No holding back at wheelchair hurling demonstration

THE GAA car park in Clooney was heaving with hard-hitting hurlers last Saturday morning. Sliothars whizzed in every direction, with eager competitors racing after it. The hurlers haring left and right are members of the Limerick-based Treaty Warriors Club. What separates them from sister or brother hurlers in most GAA clubs is the fact that they play while in a wheelchair.

The demonstration of wheelchair hurling was held in conjunction with Move Smart Week, which was co-ordinated by Munster camogie development officer Deirdre Murphy. Move Smart Week was an initiative organised by the Munster Camogie Association, in conjunction with the Nutrition and Health Foundation.

One of the parents who didn’t have far to drive that morning was Ann Enright from Quin. Her 10-year-old daughter Adah plays with Treaty Warriors, who are supported financially by Limerick Sports Partnership.

“We’re huge supporters of hurling and when your children are born, you think they’ll be playing hurling. Then, when they have a disability, you think it won’t happen. So our dreams have come true. She plays hurling and she played in an All-Ireland final last November with these guys here. She has a ball,” Ann told The Clare Champion, while trying to avoid being mowed down by speeding wheelchairs.

“Because of her disability, I end up pushing her but she just thinks this is fantastic, great fun altogether. Her brother, Killian plays with them as well and the fun he has playing with his sister and with the kids in wheelchairs is amazing,” Ann added.

Killian is able bodied and plays U-12 hurling for Clooney-Quin. However, he finds the wheelchair hurling rough going sometimes.

“He thinks he knows it all hurling-wise but the next thing he’s sitting in a chair, having to manage a hurley and chair; a different story completely. He’s avoiding me and Adah to play with the other guys because obviously we’re not cool enough. He’s playing with guys in wheelchairs and they’re beating him because they’re faster,” Killian and Adah’s mother laughed.

“There are so few positives for people with disabilities and kids especially. To have something like wheelchair hurling is absolutely amazing. It’s the fun and the camaraderie and a bit of exercise is great for them. It’s also the fact that the disability isn’t holding you back,” Ann marvelled.

Last November, Treaty Warriors won the wheelchair hurling All-Ireland title. This turn of events left Ann with a lump in her throat.

“A lot of kids will never get a chance to go and do that. They played teams from Dublin and up the country in UL. It was a huge achievement. A lot of the older guys, especially, are huge athletes. They play other sports as well and are fantastically agile in the chairs and the speed of them is unreal. You just wouldn’t want to get in the way. The matches they play are just unbelievable,” she remarked.

Limerick Warriors, Ann said, make her family feel at home, even if they have to cross the Shannon. If they didn’t make the effort, Adah’s sporting outlets would be very scarce.

“The number of kids her age in a wheelchair isn’t a huge amount in Clare. So it’s great that she’s meeting these guys here. They’re all having fun and they’re skitting and laughing and they’re playing sport. You have a mixture of abilities even within the group but they’re all playing away. I’m just so proud to have these guys here in our club in Clooney. I would have played camogie and never thought that my daughter would play camogie or hurling,” the very proud mother reflected.

Neilus Sheehy, who is from Newcastle West and lives in Templeglantine, was also among the group of parents gathered in Clooney. His nine-year-old daughter, Ellen, plays wheelchair hurling and loves it.

“I’d say she’s probably the youngest playing at the moment. She’s no way shy out there. They go from nine up to Sultan, who I think is the oldest. He’s from Afghanistan. He would be our strongest player. What the wheelchair users have is speed and strength in the chairs and we’re trying to teach them the skills. It’s all ground hurling,” he explained.

The club is exclusively dedicated to wheelchair hurling.

“We meet every Thursday night in the Delta Sports Complex in Limerick from 7pm to 9pm. We go through our drills and we play matches. We’ve had two or three tournaments already this year and we won the All-Ireland tournament last year. We have 10 to 12 wheelchair players and to make up matches, we bring in able-bodied players,” he added.

Neilus has noticed players improve a lot once they benefit from a few matches and coaching from Limerick’s Dave Fitzgerald. “Their co-ordination improves no end from when they start out trying to strike it to actually being able to strike it on the goal,” he revealed.

It was fairly clear from the demonstration game played in Clooney that every player goes in hard and doesn’t hold back. “It’s no game for the faint hearted because if you don’t mind yourself out there, you will actually get hurt. Our crowd don’t like losing. They get upset and like any losing team, they start bickering amongst themselves. It can get fairly heated at times but that’s what you want. You might as well have a bit of competitiveness in it,” Neilus asserted.