Three-year Hurling Development action plan launched

The GAA has unveiled a new three-year Action Plan for Hurling Development.

The Plan was launched at Croke Park by Aogán Ó Fearghail (Uachtarán CLG) and Paudie O’Neill (Chairperson of the Hurling Development Committee).

The aim is to increase the number of opportunities for people to play the game of Hurling - at all ages and across all Counties.

The Hurling Development Committee (HDC) have developed an Action Plan comprised of four key Pillars which are integral to achieving the goal of providing an increased number of meaningful games opportunities for everybody:

Pillar 1: Maximising Games Opportunities and optimising Performance Standards

Pillar 2: Enhancing Applied Lifelong Learning

Pillar 3: Supporting Organisational Effectiveness

Pillar 4: Increasing the use of Innovation & Technology and raising the Promotional Profile of Hurling.

The Plan identifies a number of tasks and initiatives in respect of each Pillar and outlines the short-term actions required to deliver on these in the coming 12 months. After this period the Plan will be reviewed, amended and improved as required and a new set of short-term actions will be agreed and implemented. This approach reflects the fact that the Plan must be flexible and responsive to change and improvement.

Some of the proposed actions include preparing proposals to reformat the current All Ireland Minor A Hurling Championship; delivering a series of Coach Education Roadshows across all four Provinces in 2016; reviewing and revamping the Hurling Mentor Programme; and establishing a dedicated section for Hurling Development news and updates on GAA.ie.

The cornerstone of the Plan is the introduction of The Celtic Challenge 2016. The Celtic Challenge is a competition for players, aged 16 and 17 years old, who are not participating in State Examinations during May and June 2016. The competition will run from Wednesday May 4 to Saturday June 19 2016 and feature 38 teams from all 32 counties participate in the competition. In total, 110 games will be provided to 912 players.

The ethos of the competition is a developmental one, where a seven-week programme of meaningful games is supplemented by a 1 to 1 ratio of games to training. Each team will play a minimum of 6 games through a competition that is structured on the basis of Group Stages, Qualifiers and Play Offs. The Group Stages will consist of seven Groups of teams selected on a geographical and developmental basis. After the Group Stages, teams will be graded on foot of their performance and will be assigned to 1 of 5 Divisions prior to participating in the Qualifiers and Play-Offs where they will play against opposition of a comparative developmental level. The competition will culminate in 5 Divisional Finals which will be played on Saturday June 18th, 2016.

The Action Plan builds upon the initiatives and progress made by previous Hurling Development Committees as well as the Hurling 2020 Review Group. Furthermore, in recognition of the need for alignment and collaboration, engagement with the Provinces is a crucial feature of this Plan.

By producing this Plan, and committing to the actions contained in it, the HDC hopes to set and share a clear statement of intent, which the entire Association can support and work towards.

To view the plan in full, click here.