The GAA has launched the 2026 Musco Hurling Development Committee Starter Pack, setting an ambitious target to help 90 clubs restart hurling or introduce the game for the first time.

The initiative was launched at Belcoo O’Raghallaigh GAA Club on the Fermanagh-Cavan border, a location chosen to highlight how hurling development can cross traditional county and sporting boundaries.

Sports lighting specialist Musco is supporting the programme, designed to remove practical barriers for clubs that want to establish a hurling offering but may lack equipment, expertise or established structures.

The opportunity is significant.

Analysis undertaken by the GAA’s Hurling Development Committee suggests that only around 50 per cent of GAA clubs currently provide their members with access to hurling.

That leaves a substantial existing network of clubs, facilities, volunteers and young players that could potentially be opened up to the game without creating entirely new sporting organisations.

The programme also aligns with recommendations from the GAA’s National Demographics Committee.

Its report, published in December 2025, highlighted the changing population profile across Ireland and the very different challenges facing rural and urban clubs. Among its recommendations were targeted support for developing new and existing clubs and establishing a Club Support Unit at national and provincial level.

Government funding also underpins the wider drive to expand the game.

Budget 2026 included just under €750,000 to support the growth of hurling in areas where the sport has traditionally had a lower profile.

The combination of public investment, national strategy and commercial backing gives the GAA an opportunity to move hurling development from aspiration to practical implementation.

Last year, 45 starter packs were distributed to new hurling units, alongside refresher packs for existing clubs. Feedback gathered through a national Hurling Development Committee roadshow has helped shape the expanded programme for 2026.

The launch venue also provided a tangible example of what can be achieved.

Belcoo O’Raghallaigh and Shannon Gaels have come together across the Fermanagh-Cavan border to establish Mac Néan Hurling Club.

At the new club’s first training session in 2025, 120 children attended.

That level of interest powerfully demonstrated the demand that can exist even in areas without a long-established hurling tradition.

“The hurley does not know which side of a county border somebody comes from,” said GAA President Jarlath Burns.

“A child simply wants the opportunity to play.”

Burns said the Mac Néan project showed what clubs could achieve when they looked beyond traditional boundaries and focused on creating opportunity.

“Where there is an appetite for hurling, we should support clubs and communities in creating it,” he added.

“The Government’s investment in the growth of hurling is a welcome recognition of the importance of that work. Our challenge now is to turn ambition into participation and participation into sustainable clubs.”

That question of sustainability is central to the programme.

Hurling Development Committee Chairman Terry Reilly stressed that the ambition goes beyond simply supplying equipment or creating a team for a single season.

“Our responsibility is not simply to protect the hurling that exists. It is to create the hurling that does not yet exist,” he said.

“The Starter Pack is about making that first step easier. But it is only one part of a wider strategy. We need the support of counties, provinces and clubs. We need coaching. We need games. We need strong club structures.”

The target of reaching 90 clubs doubles the scale of last year’s starter pack programme and gives the initiative a measurable objective against which progress can be assessed.

National Head of Hurling William Maher said the focus was on creating environments that could last beyond the initial intervention.

“We are not simply trying to establish 90 teams,” he said.

“We are trying to establish or re-establish 90 sustainable club environments where children can learn hurling, coaches can develop, games can be played and volunteers can build something for the future.”

For Musco, the partnership provides a direct connection between the company and one of the GAA’s key participation and development priorities.

“The success of initiatives like Mac Néan shows what is possible when communities are given the opportunity and support to introduce hurling,” said Stephen Baker of Musco Lighting.

“Musco is proud to partner with the GAA to help reduce barriers to participation, broaden access to the game, and ensure more young people have the chance to pick up a hurley and play.”

 

Sport for Business Perspective

This model has wider relevance across Irish sport.

Participation and development programmes offer a different kind of return for sponsors like Musco. They build closer relationships with communities and let a brand demonstrate impact measured in clubs supported, coaches developed, and new players brought into a sport.

The challenge is to make sure those initiatives last.

The most important number in this announcement may not be the target of 90 clubs, but the estimate that around half of all GAA clubs currently do not offer hurling.

If even a proportion of those clubs can be helped to establish sustainable hurling structures, it would strengthen playing numbers, coaching pathways, local competition and the wider health of the game.

The Mac Néan example is particularly instructive. It shows that geography and county boundaries do not necessarily have to dictate how a sport is developed.

In areas where population, club size or resources make a traditional model difficult, collaboration may become increasingly important.

That has implications well beyond hurling as sports organisations across Ireland continue to adapt to demographic change, pressure on volunteers and uneven access to facilities.

The success of the Musco Starter Pack programme will therefore be measured not just by how many packs are delivered, but by how many of those 90 clubs are still providing meaningful hurling opportunities in three, five and ten years’ time.

 

 

 

 

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Image Credit: GAA and Sportsfile

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