The main focus of hurling activity in the Holy Family parish in 2008 was on underage development. While the first team contested a fourth successive county SHC decider and the 'seconds' won the junior championship, tremendous work was carried out nurturing juvenile talent to safeguard Pearse Og's future. 'Wee County 2008' caught up with junior team boss and juvenile coach Gary Brodigan to discuss the strides being made at underage level. There was no luck for Pearse Og in the 2008 Louth senior hurling championship, a competition which confirmed that they're still the second-best team in the Wee County. For the fourth consecutive season they progressed to the final; for the fourth time they fell to Knockbridge. However, earlier in the summer, the club garnered a nice piece of County Board silverware when defeating their arch rivals to capture the 2008 Louth JHC - a win that showed impressive strength in depth. Pearse Og also contributed greatly to the success enjoyed by Louth in '08. With an abundance of Pearse Og clubmen on board, the Reds won both Division Three of the national hurling league and the Leinster Shield as well as contesting their second Nicky Rackard Cup final. However, the main thrust in the club last year was at underage level. Mindful of the fact that players are thin on the ground, with only a trickle of talent coming through and the first team aging slowly but surely, Pearse Og decided to get their underage arm up and running in a serious way. Former county player Gary Brodigan was one of the principal driving forces behind the juvenile development work. He explains why there was such a pressing need to initiate this approach: "Like some other senior clubs in the county - with the exception of Knockbridge, Mattock and Termonfeckin - we have a very high age profile. We didn't have a minor team of any description, so we sat down with Na Piarsaigh football club, who found themselves in a similar position, without any talent coming through from grassroots. "Our first target was to identify the different age groups within the Holy Family parish; our second was to establish which schools they were going to. Thirdly, we needed to identify what sports these kids were playing. So, basically, it was like a census and we gathered as much information as we could before deciding how best to move forward. "We discovered that there were 1,500 children in the area between the ages of nought and fourteen, male and female, and we set about trying to encourage them to play football and hurling. It was a mutual effort from the two clubs - Na Piarsaigh and Pearse Og. "As a result of the work, we had between 80 and 100 kids in the field every week during the summer, so that was a big success. We tried alternate it between the two codes. We have a regular group of about 30 lads in the 8-10 or 10-14 age group and these could be the first to come through and possibly play adult for Pearse Og and/or Na Piarsaigh. They got to represent the club at Go Games and played various tournaments in the JJB, Darver, Termonfeckin and Collon etc. They also got a trip to Croke Park, which was a great experience for the young lads. Many people never get to play at Croke Park, but a group from Knockbridge and Pearse Og went up and represented the county in that." Once the dark nights closed in, the project was moved indoors to the JJB on Monday nights, with the U8s and U9s in one group and the 10-14s in another, practising ball drills for half an hour or so followed by 30-minute matches. Cooley are also involved in this training camp, a further indication of the good spirit and sense of co-operation that exists between clubs in the county when it comes to nurturing players for the future. "Obviously, there have been times in the past when there was conflict between ourselves and Na Piarsaigh," Gary continues, "but at underage we have a mutual existence and are working together. The Cooley thing is a new development, and another welcome one." Long term the initiatives will benefit not just Pearse Og but hurling in Dundalk in general and - ultimately - Louth hurling. "The bottom line is that Coiste Iomana is trying to build a stronger county outfit, and that's the ultimate goal of training these kids. "We knew that if we didn't start something at underage, then the club would eventually cease to exist. If you don't have anything coming through, then you have absolutely nothing to work with and build upon. Naomh Moninne recognised this and we have followed suit. Seven or eight of us took coaching courses through the GAA and our aim is to pass on to the young lads anything we might have learned while hurling with the club or the county. "For the next couple of years, we need to get the numbers up and maybe to get some of the 'younger older' guys more involved in the general running of the club. We have to make sure we are ready for whatever challenges the future throws up. "In 2008, the Louth team did brilliantly. They won two trophies and didn't get the recognition they deserve. We had eight or nine men - including a number of key players - involved in that run and we intend to have many players involved with the county in the future. At the end of the day, all this work is geared towards trying to build a strong county team." Gary Brodigan's association with Pearse Og goes right back to the formation of the club in 1989. He was part of the original Avenue Road team from which Damien Callan sowed the seeds and is one of only a handful of that original group still involved, others being Donnach Callan, Paul Sharkey, Martin Myles, Barry Myles and Gerry Hoey. Gary played for Louth between 2001 and 2003 under Joe Power and Tony Melia, describing it as an enjoyable experience. Last year, he was delighted to be part of the backroom team that helped Pearse Og capture the Maurice Murphy Cup (dedicated to the Cork native and father of present Naomh Moninne stalwarts, who was a main player in getting hurling off the ground in Dundalk) for the county JHC. "The competition is geared towards players within the club who aren't playing county hurling," recalls the team manager (whose selectors were Kevin Brady and club chairman Damien Callan). "En route to the final, we played some tough games against the likes of Naomh Moninne, Mattock Rangers and Termonfeckin. We won our games by narrow margins and then beat Knockbridge in the final in Darver in mid-July. "We saw it as a good opportunity to field our junior players who were on the verges and weren't getting any games. We also used it to encourage players who had left the club to come back again and play a bit of hurling and enjoy themselves. Barry Myles and Paul Sharkey were two of the lads we got back. It's a very good competition simply because it gets lads playing the game." In the final analysis, that's what it's all about. Increasing participation is far more important than winning trophies. In 2008, Pearse Og did both. Tweet

Most Read Stories