Saturday 24th February 2018 saw the GAA Handball Cumman na mBunscoil finals take place in Kingscourt HC, Co Cavan.
The morning blistered into a roaring start with the Boys games commencing at 10:00am. All three hallowed courts of the esteemed club were jammed packed with brightest and best stars of the future.
After coming through gruelling battles in their respective provinces, the boys U11 Singles & Doubles, U13 Singles & Doubles stormed into action with some expert shots and riveting rallies. As the Cumman na mBunscoil Finals are a fun participation based event, there are no recorded winners for the day. Each province, across each grade, played the other in a round-robin format.
After such an exciting opening curtain, there was a lot for the Girl’s to live up to – and they didn’t disappoint. With some truly packed galleries, it would have been easy for these young champions to give into their nerves, but, they held steady and demonstrated the level of skill and dedication that we as an association have now come to expect from our female athletes.
The same grades (U11 Singles & Doubles and U13 Singles & Doubles), were played by the Girls, in the same round-robin format, and there truly was some eye-watering rallies and results, from volleys, to kill shots, the strength speed and skill of these young ladies was incredible.
Cumman na mBunscoil Development Officer, Tim O’Byrne, gave a speech before both sets of medal presentations – he noted that the transferable abilities gained from Handball to all codes of GAA, and indeed, all sports is immeasurable. He also marvelled at the talent shown by such a young group of athletes, and summised that there was no difference in the skill, tenacity and experience shown between both male and female players.
Well done to all involved and congratulations on reaching such an incredible milestone in your young Handball playing careers.
To view all photographs of the 2018 GAA Handball Cumman na mBunscoil finals day please click here.