St. Aidan's, Derrylin won the Fermanagh U-13 hurling championship this year.
By John Harrington
If you’re looking for a challenge, then they probably don’t come any bigger than starting a hurling club from scratch in an area with no tradition of the game.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way though, and St. Aidan’s, Derrylin in Fermanagh, are a shining example of how quickly a hurling culture can be fostered if enough good people are willing to make the effort.
“We started in 2018,” says St. Aidan’s club secretary, Jonathan O’Connell. “We're based in Derrylin which wouldn't have had hurling before that. We've gone from 32 members when we started to 160 this year.
“When we started we were only an U-9 team, and now this year we've won an U-13 championship. Next year we'll be looking to go up to U-15 for the first time. So we're bringing the same cohort of players up through the age-groups. They were the first to go from U-9 to U-11 to U-13 and will now move up to U-15 next year.
“Two or three years ago my car would be full of helmets for matches. This year I didn't have to bring any because every child has their own hurley and helmet.
“It may seem like an obvious thing, but a few years ago no-one had them. So now it's great that everyone has invested in their child by buying them a hurley and helmet. That in itself shows you how we're creating a hurling culture.”
The juvenile club hurling championship season is over now in Fermanagh, but St Aidan’s are keeping the flame lit by taking part in the GAA Super Games in association with Sky Sports.
St. Aidan's hurlers taking part in the club's GAA Super Games in assocation with Sky Sports.
Designed to increase participation levels by fostering a playing environment where fun is the be all and end all of participation, the Super Games have a recreational 7 or 9-a-side format. Every player gets games and there are no substitutions, scores aren’t recorded, there is no coaching input from the sideline, and the players themselves oversee the organisation of the games under adult supervision.
St. Aidan’s are one of 219 clubs to take part this autumn/winter and have already found the initiative to be of great benefit.
“The reason why we started the Super Games was that so we could get boys who maybe haven't played hurling before to get them out to see if we could get a few more bigger lads who could play U-15 next year and enable us to have a bigger panel,” says O’Connell.
“It's gone really well. We've more people coming every week as word has spread. We're doing it on Sunday morning because it's the morning that's free for everyone.
“We're breaking them into two teams and just letting them play which has worked really well. The less instruction and involvement the better it seems to go. We just have a whistle that we blow every five minutes when there's a break in play to swap in a player who hasn't played in goals yet so everyone gets a turn to be on the ball and the same person isn't stuck in goals for the whole match.
“A couple of new boys have already said they'll hurl with us next year and if we could get another couple on top of that it would be great. Four new players would be an awful lot for us.”
Action from the St. Aidan's GAA Super Games Centre where the emphasis is on fun and participation.
As St. Aidan’s continue to go from strength to strength, O’Connell believes their rapid growth as a club proves that hurling can blossom all over the country.
“It can be done, but it's just about getting the right people involved,” he says.
“I think people are of the mindset that I don't know anything about hurling so I can't get involved. Whereas actually competing in hurling is the same as in football, it's just about encouraging young fellas and girls and giving them the opportunity to play a game and try their best at it.
“We just need to develop the mindset of Gaels being equally enthusiastic about hurling as they are about football.”
The ambition would be that in the not too distant future St Aidan’s will have nurtured a generation of young hurlers who will play for the club in the senior grade.
For now, though, everyone involved is focused on building things from the base up to ensure the sport has a long-term future in their corner of Fermanagh.
“There's no point in trying to over-reach at the start and say you want to immediately have an u-15 team or U-17 team or even a senior team because that would be just unrealistic," says O'Connell.
“We want to build something sustainable by bringing young players up through the age-groups so they'll be playing together for years before you make that leap. You have to walk before you can run.”
For more information on the GAA Super Games Programme, go here: https://www.gaa.ie/my-gaa/getting-involved/super-games-centers
