Paraic calls for more recognition for development league

It may not be the most prestigious competition in the GAA calendar, but the substantial work the Suck Valley League has done to promote hurling in East Galway – and, indeed Connacht – has to be commended.

Without a doubt, the League has not only raised the standard of hurling in this geographical area, but, in some instances, it has dragged the game back from the brink of extinction.

Outside the top tier clubs, there are those who face a constant uphill battle to develop hurling in their locality, be it due to a low player base or to the dominance of Gaelic football or another sport. Yet, through the Suck Valley League, hurling clubs in East Galway, Roscommon and Mayo have been able to fight the good fight and, more importantly, break new boundaries.

The proof was in the pudding in 2011. Of the six national Féile finals hosted in Galway in June, Suck Valley teams won three of them . . . and of those three deciders, five of the finalists hailed from the Suck Valley pocket. According to Paraic Gavin, founder of the competition, it was no coincidence.

“The success of the League was proven in the Féile,” stated Gavin, who decided to start such a competition in early 2005 after he saw, at first hand, the positive impact the Galway City League was having west of the county.

“Out of six finals, comprising of teams from both North and South, we had teams contesting three of them. I am not saying it was just the Suck Valley League – it was as much down to the clubs themselves – but it proves that the League is working. That it is improving clubs hurling. You can even see it in the Mayo teams that have come in; you can see Mayo hurling is getting stronger.”

Those Suck Valley teams who took honours at Féile were Padraig Pearses, who beat another Suck Valley rivals, Abbeyknockmoy in the Division 4 final; Mountbellew/Moylough, who accounted for Naomh Eoin of Sligo in the Division 5 decider; and Sylane, which edged by Padraig Pearses of Roscommon by 3-1 to 0-6 in the Division 6 final.“Sylane came in last year and they are delighted with the progress they have made,” beamed Gavin.

In many respects, the Suck Valley Hurling League, which begins in mid January and runs until March, has already achieved the objective set out when it was founded almost seven years ago . . . to raise the standard of hurling in East Galway and beyond. As the Ballinasloe man explained, though, it has been a rocky road.

For one, he does not believe the League gets the recognition it deserves. Although originally supported – financially and otherwise – by the powers-that-be, in recent years the relationship between the League and, in particular, the Connacht Council has become strained.

Gavin felt the provincial body was constantly putting obstacles in the League’s way, while he said the support it has received from the County Boards has been negligible. He believed that these bodies should be giving recognition to what the League was trying to achieve, embracing it as an asset rather than viewing it with a certain degree of disdain.

“Why do we always have to be going against the grain when this is something that is doing some good for hurling in Galway and Connacht?” sighed Gavin.

“I don’t know, is it because we are successful? It certainly has improved the weaker teams, while it is also promoting hurling in the weaker counties.

“We always start the League early in the year when there is nothing on and when teams are getting ready for the championship. The competition is ‘no solo’ and that has huge benefits in that it brings all players into the game . . . the games are not dominated by the stronger players.”

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.