Our Under 13 Boys Handballers made club history today in Cullohill, Co. Laois when they entered the John West WallBall Féile nA nGael. This is the clubs first team event and the boys got great experience, playing against some excellent handballers from around the country including Salthill (Galway), Carrick on Suir (Tipperary), St Aidans Ferns (Wexford) and Maynooth (Kildare). The boys didn’t make the grand final, but played some fabulous handball throughout the tournament.
The boys met Daniel Comerford a former Kevin’s hurler who moved to a Laois after winning a hurling Féile in 2013. Daniel and his brothers have all gone on to represent Laois in hurling and Daniel was keen to inform the boys that the handball helped him along the way.
Legendary handballer Paddy Donovan also dropped in to give the boys some tips and brought a special guest… a handball cup presented to James Delany from Winetavern Street in 1925 which is in the heart of the Kevin’s catchment area. Paddy gave the boys a brief overview of the history of handball in Dublins inner city where Kevin’s are located and pointed to key locations such as Kenny’s Court in Patrick St where the famed John Lawlor played. John was a World Champion and Handball President who lived in Dublin’s south inner city. Paddy is a member of a handball history group who are doing great work collecting and compiling handball history throughout the country and it was amazing to hear how popular handball was in the south inner city many years ago.
Topping off the trip to Laois, the boys also got to meet GAA Handball President Kevin Cooke who was delighted to see new clubs like Kevin’s enter the Féile.
Todays objective was to enter our first tournament and learn more about the game, but meeting so many great handballers made us realise that we are not just playing the sport, but we are reintroducing the game to an area that once thrived in the sport.
