Introducing Hurling to Club

Rocman

Hi all,

So basically I've been tasked with investigating the possibility of introducing Hurling into my Club. At the minute we only have Football and Ladies Football teams. There is a lot of interest from young and old.

Does anyone have any advice on how to go about introducing hurling to a Club that has never played the sport? Advice on getting people on board, getting things organised etc would be really helpful or just some general ideas.

Any comments or advice at all would be really helpful! BTW we're an Ulster based Club with very few other Hurling Clubs in the County.

feargale

Talk to Pat Daly at Croke Park HQ. With luck you'll get supplied with some free hurleys and sliotars as well as good advice.
Any harm to ask what county?

Rocman

feargale wrote: »

Talk to Pat Daly at Croke Park HQ. With luck you'll get supplied with some free hurleys and sliotars as well as good advice.
Any harm to ask what county?

Everyones favourite County, Tyrone.

Anymore advice from anyone would be really helpful.

krazyklown

From being involved in hurling in a very weak county, a key thing is local buyin. Sometimes where hurling is being promoted by people not from the club hinterland there have been problems. When its being driven from within the club it stands a much better chance of success or staying power. Be prepared to have to deal with people who will unfortunately actively work against you despite coming from the GAA family. Be committed and don't be deterred. Get in touch with your countys Games Promotion Officer for help getting coaching courses for hurling running and get as many people as you can involved. Link up with a club that you can play training games with as it might be a while before you can compete and kids wanna play matches. My own theory of why hurling struggles is that it is a difficult game to learn, and in the stronger counties, parents are more likely to encourage their kids to persist as they played themselves and understand the frustration learning to strike a ball. Best of luck with it!

James74

Do you already have a core group training and playing yet, if even just casually?

Going by your name I'm guessing the Dungannon might be the closest active club to you. I would give one of the lads there a shout for a bit of help or at least a steer in the right direction.

nice_guy80

Make out a Five Year Plan with all interested poeple.
Make short term and long term goals. Make them realistic. Some you will achieve, others you won't. Once you know what your aims are, you'll have an idea of what needs to be done.

Start with the schools over the winter. Indoor hurling and lots of activities in the sports hall that are hurling orientated

Target maybe U12s and U10s to field teams next year or attend blitzes
You can always judge how successful that is after year one.

Never underestimate how willing people from hurling counties like Tipp and Kilkenny are to help out. Get networking!

Rocman

Thanks for all the replies, all the suggestions will be really helpful. Always looking for more advice if anyone else has any!