Hurling revival at Castledawson GAC!

Since taking office, GAA president Jarlath Burns has set his sights on broadening hurling’s reach beyond the sport’s traditional Munster and Leinster base.

Driving this push is the recently formed Hurling Development Committee (HDC), headed by national hurling director Willie Maher. In a short time, the group has made notable progress, most clearly seen in the establishment of 45 new hurling units nationwide.

Among the beneficiaries are three clubs in Derry: Faughanvale, St Malachy’s Castledawson, and St Aidan’s in Magilligan.

These clubs secured their places after a competitive application process that opened in March and concluded with announcements in May. To support their launch, each unit has been provided with starter equipment and an administrative framework, alongside ongoing links with both Ulster GAA and Croke Park.

For former Derry hurler Paddy Henry, watching the sport return to life in Castledawson brings a deep sense of satisfaction. Hurling in the club had faded away during the Covid-19 years, but the arrival of the HDC’s support and starter packs has breathed new life into the game.

“We had a hurling club for a few years. Myself and my brothers had set one up sometime around 2010,” he recalls. “It ran right through up until 2019. We had started from U6s, and we were up as far as a U16 team. We’d won an U14 championship and been to a couple of All-Ireland Féiles as well; it was going great.”

“Then Covid hit, and that was just the end of it. It was just me and my brothers taking all of those teams, and then a couple of them moved away during Covid. Numbers dwindled, and we never really picked it up again,” Henry says.

Now, with the support of the Hurling Development Committee, the provision of starter packs, and the backing of his club, Henry believes the game in Castledawson has a real future again.

There was plenty of enjoyment at the Castledawson's recent summer camp.

“The club have always been very supportive, and when the opportunity came to give it another go, everybody was very much behind us,” he says. “The difference from my perspective now is that we only had three coaches seven years ago. Now we’ve got somewhere between 10 and 12.”

That extra help, Henry explains, is vital.

“For the wee ones to get the enjoyment out of it, you need lots of people there to help. We’re very fortunate that that’s where we are at. And with Croke Park giving us the gear, we don’t have to ask parents to fork out—we can provide that until the children decide it’s for them or not.”

Henry, a proud and passionate hurling man, formerly of Lavey and the Derry intercounty team, is eager to see where the revival might lead. The emergence of three new clubs alongside the remarkable rise of St Finbarr’s, he says, is exactly what Derry hurling has been crying out for.

With only eight established clubs in the county, the addition of fresh teams could prove transformative for the county. Henry believes that the extra depth and competition may well become a game changer for the fortunes of Derry’s intercounty squads in the years ahead.

“I don’t think it matters what aspect of life or sport it is; quite often it comes down to a numbers game,” Henry says. “The more people you have playing something, the better the chance the standard improves.

“If you look at Antrim, who are trying to push on and establish themselves at Liam McCarthy level, they just have so many more hurling clubs and more people involved. It’s not that they’re doing anything particularly different.”

In Derry, Henry believes the challenge isn’t a lack of talent but a shortage of depth, which he sees as essential for progress.

Castledawson last had hurling teams competing in the years before covid.

“If Derry hurling wants to push itself on, we need more people playing, more coaches, and the game in more schools. Relying on four or five clubs just isn’t going to work,” he says.

“Children need more exposure to hurling, and then Derry hurling benefits on the back of it. If Derry, Down, and Antrim have more people involved, the rest of Ulster starts to follow. Next thing you know, Fermanagh, Donegal, and Tyrone start pushing on too; it’s better for everyone and makes the game more competitive.”