New look for all Hurlers in 2010.

[Roashter]

I can see where Eoin Kelly is coming from but for God's sake some of his comments are like those of a spoiled child who doesn't get his way. I was waiting for him to say that it was making it too difficult for him to kiss his jersey with the visor on !!

This new rule is not something that happened over night and everyone knew well in advance that it was coming in.
You only need to look at the eye surgeon reports that the GAA used when introducing the rule to understand the necessity of such a rule.

Claiming that it gets too hot in the summer (in Irish climate !!)to wear a helmet is a weak argument. Soccer players are forced to wear shin-guards regardless of weather, rugby players now all wear protective padding by choice (including in sun-soaked south of France). Not to mention what American footballers wear (albeit they generally only play in 2-15 second spurts).

The compromise on visibility is I agree going to be a difficult conversion for players, but if the under-21 goal keepers can manage them then everyone else will have to follow suit.

Eoin, you'll just have to grin and bear it, wear it all the time at every training session, until it is as familiar as wearing a jersey

[Reillers]

Can't really argue with this....


Finding courage in adversity

By Jackie Cahill

Wednesday December 30 2009

A freak accident dashed a Tipp hurler's dreams but it gives a stark reminder of the importance of wearing helmets, which becomes obligatory from January 1, writes Jackie Cahill

THERE'S an old profile of William Maher in 'Sidelines', the magazine of Waterford IT GAA club which used to be circulated on campus.

It dates back to September 1998, when Maher had the hurling world at his feet as a long and distinguished career in the game beckoned.

By then, he had already achieved a lot, having captained Tipperary's minors to All-Ireland glory from midfield in 1996.

That same year, the Ballingarry native had also helped famed Kilkenny academy St Kieran's to All-Ireland colleges glory.

Maher recalls that Henry Shefflin was on that team, Mick Kavanagh too.

Jimmy Coogan, Aidan Cummins, Sean Dowling and David Carroll, son of the late Ted Carroll, who won All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny before serving as county secretary, were other well-known stars.

Life was good and the graph continued in an upward curve for Maher when he moved on to Waterford IT, with whom he would win two Fitzgibbon Cups.

His course there was Leisure and Recreation Management and the 'Sidelines' profile asked the usual questions -- favourite food, favourite actor/actress, honours to date, ambitions in life and sport.

For the most part, it was breezy, light-hearted stuff but beside the heading 'Advice to young players', Maher put forward his view that "you only get out of the game what you put into it."

Urged

He also urged anybody playing the game to "always wear a helmet."

After a memorable stint at WIT, Maher decided upon a HDip in Education at UCD, in order to become a secondary school teacher.

By that stage, he was already the proud holder of a National Hurling League medal with Tipperary's seniors, as a sub in the 1999 success.

The game dominated his life but it was to deal him a cruel hand on a damp February afternoon in 2002.

Maher was teaching nearby and on his way to grab some food before afternoon lectures, he came upon a training session in progress on one of Belfield's many pitches.

He had some gear in the car but scanning the front and back seats, he realised that he had no helmet with him at the time.

But this was just a training session, surely the risk of injury was minimal and Maher, for the first time in his life, decided to take a chance without the protective headgear.

The consequences were catastrophic and his tale is a salutary lesson to any player who might feel hard done by or thinks he's being forced to wear a helmet next year against his wishes.

A stray belt caught him flush on the left eye, literally smashing his socket.

He recalls: "The ball stuck in the ground, the lad pulled but the ball stayed where it was. He pulled again and I was right behind him and was caught at the top end of the pull.

"It was a complete accident. If I was wearing a helmet, I would have been fine.

"The second I got the belt I knew I was in serious trouble."

Pointing to his just below his left eyebrow, he adds: "If I was hit there full belt I could have got 10 or 20 stitches but there was not much blood, I think I got two stitches, so I knew that I was in trouble."

Luckily, St Vincent's hospital wasn't too far away and Dave Billings, who Maher is hugely grateful to for his support throughout the ordeal, made sure that he was moved there quickly.

"I was perfectly conscious and I can remember lying in a bed in St Vincent's.

"The pain was excruciating. I couldn't even begin to explain it."

That stroke of terrible misfortune fundamentally changed Maher's life.

Up until then, hurling and everything to do with the game dominated his thinking and shaped his days.

Major surgery followed in an attempt to repair his shattered left eye but just 10-15pc vision eventually returned.

"First of all the eye had to be put back together some way, because it was completely crushed," he recalls.

"There were two or three operations to save as much as they could. Then it was a case of lying on my side or my front for a couple of days to let the retina attach again.

"I was at home for a month or two to recuperate but I had to get back on the horse again and try to get a job, which I was lucky enough to find."

Without hurling, Maher decided to take his life in a new direction.

Fiercely competitive and hugely optimistic by nature, he decided that secondary school teaching wasn't the road for him and duly set new challenges.

He explained: "I rang Richard Stakelum (former Tipperary captain and current Dublin U-21 selector) and found out that he was a sales manager with Bristol Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company.

"I interviewed with Richard and was lucky enough to get the job, which meant another big shift and it made me do something else."

Maher eventually moved on to Amgen, the world's leading biotechnology company, and life has never been better for this softly spoken 30-year-old who accepted what came his way, dealt with it and moved on.

Maher found the buzz in the ultra-competitive world of pharmaceutical and biotech sales intoxicating while running and other physical activities kept the body fit and the mind fresh.

But once his life returned to some semblance of normality following the injury, he always craved some sort of on-field closure from the game he loved.

A decision to help out his beloved Ballingarry, a few years after he had last picked up a hurl, afforded him that opportunity.

Maher reflected: "It was a big risk to do it but I needed to say look, that's it.

"We played a Munster league final I think it was, against Na Piarsaigh down in Fermoy.

"I came on and I was very nervous. When the first ball dropped, I pulled but I didn't know where I was pulling.

"I wasn't used to guys around me, and doing things like that.

"It was very different -- when you're young you don't think about things but I was thinking about exactly what I was doing and the risks associated with that."

Since then, Maher has forged a promising coaching career and two years ago he was involved with Dublin's minors while he also spent two years managing Ballingarry's minors while living in the capital.

Working with his home club, Maher got to run the rule over a host of Tipperary's most promising young players and his bank of knowledge will stand him in good stead when he works alongside Ken Hogan with the county's U-21s in 2010.

Maher's never looked back in anger on that fateful February afternoon almost eight years ago and his courage and humility in the face of adversity provide a shining example to those who may find themselves in a similar position.

Grateful

He's always looked on the bright side, grateful that he can walk, talk and run while his father Martin, mother Anne and his four younger sisters have provided constant love and support.

He's also getting married next year to Linda Caulfield from Wexford Town, the former Ireland Ladies hockey international team captain who retired with 151 caps to her name.

So the future promises good things for William Maher, whose boundless enthusiasm for life is thoroughly infectious.

He knows that he could still be hurling at the top level alongside and against some of the greats he rubbed shoulders with in his teenage years but he rarely, if ever, thinks about that now.

He smiles: "Life is tough enough and lots of different things happen.

"There are lads I was in school with or played with at club or county level and they're only getting better.

"But it's about moving on -- we can never dwell on negatives. "It's not worth doing -- you'll get nowhere."

- Jackie Cahill

Irish Independent

[orangeman]

Names on the jerseys now as well !!!



GAA Director General Paraic Duffy has revealed that the organisation may introduce players names on the back of shirts, in a bid to assist referees in identifying players.

The mandatory usage of helmets in hurling is expected to lead to problems in identifying players and Duffy confirmed that having names on shirts is one proposal the GAA are looking into.

'Going forward it's something we might look at,' Duffy told the Examiner.

'At the moment our primary concern is to get everyone wearing a helmet, that's our first goal. Marketing the games comes after that.

'But it is a valid point. It's been an issue for quite a long time that hurlers are not as easily recognisable as footballers

[Owenbeg]

MARC Sports has just announced the launch of a novel "Scrappage Scheme" for Hurling Helmets, due to be rolled out nationwide over the coming weeks. Details of the scheme were outlined at a press conference in GAA Headquarters, Croke Park, where the company also unveiled current All-Star, Joe Canning as its newest brand ambassador.


The Scrappage Scheme, which will run until February 21st 2010, will enable players to "scrap" any make or model of helmet, with or without a faceguard, and receive a discount off a new MARC IS355 certified Helmet. In addition, MARC Sports' chosen children's charity, Make-A-Wish®, Ireland; will receive a donation for every Helmet that is scrapped.

Mark Ganly founder of MARC Sports, commented, "In recent months, the announcement of the compulsory wearing of protective headgear in hurling at all levels, sparked a great deal of debate and discussion. Much of the discussion focused on the transition for non-helmet wearing players. However, while this is an important point, it wasn't the only aspect that needed to be addressed. There are numerous players, throughout the country wearing old helmets, in unsafe and poor condition. This initiative will enable players to scrap their old helmet; purchase an IS355 certified helmet at a reasonable price and in addition, contribute to a worthy charity – Make-A-Wish." MARC Sports will reduce the price of their helmet from €75 to €60 for any helmet scrapped during this period.

Speaking about the first ever scrappage scheme run for hurling helmets, Director General of the GAA, Paraic Duffy commented "MARC Sports is to be commended for launching this innovative scheme, which will ultimately increase the safety of our playing members. The IS355 approved Hurling Helmet is an important standard for the use of helmets and we wish MARC Sports every success with this campaign."

Not a bad Idea, if it reduces the cost of helmets

[Ash Smoker]

How are the veterens taking to it?

We'll be starting our ball work drills in training in the next couple of weeks.
A lot of the old timers have been secretly in the ball alley trying to get accustomed to wearing the helmet.