By John Harrington

Another important chapter in the success story that is hurling’s rejuvenation as a sport in Claremorris, County Mayo, will be written this weekend.

Just eight years after starting from the small beginnings of establishing an U-8 hurling team in the club, Claremorris are now ready to field an adult team in the junior grade.

Their underage structures are producing such a conveyor belt of talented young hurlers that the next logical step was to facilitate them reaching the final destination on the player pathway.

“We had a minor team last year that won the Championship and League double and they're coming through so we wanted to try to have a pathway to allow them to play with some older ones,” says Claremorris Hurling club Chairperson, David Hurley.

“We pushed on and had a meeting before Christmas to see if we could invite fellas in.

“I went on Midwest Radio, put it on newsletters, stuck it up wherever people might see it, and we quickly had 20 fellas who expressed an interest. Some of them were old heads that would have played elsewhere but never got the chance to do so in Claremorris because there wasn't hurling available.

“We got expressions of interest from another ten since then, so, this Sunday, we have a match against the Mayo U-20 team which may be a bit optimistic of us but it's not easy to get matches and we just want to see how many come out for it.

“We're getting 15-20 at training so far and it’s just light indoor work at the moment. The plan is to build it up. The reason for putting a match on earlier rather than later is to see how much intent and real interest is there.

“It's one thing to talk the talk, another to go out and play, so this will test the mettle of the lads on Sunday.”

It was Hurley himself who provided the initial spark to reignite hurling in Claremorris.

He was keen for his twin sons Dara and Niall to play hurling, but the game was ailing in the club.

Playing numbers were sparse and underage teams were cobbled together at some age-grades but not others and there was no long-term development plan.

Hurley’s twin sons were U-8 so he decided he’d start coaching at that level and from those humble beginnings hurling in the club was reborn and is now blossoming.

Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s easy to be hopeful that this ambition to form an adult team will be successful because it’ll be built on very sound foundations thanks to the strong underage structures Hurley has helped develop.

“Having a conveyor belt of players coming through all the age-groups is the real key,” he says. “That's happening, we have good numbers at U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15. They're enjoying it and they're having success as well.

“It's not all about success, we don't push that agenda, but if they're enjoying it and getting pretty good training and fun and we lay down the right atmosphere and foundations for them and give them the right direction then I think there's a good chance of them doing well. That follows if everything is done right underneath it.

“Now they have role-models as well. They have an U-17 team that won a county title League and Championship last year. And the U-15s won their League and Championships title as well.

“My opinion is that if you run both football and hurling in your club that the two will complement one another because it improves hand to eye coordination and the mastery of many skills. I think footballers benefit especially from playing hurling.

“Last year our U-15s and U-17s who won the double last year, most of them played football as well and they won also won county titles in the football.

“We're hoping that by having a junior team there will be a pathway and something to aspire to for our 16, 17, 18 year olds coming through in the club who might feel he isn't getting a look in with the footballers and would appreciate the option of playing hurling with the club.

“There's a door open for any of them who want to do that, and we're hoping they'll walk through it going forward.”

A good chunk of last year’s double-winning minor team will now graduate to the junior panel where they’ll be complemented by an older cohort that have been recruited in recent weeks.

The levels of fitness and hurling experience among these older players varies, but for now the priority is to recruit enough numbers to ensure Claremorris can field a team for the coming season and then build from there.

“There'll be eight or nine lads coming through from last year’s minors to play U-19 and certainly junior hurling if they're willing to play,” says Hurley.

“I had other lads earmarked that would have played U-10 or U-12 when there was no hurling in Claremorris and they had to go to Tooreen or Ballyhaunis so we knew who they were already and we were able to make contact with them.

“One guy who would have won senior medals in Mayo down the road in Ballyhaunis but is from Claremorris and has said he'll join up with us now so that's great to hear.

“Putting it out on social media made a huge difference. I've got two Galway hurlers and I've gotten a fella from Waterford, one from Clare, and I've gotten an ex-footballer who is also an excellent hurler and he's coming down as well. They're all living locally in Claremorris.

“Some of the lads have been encouraged by family and friends to get back training and playing a sport they would have last done 10 years ago because they have put on weight or have other issues. It's a great social outlet as well as sporting outlet for them.”

Claremorris won’t be the only new team in the Mayo junior ranks this year because Moytura also intend to field a team for the first time since 2014.

Last year Ballina Stephenites played Junior Championship hurling for the first time in 10 years and another recent hurling success story, Caiseal Gaels, also competed in the grade.

The challenges and sometimes obstacles to developing hurling in football-dominated counties remain considerable, but, clearly, where there’s a will there’s a way.

“There are people doing some great work on the small ball in Mayo and a lot of the other weaker counties,” says Hurley.

“It's not for the want of trying that we're not succeeding, it's for the want of help and support.

“The bigger picture is that hurling is to be developed more in the weaker counties it needs someone to carry on the work that (former National Hurling Development Manager) Martin Fogarty was doing.

“His agenda now needs to be driven on by someone else in an even bigger way. We can dream and think big because I know there's an appetite for hurling in Mayo and young hurlers as good as there are in any other county.”

Anyone interested in hurling with Claremorris Hurling Club can contact David Hurley on 086 299 5383