In the run up to this weekends Wheelchair Hurling Interprovincial Finals the Camogie Association got an insight into the sport from one of the youngest members of the Munster team Ellie Sheehy who is 11 years old.
When did you first start playing Wheelchair Hurling?
November 2011. My teacher Ms Airey saw an article about wheelchair hurling in the local newspaper and we decided to try it out. I enjoyed it from the first night.
What is it that you most like about the sport?
Training with the lads every Thursday night and playing the blitzes every few months.
How often do you train?
Every Thursday night in Delta Sports Complex in Limerick.
How do you get on with the lads on the team?
Brilliant. The older lads are very good to us younger players and we all help each other out. Everyone of us are treated the same and the we are all expected to do the same work and training.
Is there a lot of rivalry between the provinces?
This is really the first year, so I suppose not too much at the moment, but as more players start to join and we start playing each other more often, the rivalry will get bigger.
Who do you think will win on November 1st in Sligo?
Hopefully Munster!
Ellie would like to thank everyone that helped her to play the game and the support shown by her family, teachers, Templeglantine Camogie Club, Treaty Warriors Wheelchair Hurling Club and coaches. She would also like to thank Tony Watene for organising that she could present the sliotar to the Referee before the All Ireland Hurling Replay this year.
We also asked the same questions to Sarah Cregg who plays with Connacht. See Sarah's response below.
For more information on the Wheelchair hurling event this weekend see the press release
Ellie pictured with President Aileen Lawlor and Ardstiurthoir of GAA Padraic Duffy
Other development news this week include:
Ø Sport agus Spraoi- Queens
Ø TY coaching course Laois
Ø Wexford 1st year Blitz
Ø Tyrone workshops
Ø Mayo 2nd Level Blitz
Ø Information Documents for Officers
Ø Interprovincial Wheelchair interview with Connacht player Sarah Cregg
Ø Up coming events
Spórt agus Spraoí
Ulster Camogie in partnership with Queens University, Belfast and Ulster Colleges, hosted a very successful blitz in Queens playing fields on Wednesday 23rd October.
320 year 8 girls participated in Sport agus Spraoi le Colaisti participation blitz.
The event was open to all Ulster Colleges with 24 schools taking part and 32 teams in 5 different groups. There was a total of 88 games played over the 3 hours with all teams showing great team work and displaying great skills on the day. An extra bonus for the players was provision of a Queens’ training jersey to the most promising player on each pitch. The jerseys were kindly provided by Aidan O Rourke, Sports Development Officer at Queens.
TY Foundation Course in Laois:
Scoil Chriost Rí Portlaoise held a Camogie foundation course on the Tuesday the 21st for transition year students. 29 girls took part in the course and will use the qualification to gain their Gaisce Award. The girls will coach in their local club or with the first year squad in the school. The course tutor was Regional Development Coordinator Patrick Mullaney.
Wexford First Year schools Blitz
On Thursday the 23rd of November Wexford Camogie invited second level schools to take part in a First year 7 a side participation Blitz.
5 schools took part with over 120 girls playing camogie on the day.
The schools that participated were:
Colaiste Brid, Enniscorthy, Gorey Community School, Loreto Wexford, Presentation Wexford and FCJ Bunclody.
The blitz was organised by Wexford County board and a big thank you to Ailish Whitty for organising the fixtures. The blitz was held in Oylegate Gaa Complex and the county board wish to thank the club for making their facility available.
Colaiste Brid, Enniscorthy
FCJ Bunclody
Gorey CS
Loreto Wexford
Presentation Wexford
Tyrone Workshops
Coach the Tackle Workshop
19 coaches attended a coach the Tackle Workshop in Derrylaughan Tyrone on the 21st October. Coaches from Brocagh, Derrylaughan, Derrytresk, Edendork and Strabane were in attendance. Also coaches travelled from Glen Maghera and The Loup in Derry. Ger Gribben tutored on the workshop.
Club Development Workshop
Club members from Brocagh Tyrone worked on developing a club development plan for next season on Tuesday 21st October. For more information on club development plans contact Gerard@camogie.ie
Mayo 2nd Level Blitz
Mayo Junior (1-3rd year) Secondary school blitz took place on Wednesday the 22nd October in Castlebar Mitchells GAA grounds.4 teams and over 60 girls took part on the day with Westport winning the Blitz.
Gortnor Abbey, Mayo
Sacred Heart Westport
Information Documents for Officers
Documents that may be useful for officers have been added to the Camogie website. These documents include:
Interprovincial Wheelchair Hurling Competition
Sarah Cregg is 17 years old and plays with the Connacht team.
When did you first start playing Wheelchair Hurling?
I started playing wheelchair hurling 15 months ago.
What is it that you most like about the sport?
I like this sport because I am able to participate with other people that are in wheelchairs like myself. I like the competition end of this sport because other sports I participate in are individual e.g. swimming, cycling and walking. I like the social end of this sport because I have made new friends.
How often do you train?
I part take on average once every 2 weeks with the team.
How do you get on with the lads on the team?
I am the only girl on the team. I don’t see this as a problem.
I get on very well with all the lads on the team.
Is there a lot of rivalry between the provinces?
Yes on the day of a match I feel that there is a lot of rivalry between each province because naturally each province wants to win.
Who do you think will win on November 1st in Sligo?
It’s hard to know who will win on the day but hopefully that Connacht will win on the day.
Any other comments:
I think that there is a lot of interest in this sport from my experience over the last 15 months but I feel there could be more emphasis put on promoting this sport in both Connacht and the rest of the country to get more people involved.
Up Coming Events…..
Ø Lifestyle camp 30th and 31st October- Cratloe Clare- contact Ross@camogie.ie for more information
Ø Interprovincial Wheelchair Hurling Finals- 1st November – Sligo
Ø Leinster Forum- Croke Park- 8th November. Contact patrick@camogie.ie for more information.
Ø Camán get a Grip Foundation course will be held in Castlewellan Down on 4th and 6th November.
Ø Coaching the Tackle Workshop will take place in Mattock Rangers Louth on 5th November, Cullyhanna, Armagh on 18th November and Longstone Down on 19th November.
Ø Down second level under 16 Blitz will take place on 6th November.
Ø Ulster Camogie Level 1 Coaching Course will take place in Castledawson Derry on 7th,8th and 9th November. For more information contact gerard@camogie.ie
Ø Games for indoor Camogie Workshop will take place in Derrynoose Armagh on 11th November.
