People questioned covering a Louth National League Camogie match, even though Camogie is a Gaelic sport and is planned to integrate into the GAA by 2027. Coverage continued across multiple counties, including matches against Wicklow, Laois, and Roscommon, with heavy defeats but signs of improvement. A championship game hosted at Collen showed progress compared with the first outing. Senior wins were rare, with limited attendance at home games and sparse away support. Core volunteers continued coaching and building teams, while Louth U16s and Minors achieved recent successes, including an All-Ireland Shield final win over Wicklow and a Minors All-Ireland loss shortly before. These results suggest real possibilities if potential is harnessed through structure, planning, and confidence.
"People thought I was mad last year when I said I was going to cover a Louth National League Camogie match - they were playing Wicklow at Cooley Kickhams. 'Why are you doing that?', 'Are you mad?', 'No one goes to the camogie' etc, etc. But why not, we cover men's and ladies football and of course hurling and isn't Camogie a Gaelic sport and will soon be part of the GAA - when the integration plans are done and dusted in 2027."
"I went anyway, Louth were well beaten. I persisted with the coverage where possible; got someone to report on the match with Laois, missed the game in Armagh [where Louth didn't score] but travelled to the Moy in Tyrone - all very heavy defeats. Collen hosted a championship game against Roscommon and while it was another defeat, there was definitely improvement from that first Wicklow outing."
"One thing was definite though, there was, potential. And you thought to yourself, 'If someone would just take them on, harness that potential, give them structure, a plan, get a support team in place and try and instill confidence'. The latter is hard to do when you are being hammered game after game. No one I asked could remember the last time Louth seniors had won a match. Few go to the home matches and support at away matches is scant to say the least."
"However, down the end of a long, long tunnel there is a light. In the background there are core volunteers coaching and looking after teams and progress is being made. Louth U16s and Minors have been winning competitions in recent years. They aren't up there with the Corks or Kilkenny's of this world, they are a long way off. Consider though that St Kevin's reached an All-Ireland Junior club final at the tail end of last year, the Louth Minors lost an All-Ireland a few weeks ago, a week before the U16s won an All-Ireland Shield final beating Wicklow with a last puck '45,"
Read at Irish Independent
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