Moran to pull on handball gloves

[rolloutking]

http://www.gaahandball.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463:moran-to-pull-on-handball-gloves&catid=3:latest-news


In 1884, handball was included in the GAA Charter as one of the sports to be promoted by the new Association and 125 years later, the game has evolved into the only truly international game under the Gaelic games umbrella. To close the GAA 125 celebrations, players from all codes will come together at the Irish Handball Centre in Croke Park on December 5th for the GAA Handball Showdown. All-Star nominee, Mayo's Andy Moran, will be among these and the former underage All-Ireland Champion is looking forward to the event.

"Handball is a great game and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the alley," said the Ballaghaderreen club, whose brother, Vinny is a top senior handballer. 

"It definitely doesn't get the profile it deserves and when you see how hard some of those guys train, it is on par with any inter-county player."

Moran will partner fellow Ballaghaderreen clubman, Joe McCann, who collected the All-Ireland Senior Doubles title with Dessie Keegan earlier in the year. McCann's first All-Ireland came on the same Community Games team as Moran, and the duo also won an U-14 All-Ireland Doubles title, as well as two Féile crowns, so they could be the pair to watch. 

According to the 1932 Census, handball was the most widely played sport in Ireland. Sadly the game dwindled in numbers in the middle of the last century; the reasons for this are lost to memory and are now largely speculative.   It could simply have been that team sports allowed more people to become involved.

It might have been that parish identity and loyalty came to be better expressed through team sports and greater media interest in inter-county hurling and football may have been a factor as well. However, handball is the slumbering giant of Irish sport and on December 5th, top hurlers, footballers, camógs, ladies footballers and even a rounders player will come together to test their skills in the alley.

The Showdown involves pairing high-ranking handball players, such as Cavan's Paul Brady, Dublin's Eoin Kennedy and Cork's Tony Healy, with athletes from other codes within the GAA, who do not normally play handball. Some of the players, such as Moran, Cork's Donnacha O'Connor, Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh and Antrim's Ciaran Herron, did play in their youth but many of the pairings will be made up of an expert and a novice. 

The competition will involve pitting handballers against each other in a 10-minute singles match, while their novice partners from the same county will then play a six-minute match. The total aces will be added up for each pair and the most aces progress to the next round. There will be competition in both 40x20 and 60x30 courts.

Many of the GAA stars have already been confirmed, including Kerry captain, Darren O'Sullivan; hurler of the year, Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh; Tyrone footballer, Conor Gormley; Tipperary midfielder, Shane McGrath; Cork forward, Donnacha O'Connor; Dublin dual star, Conal Keaney; former All-Star, Westmeath's Dessie Dolan; top Ladies footballer, Mayo's Cora Staunton and Dublin goalkeeper and All-Star, Cliodhna O'Connor, and Camógs, Derry's Katie McAuley and Galway's Aisling Connolly.

FOR TICKET INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Niamh Egan on 01-8192383 or email niamh@handball.ie

[rolloutking]

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=120849

Cork senior footballer, Donnacha O'Connor, is no stranger to the alley and as a native of the famed Cork handball district of Ballydesmond; he failed to escape the small ball calling.

       
On December 5th, he will pair up with one of the top players in the game, Tony Healy, for the GAA Handball Showdown at Croke Park, where they will take on GAA pairings from all over the country.

"It's great to be back in the alley," said O'Connor, who played his first competitive game of handball in the Munster Junior Interclub recently.

"Handball is a fantastic game; it's great for fitness and sharpening hand-eye co-ordination and most of all, it's very enjoyable to play."

In his youth, O'Connor was a talented handballer and collected three Munster Singles titles at U-12, U-13 and U-14. All-Ireland glory soon beckoned for Ballydesmond when O'Connor took Féile honours. Healy, who is a second cousin of the dynamic Cork forward, was a member of the team, along with Noel Tarrant, Michael Murphy and Danny Healy. O'Connor then went on to take the U16 Vocational Schools Doubles All-Ireland title with Tim Breen, but his attention turned to football when he made his way onto the Cork Senior Football panel.

"It's very hard to keep everything going and when I started playing with Cork everything else took a back seat, but I'm really looking forward to the GAA Handball Showdown and I think myself and Tony will be in with a good shot," said O'Connor, who is now a Games Development Officer in Ballydesmond.

The GAA Handball Showdown involves pairing high-ranked handball players, such as Dublin's Eoin Kennedy and Cork's Tony Healy, with athletes from other codes within the GAA. Healy and O'Connor will be amongst the favourites to take honours, but there will be tough competition from the likes of Kilkenny's Ducksy and Tommy Walsh, Mayo's Andy Moran and Joe McCann, and Tipperary's Ger Coonan and Shane McGrath, as Walsh, Moran and McGrath have all tried their hands at the perfect game.

The competition will involve pitting handballers against each other in a 10-minute singles match, while their novice partners from the same county will then play a six-minute match. The total aces will be added up for each pair and the most aces progress to the next round.

O'Connor will also be seeking revenge against his Kingdom County neighbour, Darren O'Sullivan, who lifted the Sam Maguire following Kerry's defeat of the Rebels in September. The Showdown is not just confined to the men, and top ladies footballer, Mayo's Cora Staunton and Dublin's All-Star goalkeeper, Cliodhna O'Connor, will be in action, while Camógs, Derry's Katie McAuley and Galway's Aisling Connolly will fly the flag for the chicks with sticks.

©2

[Lar Naparka]

http://www.gaahandball.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463:moran-to-pull-on-handball-gloves&catid=3:latest-news


In 1884, handball was included in the GAA Charter as one of the sports to be promoted by the new Association and 125 years later, the game has evolved into the only truly international game under the Gaelic games umbrella. To close the GAA 125 celebrations, players from all codes will come together at the Irish Handball Centre in Croke Park on December 5th for the GAA Handball Showdown. All-Star nominee, Mayo's Andy Moran, will be among these and the former underage All-Ireland Champion is looking forward to the event.

"Handball is a great game and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the alley," said the Ballaghaderreen club, whose brother, Vinny is a top senior handballer. 

"It definitely doesn't get the profile it deserves and when you see how hard some of those guys train, it is on par with any inter-county player."

Moran will partner fellow Ballaghaderreen clubman, Joe McCann, who collected the All-Ireland Senior Doubles title with Dessie Keegan earlier in the year. McCann's first All-Ireland came on the same Community Games team as Moran, and the duo also won an U-14 All-Ireland Doubles title, as well as two Féile crowns, so they could be the pair to watch. 

According to the 1932 Census, handball was the most widely played sport in Ireland. Sadly the game dwindled in numbers in the middle of the last century; the reasons for this are lost to memory and are now largely speculative.   It could simply have been that team sports allowed more people to become involved.

It might have been that parish identity and loyalty came to be better expressed through team sports and greater media interest in inter-county hurling and football may have been a factor as well. However, handball is the slumbering giant of Irish sport and on December 5th, top hurlers, footballers, camógs, ladies footballers and even a rounders player will come together to test their skills in the alley.

The Showdown involves pairing high-ranking handball players, such as Cavan's Paul Brady, Dublin's Eoin Kennedy and Cork's Tony Healy, with athletes from other codes within the GAA, who do not normally play handball. Some of the players, such as Moran, Cork's Donnacha O'Connor, Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh and Antrim's Ciaran Herron, did play in their youth but many of the pairings will be made up of an expert and a novice. 

The competition will involve pitting handballers against each other in a 10-minute singles match, while their novice partners from the same county will then play a six-minute match. The total aces will be added up for each pair and the most aces progress to the next round. There will be competition in both 40x20 and 60x30 courts.

Many of the GAA stars have already been confirmed, including Kerry captain, Darren O'Sullivan; hurler of the year, Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh; Tyrone footballer, Conor Gormley; Tipperary midfielder, Shane McGrath; Cork forward, Donnacha O'Connor; Dublin dual star, Conal Keaney; former All-Star, Westmeath's Dessie Dolan; top Ladies footballer, Mayo's Cora Staunton and Dublin goalkeeper and All-Star, Cliodhna O'Connor, and Camógs, Derry's Katie McAuley and Galway's Aisling Connolly.

FOR TICKET INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Niamh Egan on 01-8192383 or email niamh@handball.ie

I'm told by old-timers that one of the reasons why handball lost much of its popularity was that when the GAA took it over back in the 1930s they cleaned up the sport and insisted that it be run on strictly amateur lines.. Up until this, the GAA authorities had paid nominal lip service to the game but the real action lay in the unofficial tournaments and challenge matches that took place all around the country wherever handball was popular.
An open champion at any grade was open to challenges from all-comers. The money that was wagered was fairly serious; it was a bit like cockfighting or dog fighting. Huge crowds used to attend those games and the players themselves would always have a straight man to man wager with their opponent.
My father told me that generally, each man put his money in his cap and that was placed at one corner at the backwall. His opponent did likewise.
Depending on how the game was going, spectators might drop a half crown or two down from the balcony into their man's cap to show their appreciation and support for him.
An old man from the North Dublin area told me that there was a famous alley behind the airport, beside the Boot Inn, and he saw crowds of 500 or more there at times at open tournaments. The winner took all in those tournaments but there were loads of side bets being wagered and the guards had to be called in from time to time to stop the craic getting out of hand!

[rolloutking]

http://www.gaahandball.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=474:osullivan-ready-for-handball-challenge&catid=3:latest-news

All-Ireland winning Kerry captain, Darran O'Sullivan, has had a very successful year, and next week he is hoping to continue his winning ways in the GAA Handball Showdown at Croke Park.

Despite Kerry's presentation of their All-Ireland winning medals on Friday December 4th, O'Sullivan has committed to pairing up with Kerry handballer, Dominick Lynch, as they take on the top GAA stars from around the country the day after the gala event.

       
"I'm looking forward to the handball showdown; it's something different at this time of year," said the Glenbeigh-Glencar clubman.

"I used to tip around when I was younger, but to be honest I could move around the court well enough, but was never great at actually hitting the ball."

O'Sullivan has been a member of the Kerry team since 2005 and September victory granted the bank official a third All-Ireland, but the honour of collecting Sam on behalf of his county was some unique.

"It's nice to win an All-Ireland when the opportunity arises, but being captain, and in the historic year of the GAA's 125th anniversary, made it even better," said O'Sullivan.

"The year was up and down for us; our performances dropped early in the championships, but thankfully things came good in the end and we were able to hit form when we needed to."

In 1884, handball was included in the GAA Charter as one of the sports to be promoted by the new Association and 125 years later, the game has evolved into the only truly international game under the Gaelic games umbrella. With six new clubs registered in the past months, handball is the slumbering giant of Irish sport and on December 5th, top hurlers, footballers, camógs, ladies footballers and even a rounders player will come together to test their skills in the alley.

The Showdown involves pairing high-ranking handball players, such as Cork's Tony Healy, Kilkenny's Michael 'Ducksy' Walsh and Dublin's Eoin Kennedy, teaming up with a top GAA Star from their county in a knock-out tournament to become the 'Ultimate GAA Handball Showdown' winners.

A huge crowd is envisaged at what promises to be an absolutely absorbing occasion for the sport with the likes of Kilkenny's Hurler of the Year, Tommy Walsh, Mayo's All-Star nominee, Andy Moran and Dublin's dynamic forward, Conal Keaney all set to compete, with a host of star names. Also in action will be top Ladies GAA players, such as Mayo's All-Star forward, Cora Staunton, All-Star Goalkeeper, Cliodhna O'Connor, Cork's All-Ireland Camogie medal winner, Cathriona Foley and Galway scoring maestro, Aislinn Connolly.

There will be a host of other highly entertaining and unique games staged over the course of the day, not least as Uachtarán CLG, Christy Cooney, will don his handball gear for an historic GAA President's Showdown in the 40x20 court.

FOR TICKET INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Niamh Egan on 01-8192383 or email niamh@handball.ie

[Rossfan]

Best wishes to the Ros lads involved.( whoever they might be representing)
Also to Eoin Kennedy grandson of the famours Boyle handballer Paddy Kennedy.
It would be great to see this fine old sport getting more popular.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Best wishes to the Ros lads involved.( whoever they might be representing)
Also to Eoin Kennedy grandson of the famours Boyle handballer Paddy Kennedy.
It would be great to see this fine old sport getting more popular.

I'd say you're like a bulldog chewing on a wasp with the bitter taste in your mouth.

[randomtask]

sounds like wile craic Lar Naparka