Big excitement at South Kildare Shamrocks Kilcullen event

There was a ton of excitement last evening in Kilcullen GAA Clubhouse when the South Kildare Shamrocks U12 Team were presented with their County League hurling medals by Kildare hurling hero James Burke, writes Brian Byrne.

Both the U12 and U14 teams were also presented with new kit by the Kildare left corner-forward, sponsored by the Shamrocks chairman Feargal Cleary.

Another treat was the presence at the event of the Christy Ring Cup, the holy grail of the third tier of inter-county Irish hurling, brought along by James Burke. The 19th staging of the competition will take place in April and May of next year.

The young hurlers were encouraged to take every opportunity to practice their skills by the Kildare dual hurling-football player, who was the recipient of the Christy Ring Player of the Year 2022 accolade. He said they should practise every day after school, even just a few of them getting together, and also at home where's there's a suitable wall to practice fifteen minutes a day getting their eye in. He also encouraged them to be dual players where possible. "Enjoy it as well, and stick together," he added. "That's where a lot of my best friends growing up came from, all the way through school."

Recapping the last year, Feargal Cleary noted that the South Kildare Shamrocks fielded teams in U15, U14, U13 and the very successful U12. The U15s got to the semi-final in Feile, the U14s reached the final of the County Championship, 'and played a blinder', the U13s also competed at County level, and the U12s became Division 3 County League Champions after a hard-fought victory against Athy.

After the presentations, James Burke gave a lot of time to signing hurleys and posing for photographs with the young players and their families. Appreciation was expressed to Kilcullen GAA for making the clubhouse available for the occasion.

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