Handball Showdown
Moran pulls on his gloves for GAA Handball Showdown
In 1884, handball was included in the GAA Charter as one of the sports to be promoted by the new Association and 125 years later, the game has evolved into the only truly international game under the Gaelic games umbrella.
To close the GAA 125 celebrations, players from all codes will come together at the Irish Handball Centre in Croke Park on December 5th for the GAA Handball Showdown. GAA All-Star football nominee, Mayo's Andy Moran, will be among these and the former underage All-Ireland champion is looking forward to the event.
"Handball is a great game and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the alley," said the Ballaghaderreen club, whose brother, Vinny is a top senior handballer.
"It definitely doesn't get the profile it deserves and when you see how hard some of those guys train, it is on par with any inter-county player."
Moran will partner fellow Ballaghaderreen clubman, Joe McCann, who collected the All-Ireland Senior Doubles title with Dessie Keegan earlier in the year. There will be twenty male pairing and eight female pairings in total.
According to the 1932 census, handball was the most widely played sport in Ireland. Sadly the game dwindled in numbers in the middle of the last century; the reasons for this are lost to memory and are now largely speculative.
It could simply have been that team sports allowed more people to become involved. It might have been that parish identity and loyalty came to be better expressed through team sports, and greater media interest in inter-county hurling and football may have been a factor as well. However, handball is the slumbering giant of Irish sport and on December 5th, top hurlers, footballers, camógs, ladies footballers and even a rounders player will come together to test their skills in the alley.
The Showdown involves pairing high-ranking handball players, such as Cavan's Paul Brady, Dublin's Eoin Kennedy and Cork's Tony Healy, with athletes from other codes within the GAA, who do not normally play handball. Some of the players, such as Moran, Cork's Donnacha O'Connor and Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh did play in their youth but many of the pairings will be made up of an expert and a novice.
The competition will involve pitting handballers against each other in a 10-minute singles match, while their novice partners from the same county will then play a six-minute match. The total aces will be added up for each pair and the most aces progress to the next round. There will be competition in both 40x20 and 60x30 courts.
Many top GAA stars have been confirmed, including Kerry captain, Darren O'Sullivan; hurler of the year, Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh; Tyrone footballer, Justin McMahon; Tipperary midfielder, Shane McGrath; Cork forward, Donnacha O'Connor; Dublin's Conal Keaney; former All-Star; Cavan's Seanie Johnston; Westmeath's Dessie Dolan; top Ladies footballer, Mayo's Cora Staunton and Dublin's All-Star goalkeeper, Cliodhna O'Connor, as well as Camógs, Derry's Katie McAuley and Galway's Aisling Connolly.
FOR TICKET INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Niamh Egan on 01-8192383 or email niamh@handball.ie
In 1884, handball was included in the GAA Charter as one of the sports to be promoted by the new Association and 125 years later, the game has evolved into the only truly international game under the Gaelic games umbrella.
To close the GAA 125 celebrations, players from all codes will come together at the Irish Handball Centre in Croke Park on December 5th for the GAA Handball Showdown. GAA All-Star football nominee, Mayo's Andy Moran, will be among these and the former underage All-Ireland champion is looking forward to the event.
"Handball is a great game and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the alley," said the Ballaghaderreen club, whose brother, Vinny is a top senior handballer.
"It definitely doesn't get the profile it deserves and when you see how hard some of those guys train, it is on par with any inter-county player."
Moran will partner fellow Ballaghaderreen clubman, Joe McCann, who collected the All-Ireland Senior Doubles title with Dessie Keegan earlier in the year. There will be twenty male pairing and eight female pairings in total.
According to the 1932 census, handball was the most widely played sport in Ireland. Sadly the game dwindled in numbers in the middle of the last century; the reasons for this are lost to memory and are now largely speculative.
It could simply have been that team sports allowed more people to become involved. It might have been that parish identity and loyalty came to be better expressed through team sports, and greater media interest in inter-county hurling and football may have been a factor as well. However, handball is the slumbering giant of Irish sport and on December 5th, top hurlers, footballers, camógs, ladies footballers and even a rounders player will come together to test their skills in the alley.
The Showdown involves pairing high-ranking handball players, such as Cavan's Paul Brady, Dublin's Eoin Kennedy and Cork's Tony Healy, with athletes from other codes within the GAA, who do not normally play handball. Some of the players, such as Moran, Cork's Donnacha O'Connor and Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh did play in their youth but many of the pairings will be made up of an expert and a novice.
The competition will involve pitting handballers against each other in a 10-minute singles match, while their novice partners from the same county will then play a six-minute match. The total aces will be added up for each pair and the most aces progress to the next round. There will be competition in both 40x20 and 60x30 courts.
Many top GAA stars have been confirmed, including Kerry captain, Darren O'Sullivan; hurler of the year, Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh; Tyrone footballer, Justin McMahon; Tipperary midfielder, Shane McGrath; Cork forward, Donnacha O'Connor; Dublin's Conal Keaney; former All-Star; Cavan's Seanie Johnston; Westmeath's Dessie Dolan; top Ladies footballer, Mayo's Cora Staunton and Dublin's All-Star goalkeeper, Cliodhna O'Connor, as well as Camógs, Derry's Katie McAuley and Galway's Aisling Connolly.
FOR TICKET INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Niamh Egan on 01-8192383 or email niamh@handball.ie
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