Our school has been an active member of Cumann na mBunscol for a number of years. We have taken part in participation blitzes for girls and boys football and hurling/camogie, and competitive blitzes for football over the years.
However, we were never in the position to attend the hurling and camogie competition as we couldn't field a team that would be able to compete against other schools who have children who play for GAA clubs.
We are very lucky in that we receive a lot of coaching from the Games Promtion Officers in Éire Óg, Aoife and Seán. This, combined with extra curricular opportunities, has helped to support the children's skill development which has led us to so much success in competition this year.
Last year I decided to run a before-school club for boys and girls to give hurling/camogie a try, as they had enjoyed their sessions with Seán. It has been difficult to recruit girls so we can have a girls team for camogie but I do hope the success of the boys might drive some of the girls to join in too.
Between 12 and 15 boys come to school at 8.30 on Thursday mornings. They have been very consistent in attending and I realised after Christmas that their skill level was developing well enough that we could field a team for the Credit Union Cup competition.
The boys were delighted at the thought of attending the competition and we had a fabulous day in Ballinakill. They played four 20 minute matches, won two and lost two, but most importantly they won their final game which was a 3rd place play off. They really had to dig deep as they were tired from the previous games but they found the fire in their belly and really came together as a team.
They placed 3rd in Division 3 of the Cornyn Cup and as the players ranged from 2nd to 6th class, the future is looking bright for hurling in our school!!