Clarinbridge hurlers going Down Under

GALWAY GAA club, Clarinbridge has been crowned Etihad’s first Best Club Down Under. The title was awarded by Etihad Airways, sponsor of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, to the club that detailed its greatest achievement to date, both on and off the pitch.
Clarinbridge beat rivals Bishopstown from Cork, Glynn Barntown from Wexford and Kilmacud Crokes from Dublin in a public vote for greatest achievement on www.etihadgaa.ie.
The Clarinbridge club won a once-in-a-lifetime prize for Etihad’s Best Club Down Under competition. Etihad will fly Clarinbridge’s first team to Australia, where they will train with GAA legend, Nicky English ahead of the challenge game of a lifetime. Clarinbridge will play an Australian select team as the curtain raiser for the International Rules match between Ireland and Australia in the Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.
“We are delighted,” said the club’s public relations officer, Joe Egan. “This competition has been running for three or four years. Portumna won it in 2009. The way we got involved was that we saw it advertised around the middle of August and we said ‘we are All-Ireland champions’ so there was nothing to lose so we decided we would put in an entry to the competition. We sent in a video and details of our All-Ireland win. We submitted that to Etihad Airways but a lot of clubs entered.
“We spoke to Etihad about the rules to make sure we stayed within them, then we went on a pure PR stunt. The winner is decided by votes so we went on Facebook, made calls, told everyone we could think of about it, sent emails and got people to log on and vote for Clarinbridge. Two weeks ago, Etihad rang and told us we won and we are packing our bags ever since,” he added.
Clarinbridge are set to come up against some of the finest hurlers from the Irish community in Australia in the match on October 28.
“We drew our quarter-final with Mullagh at the weekend. The replay is this weekend, then the semi-final clashes with the trip but hopefully things will fall into place,” Mr Egan commented.
Clarinbridge’s success came from their outstanding achievements on the pitch and their continuous work for charities.
“I would like to congratulate Clarinbridge for being awarded Etihad’s Best Club Down Under .Their achievement both on and off the pitch is exceptional and is an superb model to all other GAA clubs throughout Ireland. The players will thoroughly enjoy their well-deserved, once in a lifetime trip to Australia,” said Justin Warby, Etihad Airways country manager, Ireland.
Clarinbridge GAA Club has been the largest sporting and social club in Clarinbridge since its foundation in 1889. The club has seen many successes on the field, winning their first county intermediate title in 1983.
In 2001, they won their first county senior title by overcoming the then reigning All-Ireland Hurling Club champions, Athenry. In 2010, they won their second county senior title and went on to win the 2011 All-Ireland Hurling Club title, for the first time in their history, when they defeated Kilkenny’s O’Loughlin Gaels in Croke Park.
While the club has seen success on the pitch, it has also very proud of its work off the pitch. The club supports charities such as the Irish Pilgrimage Trust, which is located in the parish, by organising challenge games on St Stephen’s Day each year, while Alan Kerins, a member of the senior team established a charity, the Alan Kerins African Projects in 2007.