By Cian O'Connell

Darragh Cox is nearly a year operating as Sligo & Leitrim Hurling GPO and is thoroughly enjoying the role.

The former Ocean FM sports editor enjoyed a decorated career with Calry/St Joseph’s, who won 11 Sligo Senior Championships between 2005 and 2017.

That was a special era in which the Cox family contributed handsomely, but the current brief is to develop the game in Sligo and Leitrim.

“It has been great, I'm loving it,” Cox says. “Being used to sitting at a desk all day, it is unusual now to be out and about.

“You definitely feel it in the evenings, you'd be wrecked, but I thoroughly enjoy working with the kids and working with the youngsters. It is challenging, but in a good way because no two days are the same. That means you love going to work in the morning.”

A passion for hurling exists in pockets of Sligo with Cox adamant that significant strides have been made in recent years. “It has come on leaps and bounds,” Cox stresses. “The work that Johnny Mullins and Benny Kenny did in this role before me really has set a brilliant grounding.

“You have a number of clubs in Sligo active that wouldn't have been active before or they would have been amalgamating to form teams or getting permits to play with other teams. Now if you look at the Under 12 League in Sligo alone you have 10 hurling clubs playing in it this year which is unheard of.

“Out of those 10 only two of them are exclusively hurling clubs, Western Gaels and Naomh Eoin. The rest of them would be GAA clubs that are fielding hurling as well as football. You have eight teams like ourselves in Calry has been through the club not an amalgamation as such.

“It is great to see that you have clubs like Dromcliffe Rosses Point and Molaise Gaels, who previously worked together as Ben Bulben Gaels and still do so at the older levels, but at Under 12 they have managed to get enough players in to work their own team.

“Everything comes down to the clubs in the GAA so the fact you are identifying with your own club, getting the opportunity to play both sports is a huge stepping stone and bonus.”

Cox acknowledges that there is a drop off rate as players move up the age groups, but the emergence of the Tain Leagues and Celtic Challenge are most welcome additions to the sporting calendar.

“It is probably echoed around the country, but where we are falling down is at minor level,” Cox admits. If you took the numbers that are playing football I'd say it is the exact same age group, it is a national problem once the exams are thrown into it and a lot of other commitments.

“Generally the best kids at one sport are usually the same at another sport so when they get to the 14, 15 age bracket there is probably a bit more pressure on them to pick one sport over another. At a younger age group you are having them play all sports, but there is that drop off rate.

“Under 14 is relatively strong, Under 16 it starts dipping, and then you get to minor level there is a definite drop off. It is something the GAA has to be very conscious of and we do too in order to keep people in the game.”

Possibilities exist, though, with Cox acknowledging that the Celtic Challenge has injected momentum and positivity.

“For me the Celtic Challenge has been the absolute shining example of progress in the GAA,” Cox remarks. “There was a minor competition for years, I played in it for maybe four years. It was one match, a team thrown together a couple of nights beforehand to go out to represent Sligo.

“It was a bit of a laugh, it meant nothing really whatsoever. It has completely rejuvenated that where every county, and in some cases three or four teams within the county are getting an opportunity to represent the county.

“You are getting meaningful games at a level they can compete at, a level they can strive to improve at. Sligo for example would have played a Galway team, Roscommon, Mayo, teams I guess down through the years would have been stronger at that level than Sligo.

“In those matches Sligo absolutely competed at that level and will be hoping to do so again this year. I'd be a huge advocate of the Celtic Challenge giving meaningful games to lads coming out of the Under 16 age group and they can put all their attention into representing their county. The buy in from players is there for all to see.”

Sligo compete in the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2019 and Cox is adamant that further progress can be made, but it must be sustained.

“I think it can be achieved, but it is going to take a long time,” Cox comments. “It isn't just a case of getting to a level and then suddenly belonging at that level.

“You have to be producing players every single year that will improve what is already there. That is a fairly obvious thing to say, but in a county like Sligo and some of the traditionally weaker hurling counties where you don't have that conveyor belt it can be difficult to bring through three or four quality players able to play at that level every single year.

“That is what is needed to play at Nicky Rackard or moving up to Christy Ring ultimately for those counties. While Sligo are certainly able to play at that level sustaining their presence at that level is what my priority would be.

“For hurling people around Sligo they want to keep a certain conveyor belt to keep players coming through.

“Players getting a taste of the Celtic Challenge and being drafted into senior club teams are playing at a high enough level to make the step up to inter-county, to continue to try to drive Sligo forward.”

That is precisely what Cox is seeking to do.