Centra is building on the success of last years community events as it enters the fifth year of its sponsorship of the GAA All Ireland Hurling Championship.
Over the next three months there will be 16 events under the banner of the “Brightest Stars of Hurling” at clubs and county stadia up and down the country.
Last year this number was 10 and was topped off by a series of twitter based treasure hunts throughout the two finalist counties of Cork and Clare.
Centra teams at national and local level will work with the GAA to promote and develop the game of hurling, reaching even more locations and families this year. This season, the 16 community events will include sessions in Waterford, Donegal, Offaly, Meath and Kerry.
Children will get the opportunity to learn from the best through specialised hurling skills sessions. There will be star players, entertainment including face painting, music, prizes and goodie bags.
Centra will also be searching for Ireland’s Brightest Young Stars.
A selection of children will be interviewed by stars of the game like Henry Shefflin and asked what they would do if they were in charge of their county team as well as what their predictions are for the season ahead.
The child with the brightest answers will be crowned Centra’s Brightest Young Star of their county, with a chance to win a VIP family trip to the All-Ireland hurling final in September.
Registration for the Centra events will be through local stores for each of the venues. A list of the events will be published on the Centra website and through social media.
Centra will once again this year be selling GAA tickets, alongside Musgrave’s sister stores Supervalu. This has been a huge success through the partnership with tickets.ie. Last season alone over 200,000 advance tickets to matches were sold over the counter.
Early Bird tickets are now on sale for The Business of Youth Sport, our summer conference taking place at the Dublin Institute of Technology on June 12th. The event will cover all aspects of youth sport from primary to third level education, and feature case studies from the spectrum of Irish sport. Click here to find out more and book your place.
“This year Centra is very proud to be celebrating its fifth year as sponsor of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship,” said Martin Kelleher, Centra Managing Director speaking at the launch of the 2014 campaign activation programme.
“We are continuing our work to promote the game of hurling nationwide, both in well-established and developing hurling counties. Last year alone we reached over 3,200 children through our community events.”
“These really help to bring the whole community together to showcase and develop the sport and we are looking forward to what no doubt will be another great season.”
“Centra have brought great passion and no little energy to their partnership with the Association and we look forward to more of the same,” said GAA President Liam O’Neill.
“Their community events across the island have been a huge success and once again some of the biggest names of our game will connect with the aspiring stars of tomorrow through the medium of hurling. I hope everyone derives great satisfaction from both this activity and another hurling championship and I thank Centra for their outstanding support.”
