As a young boy, Martin Mulkerrins’ favourite sports were Gaelic football and hurling and he only took up handball, recreationally at first, in order to sharpen up for those games, writes Paul Fitzpatrick.
Very soon, though, he was bitten by the bug and by his mid-teens, handball had taken over. From there, he climbed the ranks and now finds himself going into the oneills.com World 4-Wall Championships at Croke Park in October as the defending Men’s Open Singles champion.
It’s been quite a journey for the Moycullen man (more of which later); in eight weeks’ time, though, he will bring it all back home.
“Everybody is very excited about the Worlds, I am really excited that it’s back here in Ireland. I have never played a competitive championship in the new Croke Park so I’m really excited about that as well,” Mulkerrins, speaking at the official tournament launch at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, told GAAHandball.ie.
“Being home for the summer has given me the opportunity to play in there in the glass court. We’re hearing about how good previous tournaments were, I’m just really excited. I was pretty young the last time the Worlds were in Ireland (2012), I was in the 19&U, but it’s great to be back in Ireland and I think there’s going to be huge interest in it.”
Taking on the top international players on the Irish courts will be quite unusual; it’s more common for the leading Irish handballers to cross the Atlantic in the opposite direction.
“It takes a lot to go to other countries, it takes adjusting to the different ball, the courts can be panels and often play faster. That’s going to bring a different dynamic for those players as well,” Martin said.
“Thankfully we have a lot of experience playing in Ireland and know what to expect but that will bring a different dynamic to it as well, how those players will adjust to playing under Irish conditions.”
Mulkerrins has played more competitive handball in the United States than any other Irish player in recent years due to the fact that he is based in College Station, Texas, where he lectures at Texas A&M as well as coaching the university’s famed handball team.
What began as a trickle of Irish players enrolling in American third-level institutions on handball scholarships has become, not quite a torrent but certainly a steady flow. Mulkerrins believes it is a hugely positive develop for the sport on both sides of the pond.
“It’s very exciting time for handball over there and from an Irish perspective I think we should be excited about it too. To make sure that the American game is strong, it benefits us as well.
“Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Angelo State and more recently Missouri State all received $1m each from a handball fanatic in Texas who really wants to see the game continue to grow. That obviously created the position for me to be a coach at Texas A&M. When they reached out and asked me would I like to do that, I jumped at it.
“For a number of years I watched Tony Healy, Paul Brady, Charly Shanks going out to America for a season or two and that was something I’d love to do, to be able to commit to it rather than going to just one or two tournaments at a time.
“The opportunity to be able to play on the pro tour, be based in America and be able to dedicate myself to it properly and go to all the tournaments and be able to see how I would do was a huge factor in going out there.
“Last year I think I played 19 tournaments in nine months, this year slightly less but 16 or 17 and when you think of it, the 40x20 season here in Ireland, between the Golden Gloves, the Mick Kerr Memorial, the Southern Classic, the Nationals and the championship, there are four tournaments there and then the championship… You are nearly playing three years’ worth of tournaments in nine months in America.
“You get so much experience and you learn from what’s after happening, what went well and, of course, what didn’t go well and you very quickly have an opportunity to test that against the best players again so, yeah, I think a lot of elements of my game have improved a lot since I went out there.”
Mulkerrins quickly embraced the lifestyle in Texas and has thoroughly enjoyed it, he says.
“I think I settled in a little bit better than maybe others might purely because when I was studying Animal and Crop Production at UCD, in third year there was an opportunity to study abroad and I got to go to Texas A&M. That’s how they knew me.
“Fast forward five or six years and when the opportunity came up, they reached out to me. I knew what to expect, I know the way the people live there, the culture of the place. I have really enjoyed it and I have to really thank everybody at College Station where Texas A&M is, the generosity, the kindness, they couldn’t do more for us and we are very thankful for everybody at the university and the handball community there for making that move seamless really.
“When I went as a third year in university. I’ve spoken to some of the older players and I don’t think the opportunities were there in the past. There were some offers now and then for people to go there but not very regular, nothing seemed to work out.
“I know an Irish player went to Lake Forest back in the ‘70s, just applied and went, but I don’t think many went. I had been there and a few others, I know John Casey went to Missouri and played handball there but I think Ciana Ní Churraoin really broke the mould for people there.
“Mike Wells at Mankato has really changed that dynamic and they need to be applauded for what they’re doing. Ciana went, did her Masters, and now we see Mark Doyle starting from first year, Clodagh Munroe… Shane Dunne was out there doing his Masters, now this year we are seeing other schools offering scholarships.
“Emma Kinnane from Galway is at Lake Forest College and Hannah Grace is going to Mankato in the Fall as they say in America and Jodie Keeling from Wexford is going too. There are incredible opportunities there at the minute.
“Hopefully we’ll have the pathways and platforms to offer even more places for people to come out to America. Look, are hurling and football going to offer that? You can go out and play for the summer and that’s great, there are GAA communities all over the world but this is a way of getting your full education and getting to see the world and play the sport you love while you’re at it, so it’s a great opportunity.”
Handball, Mulkerrins believes, is the perfect sport to accompany football and hurling, with many leading inter-county players coming from a background in the alley.
“The reason I played handball originally was to improve my football and hurling with the hand-eye co-ordination. Paul Brady was playing wing-back for Cavan at the time, there were numerous other examples – Fiontán Ó Curraoin who I grew up with was playing midfield for Galway, Diarmaid Nash was winning a Fitzgibbon Cup at corner-back and in with Clare teams.
“We’re here at Nowlan Park, Richie Hogan is a world underage champion in handball, Mark Rodgers is there now doing serious stuff for Clare, he was the Young Hurler of the Year last year.
“Billy Drennan from Kilkenny was the minor All-Ireland handball champion in 2020 in the big alley and he was the top scorer in the All-Ireland U20 hurling championship and on the Kilkenny senior panel now.
“Jerome Cahill, not in with the Tipperary seniors now, I’m sure they are trying to get him back, he has a minor, U20 and senior with Tipperary as recently as 2019. Cormac Munroe and Daragh Canavan playing with the Tyrone seniors.
“For me, I started handball to improve my hurling and football at the beginning and it became my favourite game. For others, it might be that hurling and football remains their favourite but handball is an unbelievable game for fitness over the winter months, hand-eye co-ordination, it gives you that edge against your opponents and maybe will help you realise that dream of putting on your county jersey as well.”
Click here for details and entry portal for the oneills.com World 4-Wall Championships.
Photo: WPH