Connacht hurling's greenshoots are thriving

By John Harrington

Boyle and Tulsk from Roscommon, Ballinamore from Leitrim, and Eastern Harps from Sligo were among the 45 new hurling units established in 2024 or 2025 who successfully applied for hurling starter packs last year.

On Monday, August 3rd, all four clubs were among the 32 from Connacht who participated in the annual Go Games blitz in Croke Park.

It was both a reward for the hard work they and other clubs like them who were there on the day have done to grow the game, and also an incentive to keep their shoulder to the wheel.

The day also highlighted how the GAA is committed to sustaining the momentum of fledgling clubs after helping them get out of the blocks.

“The ultimate aim of it is they get a good day out, they play in Croke Park, they get a tour of the stadium, so it’s a great club-building exercise,” says Connacht GAA Director of Hurling, Damien Curley.

“My own club were involved last year and the excitement is palpable. When the bus turns the corner and they see Croke Park there's a big cheer. There's just great excitement.

“It was a very enjoyable day on Monday. Great to see parents, coaches, kids, all arriving and really enjoying their day out.

“It’s an extra link in the chain for those clubs who benefited from the starter pack and it's great to see that bit of progression for them and for the clubs to have that little bit of a carrot.”

For Boyle from Roscommon, the trip to Croke Park marked another significant milestone in the growth of the game in their club.

Over the course of the last three years great work has been done to develop the game from the grassroots up and now the club fields teams from U8 up to U12.

This year Boyle has established itself as a regional Hurling Hub and welcomes in players from neighbouring clubs that don’t have a hurling outlet.

Thanks to hurling zealots like Cormac Mullen, Marie Kelly, Conan Cosgrove and current hurling club chairperson, Damien Coman, to name just some, Boyle GAA are now successfully providing a hurling and camogie outlet in their part of Roscommon for any young player interested in playing.

“Camogie started in the club around 10 years ago and has a really good footing and the push with the hurling was to also give the young lads in the area a chance to play the sport,” says Damien Coman.

“Realistically, it's never been about winning county championships or anything like that, it's just kind of getting that experience. It's great to be able to give them the culture and sport that is hurling.”

One of the big barriers to starting a hurling club from scratch in an area where there is little tradition of the game is the costs associated with buying all the equipment required.

For Boyle, the opportunity to avail of the Hurling Starter Pack was hugely helpful.

“The starter pack was a fantastic boost for us,” says Coman.

“When we established a hub last year we were really struggling and we reached out for help. The Connacht branch said this is available to us to try to bring the numbers up again. It allowed us then to get extra equipment. It allows us to basically have a restart, a reboot essentially.

“We would have gotten a grant the previous year just support the club to get the basics in place.

“But there is always breakages, like helmets and hurleys, they're not indestructible and sliotars are constantly running out, so the starter pack has really helped.”

Growing the game in parts of the country where there is little tradition of it being played often requires some creative thinking.

Boyle have gotten some good traction by coaching the young boys and girls in the club in collective sessions rather than their own separate pods.

“On Monday afternoons we'd have up to 30 under-8s there between the boys and the girls, which is great,” says Coman.

“It works well for us because we gain a coach, we gain some experience. And, again, the boys aren't playing in small numbers, there’s loads of competition for them as well, which is great. And in fairness to the girls, they're well able for them, you know. Even at under-10s they are able for them.

“I would say it's a good model for any other club that is starting out. Realistically, it's difficult for that parent to drop a kid on two separate nights.

“Most clubs are have an issue with pitch space as well so that's another positive of it because they're playing in the same space.

“We've got an amazing Games Development Officer in Roscommon, Pronsias Killion who comes around to all the schools in Roscommon. In most cases he’s in primary schools that have boys and girls anyway so he’s teaching them the basics together.

“With One Club coming down the line, I think it's something we need to get used to, just letting them play together.

“Pronsias has been a massive mentor to the club. He's come out a couple of times to do coach-specific mentoring programmes and he'd watch us while we were on our own coaching on the Mondays, giving us hints, having conversations with the kids.”

The support of hard-working Games Promotion Officers like Pronsias Killion is vital to new hurling units, and the priority is always to give them the wherewithal to become more self-sufficient over time.

Forming relationships with other new hurling clubs helps in this regard because it leads to a cross-pollination of ideas as well as a more vibrant games programme.

As a follow-up to the Go Games blitz in Croke Park, Connacht GAA are organising a winter development league for all the clubs who have availed of hurling starter packs – Boyle, Tulsk, and Creggs in Roscommon, Gortletteragh and Ballinamore in Leitrim, and Na Fianna in Sligo.

“The plan is to provide two blitzes in the Dome, one at the start of the winter league and one at the finish,” says Damien Curley.

“Then, in between, we want them to take on a block of hurling either indoor or on astroturf. So that way they'd get at least one session a week and might rotate a few blitzes between the clubs themselves and then come in for a final on in the Dome at the end of it.

“I know people might wonder why we do this during the winter, but it's probably the phase of the playing calendar when there's least on. Ballinamore ran it very successfully there over the last couple of years where they just targeted a Friday night.

“Most of these clubs are from predominantly football areas, but we want to spread the message that they can cohabitate and it just gives them the chance to try it out.

“We don't expect them all to go on to play inter-county hurling or anything like that but if we can generate a grá for it to play up to a certain level and get a certain level of enjoyment from it, we'd be delighted.

“We're not spoon-feeding them everything. We want them to take on a little bit of the responsibility themselves.

“We know from projects in the past that if you do too much they'll just hand it over to you to do it. We're trying to teach them to be relatively self-sustainable.

“In fairness, the equipment grant at the beginning was a good stepping stone towards that. And a lot of them have taken up the fight and are having a cut at it.

“It's never a straight line or a simple road. But they're taking it on and we're just trying to help them and support them with days like the Go Games blitz in Croke Park and the winter development league.

“If you can keep these new clubs at it for a couple of years it might just gain a bit of traction needed to hold it. That's the big thing.

“Most of them are bundles of energy when you start and then they find that it isn't simple and the energy doesn't sustain you for as long as you think it might.

“It's about regenerating and getting new people involved. Getting kids to play isn't the big challenge, it's recruiting coaches and getting personnel who will stick with it.

“Very often you'll get one or two people with massive enthusiasm and they'll drive it, but then they'll burn out. It's just about keeping a steady flow of people to support and nurture all aspects of it.”