By John Harrington

The U-15 Táin Óg League Finals this weekend will be a festival of hurling for the 46 hurling teams that will be involved.

The Liam MacCarthy Cup will be the guest of honour when Lisnaskea hosts four of the 1st place finals as Castleblayney play Na Magha, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon play Tooreen, Lavey play Westport, and Naomh Colum Cille play Seán Mac Cumhaills.

For geographic reasons Dunsilly will host the remaining 1st place final between Dungannon Eoghan Ruadh and Naomh Padraig.

The whole ethos of the Táin Óg League is to give clubs in developing counties more meaningful matches by wiping away county and provincial boundaries, so it’s fitting that 36 other clubs who didn’t make it as far as the 1st place finals will also be in action this weekend.

Nine venues across Ulster and Connacht will host 10 blitz finals with the teams fighting it out for plaques and winners medals.

The Táin Óg League has gone from strength to strength to strength since it started out in 2016 when 26 teams competed at U-13 level.

Now there are three age-groups – U-13, U-15, and U-17 – as well as the Cúchulainn League which caters for senior clubs. This year 271 teams registered to compete across the four grades.

Connacht Games Promotion Officer, Darragh Cox, has seen at first hand how the Táin Óg League has had a hugely positive impact on the clubs he works with in Sligo and Leitrim.

“The Táin Óg has been absolutely massive for the clubs that take part,” Cox told GAA.ie. “Ultimately the whole idea behind the Táin Óg was to give more games to clubs. There's no pressure by any county whatsoever on any club to enter these competitions. And yet the entries are going up and up every year.

“We all know the demands that are being placed on clubs and pitches, and yet the clubs are clearly voting to come back year on year and say, yes, we need more games, we want more games, we want new experiences for our players, we want new opposition for our players.

“I work in Leitrim as well as Sligo and in Leitrim there are just two hurling clubs. From a football point of view an underage team could play 20 games a year within their own county and not play the same opposition twice. Whereas if those two hurling clubs want 20 games they have to play each other 20 times, and that's just not going to work and it's no benefit to anybody.

“Leitrim clubs have had a 100 per cent participation record at all levels in the Táin Óg, at U-13, U-15, and the newly established U-17 grade, and indeed at Cúchulainn adult level as well. The two Leitrim clubs enter all competitions and fulfil all fixtures and the benefits of that are clear to be seen.

“Leitrim contested a Allianz League Final this year and it is feeding through gradually to county teams. Now, that isn't always the end-goal. The end-goal is to keep the youngsters playing. But you have to make it enticing for them as well to keep playing. There has to be something for them.

“And even though the Táin Óg is all about games and inclusivity and making sure there are new experiences for the players, there is always a finals aspect to it as well.

“Last year we were able to host 20 finals across the different age levels so you're also giving them a day out and a little bit of celebration in the middle of summer when the weather is at its best and young fellas want to be playing hurling. It's a great incentive for them, it's brilliant for the parents, and it's super for the clubs.

“The feedback we get from the clubs year on year has just been more and more positive.”

The full fixture details of all of this weekend’s U-15 Táin Óg League Finals can be viewed and downloaded below.