Moycullen teen aims to put wheelchair hurling on map
By Ivan Smyth
Galway teen Shane Curran will be hoping to help Team Connacht move closer to wheelchair hurling glory when league action resumes this weekend.
Shane was born with spina bifida which occurs at birth when the spine and spinal cord do not form properly. He grew up following the Galway hurling team and when he discovered wheelchair hurling, he knew it was he sport for him.
“It has been vital. I follow Galway a lot and I used to be tipping around with a hurl outside growing up. I took the opportunity to play and I never looked back. I heard about it when I was 13 years old and I loved it. I was mad into it.”
Wheelchair hurling allows men and women to compete together. Curran is the only Galway representative in the 12-player Connacht panel while Sarah Cregg from Roscommon is also part of the squad. Her brothers Finbarr and Cathal play for the county’s senior football team.
“We are always looking for new members especially from Galway. I am the only person from the county on the panel and it would be nice to have a few more.”
In wheelchair hurling, six players compete against each other with players looking to hit the ball under the crossbar to score a point for their team.
“The sport is growing pretty fast. We would love to get a few more playing it. It is full on as we have to wear helmets in case we get hit.”
This Saturday the third round of the 2019 Donnelly Interprovincial Wheelchair Hurling League will take place in the Joe Langan Sports Hall in Davitt College, Castlebar. This event involves teams of six players from each the four provinces playing each other from 10.30am to 3pm.
Last year, Holy Rosary College in Mountbellew hosted an inter-provincial blitz as the game continues to grow across the country.
This will be the first time that all the players from the four provinces have come together since a 12-man Irish panel attended the 2019 European Para Games Floorball International event which took place in the city of Breda in the Netherlands.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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