Monaghan handball on top of the world
December 31, 2009The Ball courts of the last century differed very much from each other and would be unacceptable for present day games. While the ball generally used was the hardball, rules differed from one locality to the next and since the man with service had the choice of ball, it was a big advantage to be able to make your own. Service was taken from a designated spot on the alley, called the "tossing stone", and strength was very important since the courts were mainly three walled.
The game began to take shape when the G.A.A. Congress in 1886 laid down the regulation size for ball courts, but it was not until 1924 that a separate body called the "Irish Amateur Handball Association" was formed. This led to the first All-Ireland series in 1925 in Senior Softball and Hardball. Junior championships commenced in 1928 and minor doubles were added in 1938.
In the 1950's and 1960's handball in Monaghan was limited to a few areas and clubs, Ashburton, Bawn, Ballybay, Clones, Clara, and Monaghan Town. Each of these courts had a small group of maybe 10 to 20 people who were enthusiasts for the game but otherwise it had a limited following.
The link between Handball and the G.A.A. in the county was quite tenuous and administration at club and county level was inconsistent. People like Paddy McElroy, Liam McCabe, Liam Hanley, Michael Markey R.I.P., Gerry Cumiskey were among those who did their best to change this and maintain an organisation at club and county level.
Organisation at provincial level was equally spasmodic and largely seasonal, related to the open courts and the vagaries of the Irish weather. The supply of good quality balls was also a regular problem with a lot of experimentation going on by Dunlops. Hardball was played occasionally mainly in clones with Seamus McCabe being the chief exponent who competed at the highest level nationally.
However the capacity of people to think beyond their own enjoyment of the game to the development of the game in terms of levels of participation as well as court development, coaching, organisation and promotion was limited. And as at many levels of life, personal and club rivalries dominated over the ability to think and combine at county, provincial, national and international level. What was happening at handball was typical of attitudes prevalent at most levels of Irish society in the 50's and early 60's where vision, progress, development, management and organisational skills were scarce and the struggle for survival dominated as emigration flourished. Gradually though things began to change and the game started to enjoy a greater level of exposure. However back then few could have imagined the progress that would be made and that Monaghan would be listed among the international elite in 2009, but that is exactly what happened.
This was no over night success however, nor was it some event that happened in total isolation, but rather the result of years and even decades of hard work, of disappointment, of setbacks but always with the desire to improve by those who were promoting handball increasingly within the county. Other Monaghan players had competed on the international stage on many occasions, the late Seamus McCabe had travelled to the United States when he was one of the top exponents of the game and more recently others like Michael McCarron and Pete Larkin had followed in his footsteps, but ultimate success had eluded the county. People like Pete Larkin and Michael McCarron however always cherished the vision that Monaghan players could do better and when they reached the Golden Masters era in their playing careers they turned to the art of coaching and developing the game to give the next generation the chance of achieving on an increasingly higher plane.
The fortunes of the game in the county had been improving and Monaghan players were figuring at national level in the various grades. Modern facilities had been developed in a number of clubs and there was an increasing emphasis on coaching. The staging of the Irish Nationals in Ulster back in April gave handball in the province its moment in the sun and Monaghan didn't miss out on the opportunity. The chair person of the Monaghan Handball Board, Katrina Moen saw the Nationals as "an opportunity in the Handball year to see all of best players in the same venue" and with the Irish Nationals being the qualifiers in many grades for the Irish team that would travel to the World Championships in Portland, Oregon in October, she knew "the finals would be fiercely contested." Monaghan had two of juveniles competing in the final rounds - Padraig McKenna from the St. Mellans club in the 15 & under and Darren Doherty from the Emyvale club in the 13 & under and everyone had high hopes for both of them but few imagined what ground breaking achievements lay ahead.
Padraig McKenna was selected on the official Ireland team as a result of winning the Irish Nationals title and he laid down a marker at that stage when he made it three titles for Monaghan and catapulted the county onto the international handball stage. Later he was to be joined by five others from the county in Oregon as handball fever grew by the day.
Darren Doherty may have missed out on selection for the official Irish team for the World handball championships but he more than justified his decision to travel and take part when he walked away with two world titles and was the toast of Portland, being crowned world champion in the 13 & Under Big Ball One Wall event after a series of thrilling games. Darren then went on to add the singles title as well. In fact it was celebrations all the way for Monaghan handball as they picked up three World titles in all with Padraig McKenna adding the 15 and under singles title to make for the most successful outcome in competitions at international level ever.
Darren was first in action and did great work to get to the semi-final in the One Wall event where he came up against Daniel Curry of Wicklow, a game he won fairly comfortably, 15-5 and 15-7 to reach the final. In the final he was up against another Wicklow man, Wayne Kinsella and this turned out to be a very tough match with both players very nervous and not able to settle on their game. Darren won the first game 15 - 5 but Kinsella came back fighting in the second game. Darren was playing out of his skin and was 14-5 up but just could not finish the game off.
"I think nerves played a big part in that with Darren hitting wild serves and losing serve on several occasions to allow Kinsella to claw his way back to a scoreline of 15-12," Darren's mother Katrina remembers. However after a couple of time outs and a calming discussion with coach Pete Larkin, Darren got back on track and kept his cool to finish the second game off and clinch a first ever World Handball title for Monaghan.
There was little time for celebration as other competitions loomed and Darren also had the singles competition to come. And come it did with further glory awaiting with Darren Doherty playing Steve Matiasek in the first of his 40x20 singles competition where he played amazing handball, killing the ball with right and left, to completely out-class his opponent to win 21-3 and 21-6, although it was a tougher match than the scores would suggest with many long rallies. That result put Darren into the final against Tyler Stoffel of the USA but there was concern as he injured his elbow playing doubles with the red ace the previous night but won his match on the Saturday morning playing mostly with the left hand. "I was getting treatment for the injury and we just hoped it would clear up completely because I also had a doubles semi final looming," said Darren.
However the big one was the singles final and he took to the court at 8.45 am on the Sunday morning in the biggest match of his life so far, to play Tyler Stoffel for the World title in the 13 and Under Section.
"I had already met Stoffel in the tournament when myself and Colin Crehan from Clare played Tyler and his partner Matiasek (USA) in the quarter final of the 15 and under doubles event," revealed Darren.
They won that match fairly comfortably which put Darren in a confident frame of mind going into the singles final.
Katrina Moen remembers every stroke of that final. "Play started with Stoffel serving but Doherty was in no mood to trifle with his opponent and he started off in flying fashion and killed the first shot with his right hand off the back wall. Now on serve he proceeded to show amazing skill and focus, and with a mixture of a lob serve down both side walls and a low power serve he brought the score to 10-1.
"Stoffel at this point regained serve and notched up 3 more points with some good kill shots and took the score to 4-10. Despite the crowd in his gallery and indeed the one next door where Padraig McKenna was playing Nash, and the noise and tension of the spectators watching four games which were taking place simultaneously, Darren kept a cool head, focused on his goal and regained serve. His low power serve proved too much for the American player and he set himself up for several fly kill-shots into both corners and was able to close out the game on a score line of 21-4.
"In the second game Stoffel came back with all guns blazing and put Darren out of serve straight away. He meant business and gained 6 points in quick succession with a mixture of good passing shots and a couple of great kill shots. It took Darren ten minutes or so to find his feet in this game and regain serve, but once he did he levelled the score quickly at 6-6. They shared the next few points to take the score to 11-9 but that was to be the last time Stoffel would score a point in this match as Darren even though he was very tired and carrying the injury to his right elbow from the play in previous days, he forged ahead and with more spectacular fly kill shots and with great spin serves which Stoffel had no hope of receiving, he clinched the World Championship title on a score line of 21-4 and 21-9."
That was his second world title of the tournament, a truly fantastic achievement for the young Emyvale player and something that underlines his potential for the future. Watching over Darren throughout the tournament, along with his mother, was his coach and mentor Pete Larkin, who was himself a Worlds contender in the tournament. It was a proud moment for Peter and a historic day for Emyvale Handball Club, for County Monaghan and for Ireland.
"We have a lot to be proud of this year in juvenile handball in Co. Monaghan," Pete said afterwards. "This tops off a fantastic year to perfection."
But more was to come. Padraig McKenna was also blazing a trail of glory. In the 15 an Under singles he had a great match in his semi-final against Ciaran Malone from Clare and at the end of an exciting contest it went to a tie-breaker which McKenna eventually won to go through to the final where he met Barry Nash from County Clare.
In the final Padraig literally powered to glory in an intense and action packed match against Nash from the Tuamgraney club.
In the first game Nash went into a 3-0 lead but McKenna using a lob serve into the left corner, took the score to 3-3 and then moved into an 8-4 lead. Nash came back with accurate kill shots to level at 8-8, at which point Padraig regained serve and with a mixture of passing and corner kill shots went into the lead with 12-8 on the scoreboard. Again Nash came back to level at 12-12 and then went on to lead 17-12 but when the going got tough Padraig simply moved up a gear and re-focused to play with power and accuracy to draw level at 17-17. Nash again came back and went into an 18-17 lead but Padraig regained serve and went on to take the first game 21-18.
In the second game McKenna went into a 4-2 lead early on in a match that was very tense at that stage with both players feeling the pain and stress of the previous day's action. With scores level at 9-9, Nash forged ahead to lead 13-9, but Padraig came back strongly using a low drive serve into the left corner to bring the score to 13-13. Again the Clare player responded and a good spell saw him lead 16-13. This was the defining time in this thrilling final with the St. Mellan's man digging deep and he fought back to regain serve and brought the score to 16-16 and in the packed gallery the tension among the spectators was now intense. In the following passages of play the next six points were shared to take the score to 19-19 and things very finely balanced. However Padraig McKenna still had a couple of aces up his sleeve and he again changed tactics, switching to a lob serve down the left side wall which allowed him to take the next two points and secure the 15 & Under world title for his club, county and Team Ireland to massive applause from the packed gallery. It was also a third title for Monaghan in the championships, the highest number to go to any of the nine Ulster counties and Monaghan Handball was now on top of the world.
Reflecting on the achievements in Portland Monaghan Handball chair person Katrina Mone spoke of the historic day for Handball in the St. Mellan's and Emyvale Clubs as well as in County Monaghan and she also spoke of "the time that has been given by coaches throughout the years since those clubs were formed to bring this day to fruition. This should be a stepping stone to further success in the years ahead as we prepare for the 2012 Handball World Championships which will be held in Ireland and with the great character and courage the boys showed to come through in Portland Monaghan players can figure in the 2012 games."
The other players who took part in the World championships were Terry McElvaney from the Monaghan Harps club whose cause in the 40x20 Boys 17 and Under competition wasn't helped when he suffered a hamstring injury that resulted in him loosing to Luke Falconer of Waterford. He also played in the 17 and Under Big Ball Singles One Wall competition where he defeated Colm O'Luing, Kerry, 15-7 and 15-3 in the opening round but was unfortunate to come up against the number one seed Joshua Garcia of New York in the next round and while he put up a great battle he lost 21-2, 21-4.
Masters players Pete Larkin and Michael McCarron both played in the 40x20 singles, playing great matches that took their opponents to tie-breakers but it wasn't enough on the day and both were beaten, a result that ended Michael McCarron's interest in the championships as he had only entered in the one competition. Pete Larkin on the other hand was also in One Walls and the 40 x 20 doubles while John Treanor from the St. Mellans Club also competed in the doubles with Mickey Quinn of Armagh but they came up against a strong pairing from Canada and crashed out of the competition when they lost in two straight games.
So Monaghan handball has come of age and reached heights that people if former times only dreamed of. This though is not an end but rather a beginning and who knows but one or both of these lads will replicate the feats of Cavan's Paul Brady and take a World Singles title, the blue riband in handball, to Monaghan. Tweet
