Centenary’s are always a time to look back on what has been achieved as well as forward to what the past has told us about how the future might be.
The GAA will celebrate 100 years and more of the role it has played in the state this Sunday with a record crowd north of 70,000 expected at Croke Park for the Final of the Allianz Leagues and a special celebration, ‘Laochra’ to mark it being the actual date of the Easter Rising.
The theme of history is also embedded within a new hurling tournament announced this week but one where there will be new rules and a re-imagining of how the game is pitched at inter-county level for young players coming through.
The Celtic Challenge will celebrate mass participation and champion several exciting new initiatives in the game.
Starting in May this year it is targeted at 16 and 17 year-old hurlers who are not sitting State Examinations this summer.
County and Regional
A total of 38 teams from across 31 counties and featuring county as well as regional sides will take part across seven groups that are determined on a geographical and developmental basis.
There will be 1,000 players involved in a programme of 110 matches that take place over seven weeks starting on May 4.
“All of us involved in the GAA recognise only too well the enormous treasure that is the game of hurling and are fully cognisant of the fact that its health and well-being is something that has been entrusted to us to secure for future generations,” said GAA President Aogán Ó Fearghail.
“This new competition has the potential to do just that and play a pivotal role in the nurturing and development of the great game.
“The best way of celebrating what we have is by playing our games. This initiative looks to support where the game of hurling is already well established while also looking to strengthen its presence in new areas.
Proclamation
In total there will be 22 county teams and 16 sides that represent regions from within Tier 1 hurling counties such as South Kilkenny, Waterford City, West Limerick. There will be three teams from Dublin, each named after one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation.
After an initial round-robin group phase of matches, teams will be graded on their performance and will then be assigned to one of five Divisions for the Preliminaries and the Play Offs where again they will compete against teams of a similar level of ability.
The five Divisional Finals will be played on Saturday, June 18th at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.
In a further homage to the history of the GAA and it’s interweaving in that of the state, the cups have been named after five of the victims from among the 14 people shot and killed on Bloody Sunday at Croke Park on November 21st, 1920. The cups have been dedicated to the memory of Michael Hogan (age 24), John William Scott (age 14), William Robinson (age 11), Jerome O’Leary (age 10) and Michael Feery (aged 40). The trophies and medals have been kindly sponsored by the Past Hurlers’ Association.
Sponsor
There is no overall sponsor of the tournament or the initiative, perhaps in deference to Electric Ireland who are long term supporters of the Minor Championship which this is in part a derivative of.
If it takes off though that may change with a new national competition providing access for another company looking to tap into the community values that the Association represents.
Aside from the packed programme of matches, The Celtic Challenge will also feature a number of new initiatives on trial for the first time in Gaelic games.
A feature of the competition will be for referees and match officials to meet with the teams prior to the game.
There will also be a ‘Best and Fairest Award’ that will see referees after every match choose one player from each team selected on the basis of their skill level as well as the respect they showed to the playing rules, match officials and their fellow players.
An interchange policy will be used instead of permanent substitutes which ensures every player on a squad can be involved in a game.
An innovative scoring system will be in operation for the group stages that will award a bonus point for a team that scores two or more goals, while also awarding a losing bonus point for a defeated team that loses by a margin of five points or less.
It’s a good example of how sport continually needs to develop to stay relevant with young audiences and promises to keep more good players involved in the game for longer. That makes it a winner from the outset.
