The Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge for 16 and 17-year old hurlers was launched at Croke Park yesterday by three Bank employees who know a thing or ten about the sport.

Henry Shefflin, Eoin Kelly and Tommy Walsh all work for the bank and were on hand to meet with players and parents from each of the 41 teams competing in this year’s tournament.

This is the third year it has been held and GAA Games Development Director Pat Daly told Sport for Business it has progressed very well.

“It was established to provide additional opportunities for young men to come together and represent their county, to build friendships and to develop their character as adults as well as players.”

“The importance of character and behaviour has never been more in the spotlight and this is an opportunity to show that playing sport can help to develop behaviours and a culture of which they and we can be proud of.”

There are 41 teams from each of the 32 counties, the first time that has ever happened in hurling at a national level.

It will run to 1,250 players taking part in 135 matches across five divisions where teams will be graded after initial round robin games.

The finals day will take place this year in Bord na Mona O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Saturday, June 30th.

“The key purpose of the tournament is to provide players with a meaningful games programme. Players and coaches will have an opportunity to develop as each team plays a minimum of five games, taking place on pre-scheduled dates at venues around the country,” said GAA president John Horan.

“As Ireland’s leading bank for students we are very proud to sponsor the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge competition,” added Bank of Ireland’s Henry Shefflin.

“We will be striving to build on the success of last year where over 1,000 young players took part in what is the largest All County Hurling Competition.”

There are novel aspects to the competition as well with pre-match talks by the referee, and a Best and Fairest Award in place of Man of the Match which incorporates skill and respect into its judging.

Special exclusive jerseys for each team have been designed and produced by O’Neills.

Join us for a special Business of Cycling Breakfast in Dublin on April 11th when we will hear the inspiring story of Peter Ryan’s journey from Tipperary to Rio and explore the possibilities that cycling offers to individuals and the Business community. Find out more here.

 

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