25 Brid Og under 13 hurlers and young Pearse took part in a hurling week-end in County Laois. The host club was Rosenallis from the North of the county.
The weekend began at Musgrave were we boarded the bus for the “O’Moore County”. After a quick pit-stop outside Dundalk the Og’s arrived at Rosenallis for a joint training with their juvenile hurlers. The players were put through a series of training drills and then they were organised into teams and played a couple of scratch games.
With the fading light the players were brought together and given a quick debrief before the bus was boarded for the next stage of our packed itinerary, bowling and laser quest at Roll n Bowl in Portlaoise. After a tour of some of the roundabouts and side streets of Portlaoise we arrived at the venue were the players were separated into age groups with the younger members having a go at the bowling first with our older players trying their luck at laser quest. During the two hours the players also managed to get a meal and several games of five a side football.
With the fun and games at “Roll n Bowl” over the players settled down for the drive to our overnight accommodation at the “Farm Hostel” in the rural Laois countryside. Oliver and John divided the players into groups and they were allocated a room number. Ethan, Peter Henvey and Rory had company from the “Hound of County Laois” which was described as big and scary but all we could find was a small sheepdog pup!!! The kids all retired to bed in an organised fashion and went straight to sleep!!
Following a continental breakfast the coach was boarded to bring the players to the “business end of the trip” with games against Rosenallis. The Og’s were split into two teams with the U14’s playing a 12-a-side game and the U12’s playing on an adjacent pitch. Both teams got to play three x 20 minute games and although it took a while for our players to wake up and play hurling the standard on show from both teams was very high. Highlights were the goals from Rory, Ronan, Ruairi and young Pearse. There were also some great points scored from distance. There was also some great defensive displays were the skills of hooking and blocking were perfectly executed. It must also me mentioned that Andrew, Ciaran and Thomas volunteered and hurled brilliantly for our hosts.
After the games the teams shook hands and retired to the club house for juice, hot drinks, sandwiches, cakes and biscuits and cups of delicious soup that was appreciated by the parents and mentors as well. Before we left John presented David Redmond with a souvenir of our visit and thanked him and the Rosenallis club for the training session, games and generous hospitality.
On our way home the final treat for the players was a visit to hurley
marker Peadar Burke. Peadar demonstrated to the kids all the stages in the manufacture of the Caman and most of the kids took the opportunity to purchase a new hurl from this experienced maker who supplies sticks for the Laois senior county team.
After another comfort break outside Dublin the players settled themselves for the long drive to Belfast and the arrival at Harlequin’s heralded the end of our first venture into Leinster hurling.
Thanks
Thanks to Oliver, John, Darren and Gerard for organising the weekend’s activities and both club committees for helping with the expenses for the trip. Thanks also to David Redmond, the Rosenallis Committee and players for their hospitality and competitive games and we hope they enjoyed the experience as much as we did. The coaches would also like to thank our driver Malachy, and parents Caroline, Dominic, Mark and Nigel who helped make the weekend such a success and keep the mentors sane. Finally most praise goes to our players, all 25 of them, who although quite vocal at times behaved in a very respectful manner and were a credit to their clubs. We hope they enjoyed the experience and we hope to repeat these trips during the new season.
Brid Og Squad
Andrew McClean, Brendan Murray-Lopez, Ciara Hamill, Ciaran Crawford, Connla McCarthy, Conor Erskine, Diarmaid Molloy, Ethan Carleton, Ewan Rush, John Toner, Mark Hamill, Niall Agnew, Oisin McDonnell, Pearse Hamill, Peter Heaney, Peter Henvey, Phelim Lennon, Ronan Crossan, Rory Brolly, Ruairi Lynch, Ruairi McDonnell, Ryan McArdle, Sean Murray-Lopez, Thomas McCarney, Tom Dunford.
