While he didn’t need anyone to tell him the big ball reigns supreme in Ulster, the GAA’s National Head of Hurling William Maher admits it was a “massive shock” to discover just how far hurling lags behind in the northern province.
While 336 clubs in Ulster play football, less than a third of that number – 105 – offer hurling, a statistic that lays bare Maher’s first challenge in the role he began last month having been announced to the post in January.
While different issues exist in different parts of the country and at different levels of the game, first up is getting hurling played in as many places as possible. To that end, the announcement that 45 new clubs have been established in the past year is a positive step, with 17 of those in Ulster, led by Donegal with seven new units in football heartlands like Kilcar and Ardara.
Still, it’s a small step towards bridging a gap Maher describes as “staggering”.
“That was a massive shock to me, that there are three times the amount of football clubs. I thought it was big but I didn’t think it was that big. That says to me straight away: how do we get more hurling played across Ulster?
“There are six clubs in Cavan, seven clubs in Monaghan and Fermanagh, how do we get that to 12? Nine clubs in Tyrone, eight clubs in Armagh. These are all really small numbers in comparison to the football in those counties which goes from the high 20s to early 40s.
“Forty-five new clubs receiving the new national starter pack for hurling is fantastic news and having 17 in Ulster is a huge win for the province. Now we have to look at how we support those clubs further and how we get more clubs next year as well.
“A new club means new opportunities for players to play the game and that’s what I’ll be working towards in the coming days, weeks, months, years.”
Last Friday, Maher took part in the first of seven National Hurling Development Roadshow events, which also featured GAA President Jarlath Burns and Hurling Development Committee chair Terry Reilly, designed to hear the input of hurling people from across the country and put forward the GAA’s vision for growing and strengthening the game.
The second of two Ulster events takes place on Wednesday night at the Tyrone Centre of Excellence at Garvaghey.
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Among the issues raised at St Mary’s University College in west Belfast last Friday were the challenges facing hurling in the city regarding coaching and facilities, the issues in rural areas in Ulster where clubs need structured school links and stronger player pathways, and how to respond to demographic shifts to create and expand access to hurling for as many communities as possible.
The disparate issues facing clubs of varying shapes and sizes across the province shows the need, Maher says, for a tailored approach.
“It’s about looking at each county, and the different circumstances within each county, then it’s about putting a plan together that tackles the issues we have identified. We need to be really laser-focused on what we’re doing, be accountable, be measurable and try to move hurling forward in Ulster, which we haven’t previously achieved.”
Maher was delighted with the response to the Belfast roadshow and says nothing can be achieved with buy-in and co-operation across the “GAA family”.
“It’s important to recognise the importance of people in this plan. It’s fine to have all this on paper and agreed but people are the lifeblood of any plan and I think it’s important stakeholders in Ulster give there opinion on where it is at the minute, how we can move it forward and what the opportunities are. People are a huge part of this hurling journey.
“We’ll all part of the GAA family and I think it’s important that we support each other. This is not going to interfere with football, we’re trying to co-exist with our football brothers and sisters within the structure of a GAA club.
“So, it’s an exciting time for hurling. I’m really positive around what we do and it’s about moving the dial forward as opposed to drifting.”
For more information, and to register for the Garvaghey National Hurling Development Roadshow, click here
