Shannon Gaels show hurling can be for everyone

By John Harrington

In every parish in Ireland where hurling is not currently played, GAA National Head of Hurling, William Maher, is convinced there are people sufficiently passionate about the game to successfully promote it if they’re given the support they need.

The sudden blossoming of hurling in Shannon Gaels minor club in Lanesborough, Longford, lends credence to his belief.

Until last year there was no hurling in Shannon Gaels, which is the underage section of Rathcline GAA club.

But then James Hayes, a Kilkenny native now settled in the area, decided it would be great if local children, including his own, had the opportunity to play their national sport.

So he asked Shannon Gaels would they support him in setting up an U8 team for boys and girls and club chairperson, Seadna Ryan, was immediately supportive.

Hayes completed his Foundation Level 1 coaching and then enlisted the enthusiastic help of former Longford GAA Games Promotion Officer, Ciaran Mac Eoc Eochaidh, who worked tirelessly to promote hurling in the county for many years before moving on to pastures new this year.

Hayes' dream quickly became a reality and last summer a very eager group of U8s put hurling on the map in Shannon Gaels for the first time.

“We got off to a fantastic start last year,” Hayes told GAA.ie “We had a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of players down to training.

“We got the interest going and we got it established that Rathcline is now hurling.

“Our first year was trying to just get as much as we could in place to create a foundation that we could drive on from. It was about putting the feelers out really at that stage in the first year to see if this is really going to take off and there was sufficient interest for us to say, OK, let's give this a further go in 2025 and see how far we can take it.

“Then, building on that, there was the Club Nua initiative right at the start of the year.

“That was fantastic in so far as it gave us additional gear and it allowed us to really get into the nursery because we had the large sliotars, we had the small helmets, we had the small hurls, we had all that sort of fun stuff for the kids that really helped us in developing the nursery this year.

“The coaches at nursery level in the club took it on brilliantly.

“This year then as well as having hurling in the nursery and U8 we were also able to field an U10 team that came from the previous year’s U8 group.

“Because the U10s were going so well we decided to see if we could get an U12 team going.

“We spread the net even wider beyond the Lanesboro-Rathcline parish and got six players from Newtowncashel.

“Those U12s had never played hurling before this year but they really, really enjoyed it. That was one of the fantastic things about this year, those who signed up to play U12 were just brilliant and we really were competitive.

“These lads were playing against established hurling clubs like Slashers, Clonguish, Wolfe Tones, and even Carrick and we put up a really good show against those teams. We were really pleased with them and their parents were delighted.

"They really saw the development in them playing hurling and so that was great. We've gotten terrific support from the parents which has been so important.

Cross-sport participation at a young age has been proven to improve skill development and Hayes is convinced that hurling can be an asset for clubs that currently only play Gaelic football rather than a distraction.

“Absolutely,” he says. “My argument always has been that if they're playing hurling, don't tell me that won't help them playing football.

“It improves their hand-eye coordination. They're using their non-dominant hand to catch the ball with a hurl in another hand. So, the speed and hand-eye coordination they develop is great for them.

“You could see that the lads who played hurling this year really came on at football too, many parents would have said that to me. Both are complementary codes.”

What made it all most worthwhile for Hayes was seeing the pure joy that the kids got from playing hurling. The satisfaction of a ball well struck or a new skill learned.

“They absolutely relished it,” he says. “It was a great opportunity for these kids to get a chance to play a game that they would have watched but never played before.

“To get that opportunity, and then to become good at it, and then to be competitive at it, they just loved it.

“I've had a lot of them come back to me and say, this is my number one sport now, which is incredible.

“And I've said to them too, and it's a simple fact, there's more opportunities for a hurler in a county like Longford than there is for a footballer.

"There's a smaller pool of players so they have more opportunities and it’s a realistic goal for our players to look to being involved in county development squads soon.

“They can see that’s a possibility. Without getting them too far ahead of themselves, you still have to create that vision for them.”

Hurling in Shannon Gaels is off to a great start and Hayes hopes to scale things up further in 2026 with more players, more matches, and more coaches.

“We can do all the drills and all the skills training but it’s in the games where they really learn,” he says.

“We need to provide them with many games as possible and we’ll be talking to the county board about that.

“We're developing a strategy for next year in terms of increasing our pool of players, increasing our pool of coaches, and, importantly, training our coaches too.

“I think a lot of parents who didn’t play the game themselves are reluctant to get involved in coaching hurling because they think it’s too complex.

“Hurling is a wonderful sport and incredibly fast but when you break it down to its very basics, it's not as complicated as it looks when you look at the high-level Liam McCarthy counties and it’s important we demystify it.

“We will have a new Games Promotion Officer working with us next year which will be a big help and we would hope too to get guest coaches from other counties to come in and run sessions for us.

“Developing that coach to coach support is a big priority for us.”

It’s very much one year at a time at this stage in the journey, but where does Hayes ultimately hope that hurling will get to in Shannon Gaels and Rathcline?

“The hope is to compete at every level eventually, right up to fielding an adult team, but that’s probably a 10-year plan at least,” he says.

“That might require amalgamating with other clubs at certain age-groups but that’s the vision of what we want to do.

“The most important thing is to keep these lads involved, keep them engaged, keep them hurling and make sure that it’s a hell of a lot of fun for them and that they have a passion for this game.

“Once they have that they’ll talk to their friends about how much they’re enjoying it and you’d be hoping more and more would get involved. That’s the culture we want to create.

“That this is our national game, it’s a lot of fun to play, and you’re going to have good opportunities to represent your county playing this sport.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work but it will be a labour of love. It’s a game I’m passionate about and the coaches I'm involved with are passionate about it. Once that stays there, it's not really hard work.

“You love to see these kids playing the game and developing. You love to see guys who've never played hurling or would never have played hurling if we didn't start this club going out and enjoying themselves.

“So there's a great sense of satisfaction from that and we’re building on a good foundation now and heading in the right direction.

“Hopefully some kids here will go on to do great things for their club and county.”