Southern Gaels have produced many exciting underage teams down through the years and the Athlone based club have been fortunate to have real hurling men involved.

People like the late Frank Young, Artie Pyke, Eamonn Farrell and Kevin Jordan, to name just a few, are known throughout the county for the dedication and commitment that they have given the club.
For the past five years, Enda Dowd has been heavily involved in promoting the underage structure in the club and he has taken over the mantle from the greats mentioned.
For this year's edition of the Maroon & White, we speak to Enda about the club in general and their fight to promote the game of hurling in this predominantly football area.
Enda is employed as a full time GAA coach by the Westmeath county board and he has the arduous task of promoting hurling in nine schools around the Athlone area, although it is a role that he thoroughly enjoys.
"I have been coaching in the schools for the past three years, while I have been involved with the club for the past five and I thoroughly enjoy it," said Enda.
"Obviously this is a football area, but the kids in the schools love playing hurling, it's just when it comes to getting them to the park that football takes over.
The north of Westmeath is generally considered as the hurling stronghold and there have been a few questions raised from this part of the county as to why Southern Gaels are not the hurling force that maybe they should be.
Enda points to the fact that there are so many football clubs and other sports to contend with that it is a tough task to promote the game in the location.
"Football definitely takes precedence down here. You have Athlone, Garrycastle, Castledaly and Tubberclair all within a few mile of each other. I'll give you an example of what we are up against.
"I had to contact three football clubs recently to arrange for our under-14s to train of a Monday and make sure that they would train another night. Not many, if any other clubs would have to deal with the likes of that."
Despite, the problems that face the club, Enda is optimistic and revealed that a long term plan has been put in place in order to safeguard the future of Southern Gaels.
"We have a good structure in place at the moment and we have a long term plan. We will not be fielding at under-16 or minor this year and that is a shame, but we have to look at the bigger picture. The under-14 team that I'm looking after has the potential to be very good and I'm confident that by minor, they will be very strong.
"The club has always produced very good underage teams and I firmly believe that the minor team that won the championship two years ago was the strongest at that level in the county for the past ten or 15 years."
Enda admits that bringing the youngsters through from minor to adult level is where the real problem lies and that is something that the club will be addressing.
"That has been a problem for us all down through the years. Usually when lads are at adult level, they concentrate on the football and the hurling suffers. So we as a club have to promote the game and entice lads to continue hurling.
"We're fortunate to have some great workers in the club and where would we be without the likes of Kevin Jordan and Eamonn Farrell, who have devoted a huge amount of time and effort down through the years."
Enda also had a kind word for the late Frank Young, who he feels was one of the heartbeats of the club since it was established all those years ago.
"Frank was actually a founding member of the club and he is a huge loss. He was a great man and the work that he done for Southern Gaels was monumental."
To help promote hurling in the area Enda has been in touch with Leinster GAA coach Noel Delaney about setting up a blitz in the schools that he looks after.
"Basically the blitz will see kids from each class in the schools play their counterparts from another school. All the first classes will play against each other as will second class and so on. We will then hold the blitz in the club on a Saturday morning when all the parents can come along and support their kids."
Another part of the plan is to concentrate more on the inner part of Athlone and focus on enticing the kids from there to play hurling and enjoy it.
"We think by concentrating on the one area more so than a few parishes, it would be easier for us as we wouldn't be competing with other football clubs for players. We need to keep the lads hurling and make it as enjoyable as possible for them. It is a struggle, but it is something that we are willing to work on."
The 2009 campaign was a frustrating one for the intermediate hurlers and they will be seeking a better performance this year when they once again bid for glory in the county's second tier competition.
"The intermediates were dealt a huge blow at the start of the year when it was revealed that nine of the starting XV from the previous year would not be playing. Some lads retired, others moved away and a few injuries meant that we were decimated right from the start.
"Hopefully we can get back on track again this year. If the right effort is put in there is no reason why we can't compete for honours at the end of the year. It can be a struggle down here, but its one that a lot of people are willing to work at," he concluded. Tweet

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