July was a fantastic month on the courts with a record breaking Wallball Nationals held in Breaffy House. Martin Mulkerrins & Lorraine Havern are the 2016 Irish Wall-Ball Nationals Champions after sublime performances in the Saturday nights finals at a packed Breaffy House Sports Arena, Castlebar.
For the second year running, the Saturday night Open finals drew large spectator numbers and they were treated to some incredible Handball.
In the Men's Open Final, Galway's Martin Mulkerrins was in sensational form as his aggressive two handed power play saw him claim his maiden Open title, dethroning reigning champion Conor McElduff 15-6, 8-15, 11-2. In the Ladies Final, Down's Lorraine Havern was chasing her 4th title, but faced Limericks 2014 champion Martina McMahon, who had defeated Havern in that same final. But Havern took charge for the majority of this game and bar a scare at the end of the second game, was composed as she sealed a 15-6, 15-13 win.
We also had the 60x30 Nationals recording its largest entry since its inception with Kilkenny's Ducksy Walsh and Cork's Catriona Casey taking the Open grades. Little did we know at the time that this would be the final time that Ducksy would compete in an Open final as he sadly passed away just a couple of weeks later. It was a fitting end to the Kilkenny legend's career that he finished off with an Open title to add to a glittering array of titles as the legend of the game left us for the big ball alley in the sky.
Elsewhere, Kells HC, Meath captured the GAA Handball All Ireland 60x30 Senior club title for an incredible fifth time in as many season when they defeated Ballaghadereen, Mayo on a convincing 84-37 score-line. The Junior title was won by the Cashel club Tipperary who went one better than last year. Finally in the Junior B competition, Kilkenny side St. Patrick’s defeated the Connacht championships Loughrea of Galway on a score-line of 126-25.
In Coaching News, 14 Teacher In-services took place across the country as part of the GAA Summer Courses with over 300 teachers introduced to the game of Handball. Teachers were given an introduction to the sport and taught mini games and drills to help them incorporate Handball into their PE lessons, and to help develop the game as a break time and lunch time activity. A series of 60x30 clinics were held in Na Fianna and Moycullen led by Senior Stars Eoin Kennedy and Martin Mulkerrins.
Elsewhere on the club scene successful tournaments were held in Hospital (King of the Gym), Newport (McGee Tournament) and in Kingscourt.