It’s the biggest day in the life of a GAA Club and few get to feel it from the inside. On St Patrick’s Day tomorrow Cuala, flag bearers for Dublin Hurling get to do it for the second year in a row.
They take on Na Piarsaigh of Limerick at 3-45 following on from Nemo Rangers of Cork taking on Galway’s Corofin in the Football at 2-00.
It will not be the biggest crowd of the year at the stadium but the emotion, the colour, the passion and the connection between the players and the fans will match any other occasion in sport.
Yes it’s happening for fans from Ireland possibly two biggest rugby strongholds of South Dublin and Limerick, yes events at Twickenham are important but this is the heart of the community. It is family and friends, players and families we have grown up alongside on the side of a pitch and passing in the street.
I am lucky to have landed in Cuala and been involved with all of my kids across a range of teams over the past decade and a half. I will be there on Saturday morning alongside the fellow parents of the 2005 girls pouring coffee, flipping burgers, painting faces and raising money to buy gear and equipment for the year ahead.
We will march through Dalkey with flags waving and songs being sung towards the two specially hired Dart trains that will take us into Croker to follow a dream once more.
We will be surrounded by kids who will remember this day forever and speak of it to their own children and grandchildren in years to come.
When we get to the stadium we will mingle with fellow fans wearing different colours but feeling the same strength of connection to their team.
This is special. We will try to capture the feeling when the Sport for Business Digest returns after the St Patrick’s Weekend on Tuesday, and after playing a Camogie match at 10 am on Sunday morning with those same 2005 girls. At least we will have to have a clearer head than some on Saturday night.
AIB have sponsored the All Ireland Club Championships for more than two decades and every year they step it up. The TV Ad currently running captures the emotion of a semi-final defeat. They will be streaming the Camogie Club Finals on Sunday, ones that were lost to the snow two weeks ago.
Their social media team will be on message throughout the weekend capturing sights, sounds and feelings from across the country.
They say that at the end of the day everything comes down to what is local, what makes up our personal communities. That has never felt so true in sport as it does going into this epic weekend.
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: Marc O’Sullivan
