Pictured is former Tipperary Minor hurler, Seamus Callanan, ahead of the 2024 Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Finals. This summer, Electric Ireland are using their social channels to spotlight players from across the Championships, in recognition of the major impact that playing Minor can have on young people’s future successes, on and off the field. You can follow the campaign on social media @ElectricIreland and via the hashtag #ThisIsMajor.
By John Harrington
Tipperary hurling legend, Seamus Callanan, has urged the Premier County faithful to come out in big numbers to support their minor team in Saturday’s All-Ireland Final against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.
The Drom-Inch man was dismayed by the lack of support the county senior team got in this year’s Munster Championship relative to the opposition, and hopes everyone with an interest in Tipperary hurling will do their part now to try to ensure the year finishes on a high.
“Nowlan Park is 45 minutes down the road and there's no reason why there shouldn't be huge Tipperary support going down to Nowlan Park on Saturday and shouting on those guys that we hope in the future will wear the senior jersey for many years,” Callanan told GAA.ie.
“It's a huge occasion and it's a very positive finish to the year that we have an All-Ireland Final with some future stars on show, hopefully.
“This minor team and the minor management deserve our support. The management team have us in two All-Ireland Finals in the last three years and we really do need to get in behind them and show them that we value their hard work and we're there to support them.
“It was probably disappointing to go to some of the senior matches this year and the support base wasn't there.
“When we played Cork in Thurles I'd say Tipperary supporters were outnumbered eight to one by Cork supporters. That is disappointing and it's at times like these more so than when we're winning that we need Tipperary supporters to row in together.
“As a player if you're having a bad day or things are going wrong out there you're relying on that one spark, someone gets a point, and then you can hear the crowd get in behind you and that's huge when maybe the break of the ball isn't going your way.
“When you need that little percentage here or there to get the thing going again the supporters are huge. There's a responsibility on everyone to push this forward.”
Tipperary manager James Woodlock before the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship semi-final match between Tipperary and Galway at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile.
Callanan’s former club and county team-mate, James Woodlock, manages the Tipperary minors and has moulded a team with formidable mixtures of fire and flair.
“The one thing I'd say about this Tipperary minor team having watched them in most of their games is that it's real trademark James Woodlock,” says Callanan. “You can see the manager's imprint on the players.
“James always demanded huge work-rate and he had huge heart and never say die attitude as a hurler himself. That's really rubbed off onto the team. You saw it in the Munster Final and you saw it again in the semi-final against Galway.
“To come through that game against Galway in the way they did and just keep fighting and fighting was very impressive because coming towards the end of extra it looked like it might not be their day because Galway were ahead but they just kept plugging away and kept believing.
“There's good lads on that minor team and James is in his third year in charge and to have them in two All-Irelands in three years is a great sign of James and his management team.
“They seem to be a really honest bunch who do everything that James is asking of them. It's great to see a team with sort of attitude.”
It might have been a miserable year for the Tipperary senior team, but it looks like there’s a promising generation coming through considering the Premier County has reached both the U20 and minor All-Ireland Finals this year.
That’s no guarantee of senior success in the future though because bridging the gap from U20 to senior inter-county is a bigger leap than ever due to the levels that strength and conditioning has gone to in recent years.
Tipperary players celebrate with the John Doyle Cup after the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship Final match between Clare and Tipperary at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile.
Callanan believes Tipperary should put a particular focus on developing players while they’re in the “grey area” after coming out of the U20 grade to make sure they develop in to the best senior hurlers they can possibly be.
“When I came in first to the senior team I was only 19 but strength and conditioning was at a completely different level to what it's at now,” he says. “There's not too many 19-year-olds breaking into a senior county team now.
“You even see that at club level, there's not that many lads under the age of 21 even starting for their club teams. That's just the level of professionalism that has even come into the club game and the level where our S&C has gotten to now at this stage, it's huge.
“It's fairly hard to make it in your early twenties now. You're probably looking at being 24 or 25 before you're physically able to match up against some of the top performers in the game now. It's gone to a whole new level.
“With the U21 grade gone back to U20 and the minor grade gone back to U17, there's probably a grey area in the middle for a few years where you're not ready straight away after the U20 grade for the cut and thrust of senior inter-county hurling.
“To not lose those players and keep them at a high level by having them on some sort of plan is crucial. Someone needs to manage that and direct that and that's probably a full-time role in itself, the development of the future hurlers of Tipperary.
“Really you need to be now working with 16-year-olds and have a plan to bring them all the way up to the age of 22 when they might be ready for the cut and thrust of senior inter-county hurling.”
Former Tipperary hurler Séamus Callanan in attendance at the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Waterford and Tipperary at Walsh Park in Waterford. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Sitting in the stands watching Tipperary from a distance having worn the jersey for the previous 16 seasons was a difficult experience for Callanan made all the tougher by the team’s struggles this year.
He knows just how much the players give to the cause and hopes the county will rally around them next year when they try to bounce back.
“Some of the matches were tough viewing for everyone that was there and I can only imagine how the players felt themselves on the pitch,” he says. “From being in the dressing-room I know the characters they are.
“Nobody wants Tipperary to be in that place and there's a good bit of reflection to be done to see where they go for next year.
“It was very tough to be in the crowd and watch it go on because the players on the field are lads you've given a lot of years with. It's tough for them and you'd feel for them.
“There's nobody wants this to work out more than Liam Cahill and his management team. it's a combined effort now of where do they go from here to make this work.
“Everyone wants Tipperary to be successful. The players go in training four or five nights a week for the betterment of Tipperary hurling.
“The management team are leaving families at home five nights a week to try to make Tipperary more competitive and to win stuff for Tipperary.
“There's huge commitment going in to trying to get to the level of where the Limericks of this world are at now. We just need to support it all as much as we can at this stage.”
Séamus Callanan of Tipperary celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the 2019 GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi Final match between Wexford and Tipperary at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Tipperary could do with unearthing a few players with the natural ability of Callanan who scored more championship goals (40) than any other player in the blue and gold during a career that saw him win three All-Ireland senior medals, four All-Stars, and six Munster titles.
How does he reflect on it all now?
“It will probably take a few more years before you really deep-dive into it, but I definitely look back with nothing but fond memories of the whole experience,” he says.
“For me, there's a few All-Irelands there or whatever, but it was actually the journey towards getting the All-Irelands and the losses along the way and the games you played terribly in when you questioned why you were even there, all those things that made the bigger days so special.
“It's the people you're surrounded by along that journey which really made everything worthwhile. I had fantastic times in the blue and gold jersey and I stepped away at the right time for me and I'm very okay with that decision and very content now.
"I loved every bit of it and the buzz of scoring a goal or doing something nice and hearing the crowd, those things you'd miss in a way, but they're memories you got to experience and you value them hugely."
