Tipperary GAA Scene

By Jonathan Cullen PRO

All Ireland Hurling Championship

Our senior hurlers travelled to Tullamore last Saturday where they played Offaly in the All-Ireland Championship Preliminary Quarter Final.

Played in front of a large Tipperary crowd, the players set out their stall from the word go as they took control of the game and raced into an early lead. The players approached every minute of the game in a very workmanlike way that in the end resulted in a comfortable 7-38 to 3-18 win, which has now earned the team a place in next Saturday’s quarter finals where they will play Galway at 6.15pm in the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

This game will present a very different challenge for Liam Cahill’s charges as Galway will be looking to get back to winning ways following their agonising loss to Kilkenny in the Leinster final two weeks ago. Historically games between Tipperary and Galway have been very close affairs with little more than a puck of the ball separating the sides on most occasions, next Saturday’s game is expected to be no different and it is hoped that there will be a large Tipperary support base at the game to drive on our players.

Tickets for the game, which forms a double header with the second quarter final between Clare and Dublin, are now available in selected Centra and Supervalu stores as well as on the GAA website. Clubs have also been issued with their allocation of tickets for the game and members are advised to contact your respective clubs for more details.

FBS Insurance County Championship Round 1 Draws

The County Competitions Control Committee last week made the Round 1 draws for the various championships in both hurling and football. See page 59 for details.

Tipperary Clubs Draw

The bonus draw for fully paid up members was held last week, with a total prize fund of almost €50,000 being won.

The top prize of a Toyota Yaris or €15,000 was won by the very well-known Silvermines clubman Eamonn de Stafort, while the second prize of €5000 went to Gortnahoe/Glengoole’s TJ & Patrick Campion. The lotto jackpot was won by Solohead’s James Ryan, while St. Patrick’s Eamonn Murphy claimed the fourth prize of €4000.

This was also the last draw to be overseen by the outgoing draw committee chairperson Peter Byrne, who has decided to step down after fourteen fantastic years at the helm. The Clonakenny clubman has done great work during his tenure as chairperson, most notably being how both he and former county secretary Tim Floyd, along with the very hard work of each club coordinator, managed to keep the numbers in the draw at a very high level during the very challenging Covid year’s. We wish Peter the very best for the future and thank him once again for his commitment to the draw over the years.

We now look forward to the 2023/2024 Clubs Draw which was launched last Thursday evening as part of the monthly county committee meeting. The new draw will have an even bigger prize fund and will also include a number of weekly bonus draws which will give even greater value for money. Clubs have been receiving the new brochures over the last week or so and all current members as well as those who may wish to join for the first time can contact your local club for more details. Alternatively, you can join online via the Tipperary GAA website or by contacting Lar Na Pairce on 0504 22702.

Health & Wellbeing

The GAA’s Community & Health Department is delighted to announce the return of the Smoke and Vape Free Clubs initiative, thanks to generous funding from Healthy Ireland and the Tomar Trust.

The initiative provides outdoor and pitch-side signage designed to inform patrons that a club executive has implemented a Smoke and Vape Free policy for their club grounds. 60% of the 450 clubs engaged in the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs programme have already adopted the GAA Smoke and Vape Free Club Policy.

The funding from Healthy Ireland (covering clubs in the Republic of Ireland) and the Tomar Trust (covering clubs in the North) will allow for the provision of signage to approximately 80 clubs. Clubs participating in the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs programme will be prioritised however the wider club network is also encouraged to apply (and will be considered if the funding pot available allows.) County grounds are also encouraged to apply through their respective County Health & Wellbeing Committees.

This policy aims to:

• protect the health of club members, visitors, and the wider community by minimising their exposure all tobacco related harm, including second-hand smoke

• encourage people who smoke to consider quitting (while signposting to support services)

• reduce the initiation of smoking/vaping among young people

• minimise tobacco and electronic cigarette related litter

How to get involved:

• Step 1: Review and download the GAA Smoke & Vape free policy, step by step guide and presentation via www.gaa.ie/smokefreeclubs

• Step 2: Discuss with your Club Executive. The decision to become a smoke & vape free club must be discussed and agreed at management level. Before you sign up, please ensure you have their commitment.

• Step 3: Sign up before June 28th (the form may close in advance if the quota is met and applying does not guarantee your application will be successful as funding is limited for 2023. Approximately 80 clubs will be funded)

• Successful clubs must adopt the Smoke & Vape free policy before 31 December 2023 and will be required to upload pictures on social media tagging our funding partners (info will be provided).

For further information, contact Brid O’Dwyer, GAA National Healthy Club Coordinator brid.odwyer@gaa.ie

Anyone who is thinking about quitting can get free support from the HSE Quit Team 1800201203 or www2.hse.ie/quit-smoking or Stop Smoking NI in the six counties https://www.stopsmokingni.info‬‬

For more information on the Irish Life GAA Healthy Club programme visit www.gaa.ie/my-gaa/community-and-health/healthy-club/

Gaelic Games players encouraged to show support for PRIDE

Players from across the Gaelic Games associations are being encouraged to show their support for PRIDE and the LGBTQI+ community during this month.

For Pride month we are shining a light on the significant work being done to make Gaelic Games more inclusive sports for the LGBTQI+ community. An Allies & Ambassadors launch took place in Croke Park recently and representatives of the GAA, Camogie Association and LGFA as well as the Gaelic Players’ Association will march in the PRIDE parades in Dublin and Belfast.

The Gaelic Games Family first participated in PRIDE in Dublin in 2019. The three Gaelic Games Associations were the first sporting organisations to set up a Gender Diversity Working Group and transgender working group.

The GAA, the LGFA, the Camogie Association and the GPA have set up a working group to celebrate LGBTQI+ activations dates throughout the month of June. Allies and Ambassador Maria Curley (Tipperary LGFA), Rory O’Connor (Wexford Hurling)., Stephen O’Hanlon (Monaghan Football), Aisling Maher (Dublin Camogie), Vikki Wall (Meath LGFA and GPA rep) launched these activations dates in Croke Park recently.

There will be a visibility campaign the week of June 20th which builds up the participation by the GAA, Camogie Association, LGFA and GPA in the PRIDE Parades in Dublin on June 24th and in Belfast on July 29th.

Gaelic Games family members who interested in marching as part of the Gaelic Games participants in the parades in the club or county jerseys are welcome to do so. Please register your attendance for the Dublin Pride and Belfast pride on the form link, https://forms.office.com/e/e75UTmeT0R

The GAA & GPA will host a Pride Breakfast in Dublin on the morning of June 24th before joining with the Gaelic Games family to march in the Dublin Pride Parade. For more info, contact sinead@gaelicplayers.com. Additional information can be found by contacting geraldine.mctavish@gaa.ie and sinead@gaelicplayers.com

SuperValu has also teamed up with GAA Referee and LGBTQ+ advocate David Gough and Cork Ladies footballer Hannah Looney to launch SuperValu’s ‘Wear with Pride’ Laces campaign for Pride month 2023. As part of the initiative, rainbow laces will be available to purchase in SuperValu stores nationwide for the month of June, with proceeds going to support Belong To, LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland.

Earlier this year, SuperValu launched the third year of their #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign, as part of their sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, with a host of Gaelic Games role models from across the country rallying together to promote the importance of diversity and inclusion in Gaelic Games.

Martin Donnelly Interprovincial Wheelchair Hurling League

The second round of the Interprovincial Wheelchair Hurling League will take place in the Tailteann Hall at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick on Saturday, 1st July. This event is being hosted by Ballinacurra Gaels in conjunction with Munster GAA and Munster Wheelchair Hurling Camogie Club.

An open invitation is extended to everyone and anyone who has an interest sport to come to the only provincial tournament left in the GAA calendar and to see these athletes compete at the highest level in their chosen sport.

Munster are the current All-Ireland champions and will be seeking to improve on their performance from the first round in Omagh in May. There are players from Clare, Limerick, Kerry, and Tipperary, male and female, on both panels. The club is based in Bawnmore Sports Complex in Limerick and train every Thursday evening.

There will be an opportunity for the Junior team also to showcase their talents on the day with a tournament of their own.

Wheelchair Hurling encompasses a wide range of fundamental skills that exist in Hurling and Camogie, but inclusion is at the heart of the sport. Wheelchair Hurling in Munster has gone from strength to strength in the last two years, post Covid, so much so, the Junior team went from having the bare six players to now having 21 young people and each one of them have been honing their skills and fitness levels since March, with the hope of retaining the Sean Fitzgerald Cup for 2023.

Senior panel: Kieran Bennis, Steve Casey, Darren Dineen (Vice-Capt), Cian Horgan (Capt), Sultan Kakar, James McCarthy, Edel Morrissey, Maurice Noonan, Caroline O’Halloran, Gary O’Halloran, Ellie Sheehy, Paul Kelly.

Junior panel: Molly Canty, Isabelle Cooper, Cormac Downey (Capt), Sean Hassett, Nikki Hayes, Jack Houlihan, Sophie Keogh, Daithi Lawless, Kate Leenane, Shane Lynch, Kaidan Murray, Eoin O’Brien, Annie O’Halloran, Dáithí O’Rourke, Paddy O’Sullivan, Sarah-Jane Pierce, Saorlaith Ruane, Ciara Ryan, Pippa Sutton, Isabella Sydney, Saoirse Whelan.

Coaches: John Carey and Dave Fitzgerald.

Sympathy

The death occurred on June 6th last of legendary Cork hurler and footballer Teddy McCarthy. A representative of Glanmire and Sarsfields, Teddy’s iconic career saw him win Munster and All-Ireland medals in football and hurling and his career is synonymous with his achievement of being the only senior All-Ireland medal winner in both codes in the same year after starring for the Rebels in their sensational summer of 1990. Tipperary GAA extends sincere sympathies to his wife Oonagh, daughter Sinéad, sons Niall and Cian, his wider family, friends, club, and county colleagues. May he rest in peace.