave back to the club in a myriad of ways and his legacy still lives on in a very real sense because the Lavey team that will contest Saturday’s AIB Ulster Club Junior Hurling Championship Final are ‘Collie’s Boys’.

The last big project he undertook with the club was to reinvigorate underage hurling after years of the small ball code withering on the vine.

Having won 12 county titles between 1985 and 2002 they had to wait until 2010 for their next and haven’t even appeared in a final since 2011, with the glory days now well and truly in the rear view mirror.

McGurk was determined to do something about that and along with Martin Convery took charge of a generation of underage players who now form the bulk of the young team managed by Convery that will contest Saturday’s provincial final against Burt of Donegal.

“We worked with them since they played in summer-camps and right the way up from U12 so we've worked with this generation of players over a long period of time,” Convery told GAA.ie.

“Collie died in the summer of 2022 and the minor team he managed went on that year to win the Ulster League, Táin Óg League, and Derry League and Championship.

“We wanted to win everything we could that year because of Collie. For young fellas it brought on that wee bit of pressure that young fellas of that age don't usually have to experience.

“We had to deal with a fear of losing because we wanted to win it for Collie so much but thankfully we won the minor championship in Derry that year and the two minor championships after it again.

“There's about a dozen of that (2022 U17) team that has come through to be on our senior panel now. Seven of the team would still be U20 and there's a couple of players who are 23/24 and they would be regarded as the elder statesmen of the team because there are so many fellas younger than them.”

McGurk was an architect by profession so knew the value of good foundations.

He and Convery were very much of the same opinion that if they were to develop a new generation of capable hurlers in the club they’d have to focus first on the basic skills and build the players up gradually.

“We put a big emphasis on the quality of underage coaching,” says Convery. “It was all about coaching the young players to do the right things even if it took a wee bit longer.

“Just coach them to do things the right way and then as they get a wee bit older you get the results from it rather than take short-cuts when they're young.

“95 per cent of our players would be dual players and there's lads who would be very strong at football so there had to be an emphasis on coaching and doing the thing right and managing players' workloads and make sure that every time they went out onto a pitch they were able to be the best they could be.

“If you're doing the right things players will realise it and parents will realise it and they will buy into it. Whereas if you're just doing the handy thing or taking short-cuts you'll realise that when you come up against a well-coached team it doesn't matter how big or fast you are or how good you think you are, you're going to be caught out.

“That's why the emphasis was always on proper coaching. Before we won those minor titles we won a few underage titles in the younger grades but we weren't dominating at underage level until we got to minor.

“We worked hard on the basics to get the foundation right and then that eventually stands to you when the players get a wee bit older.”

After years becalmed in the doldrums there’s a real energy about hurling in Lavey again and the club’s supporters have taken this talented young team to their hearts.

“People enjoy supporting their team when they're doing the right things and they're playing well and playing in a way that they know what they're actually doing,” says Convery.

“If people see progress, they'll support you, and this team has given people in the club a good buzz, surely.

“The players are enjoying it too. The older ones have been rejuvenated by the whole thing as well with the freshness coming through from the younger players. There have definitely been positives, surely.”

Saturday’s Final against a strong Burt team studded with inter-county players that won the Donegal senior championship just last year will post a serious test for Convery’s young team.

But if they can get enough ball into accurate shooters like Riain Collins, Conor Melaugh, and Fintan Bradley, then Convery’s young team are capable of getting the better of their more experienced opponents.

Winning an Ulster title at this stage in their development would be great validation of the work that he and Collie McGurk did to mould this generation of young players, and set them up nicely for the years to come.

“Absolutely it would,” says Convery. “When you think where our senior team has been for the last three or four years to then all of a sudden now go on a bit of a run and hopefully have something to show for it, that would be great surely.

“For the development of our players, something like this couldn't come at a better time for us.

“We know we still have a long way to go though in terms of where we want to get to because there's a lot of stiff competition in Derry. But I would rather be working with a group of players who are 19/20 and coming rather than 31 or 32. We know we have something to work with here.

“We need to keep these lads together and that's what this run has helped us to do. It has kept them hurling together playing regular games of senior hurling against tougher opposition every week and gotten them into a winning habit.

“By the time the Derry championship comes around next year they'll be a year older and a wee bit more mature. We're bound to be better next year because of the experience we've gotten this year.

“It's definitely been good for them, but when you get opportunities like this you have to make the most of them.”