The newly structured, EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Championship was officially launched yesterday in Croke Park.

Eirgrid has been a partner of the U21 Championship since 2015 and has continued through the restructuring which reduced the age of eligible players by one year, in line with a similar shift in the Electric Ireland All Ireland Minor Championship.

It’s an energetic line up of sponsors at Underage as Bord Gais Energy are the backers of what remains in hurling as the U21 Championship.

The Ulster Championship gets underway on May 26th when Donegal take on Cavan.

Proceedings in Leinster start shortly after with the first games between Longford and Dublin, Westmeath and Wexford, Kildare and Laois and Wicklow and Louth taking place on Monday evening, May 28th. The Connacht championship commences on June 2nd, with Roscommon and Sligo coming face to face for the first time this year. Limerick and Kerry kick-start the Munster campaign when they play on Friday, June 15th.

“2018 is certainly a year of change in the GAA, not least with the alterations to our competition structures,” said GAA President, John Horan.

“The U20 competition that we are here today to promote certainly falls into that category.”

“The merits of this championship are well documented, offering as it does an outlet before the senior ranks for players to mature and develop against players of their own age.

“I look forward to the new slot the competition now occupies and I would like to acknowledge our partnership with EirGrid and Rosemary Steen, Director of External Affairs, for her ongoing support not only of this competition but of the GAA in general.”

“We are very proud of the three core partnerships we have created with the GAA to date.” said Steen.

“We have been sponsors of the U21 football championship since 2015, we became the GAA’s first official timing partner in 2016 and we were the lead sponsor for the 2017 Irish International Rules team but today is an exciting day as we officially launch a brand-new competition at U20’s level.”

“While the sponsorships we hold are quite different, the crucial element is that communities benefit through our partnership with the GAA and we witnessed an example of this last year when we gifted four GAA clubs with a digital clock and scoreboard as part of our Moments in Time campaign.”

“This is something we will do again this year and look forward to revealing the details later this summer.”

“EirGrid recently launched a new corporate social responsibility strategy and our partnership with the GAA supports this strategy, which focuses on developing positive relationships with communities, community groups and stakeholders.”

 


On Friday, May 18th Sport for Business will kick off a summer programme featuring the best examples of how business and sport are working together to create real benefit for society.  Find out more and get involved.

 

Sign up today for our free daily news digest covering the commercial world of sport or discover the benefits of becoming a full member alongside the many leading organisations whom we serve.

Image credit: Sportsfile