By Jonathan Hogan

THERE’S a new chapter being written for hurling and camogie in the Fermanagh-Cavan corner of the country – and it’s one that’s already turning heads.

MacNean Hurling Club, a newly formed cross-border venture, has officially launched this summer. It’s a unique collaboration between Belcoo O’Rahallaigh and Shannon Gaels, aimed at opening the code to more children and families on both sides of the border, with training sessions and challenge games at underage level the first step in what the club hopes will be a growing success.

Fittingly, the club’s historic journey began on the biggest stage of all last month.

Chairperson Anita Maguire and coach Rian Kennedy were invited onto the hallowed turf at Croke Park during the Hurling Nua celebrations standing shoulder-to-shoulder with GAA President Jarlath Burns and leading hurling figures, in recognition of the club’s trailblazing formation.

Barely 24 hours later, the real grassroots work began. Monday’s opening ‘coach the coaches’ session at Páirc Gael na Sionnaine drew a great turnout, with people of all ages taking part under the guidance of Ulster GAA hurling development manager Kevin Kelly, with Fermanagh GAA’s Teresa McNabb also on hand to offer her support.

“The Ulster Council have sent people down to us now to help get coaches off the ground,” said Maguire. “It’s very exciting. It’s a great idea to get the kids involved in hurling, and even the bigger picture is getting the two communities playing together.

“Getting children from Blacklion and Glangevlin, and our area with Shannon Gaels, and the children from Belcoo mixing in. It’s unique really. It’s never really happened in my era – the two communities are so close geographically but so far apart in other ways. Different schools, different teams, different counties, so to have them all playing together is going to be amazing.”

The club is guided by a joint subcommittee appointed by both parent clubs, with Maguire acting as chairperson and Fermanagh hurler Aaron Magee among those helping to steer the project, supported by Kelly and Patrick Delaney of Ulster GAA, whose help has already proven invaluable.

“There’s excitement in both counties, for Cavan and Fermanagh, to have a new hurling club,” Maguire explained.

“There’s only a few in each and we can compete in either county. We can choose that at any age level. They’re open to helping us out in any way. Kevin’s brought equipment down too and that was one of our biggest concerns. With football you can almost turn up in a pair of boots, but with hurling you need a hurl, a helmet, and that’s going to be there for us at the start, which is great.”

The first focus is on building from the ground up, starting with children as young as four, and with a strong emphasis on encouraging parents and new volunteers to get involved, regardless of experience.

“We’re keen to get parents involved, because we’re starting from four years up, so to bring parents along on this journey would be amazing,” said Maguire.

“A lot of people might say ‘I can’t teach hurling.’ They might never have played it but that’s what the Ulster Council are there for, to help people who’ve maybe never lifted a hurl before to actually know how to coach. There’s lots of people in the area who have played hurling too, like Aaron (Magee), and a Galway u-21 hurler who’s going to help us out. It’s amazing the people willing to come and help.”

With no strong tradition of hurling in the area, Maguire believes this will create a level playing field and an opportunity to draw in new people to the club scene.

“It’s a chance to get people that weren’t involved in either club before. You might have had people who wouldn’t have coached football because they’d never played it but this is different now because everyone’s at the starting point. There’s no history of hurling here so everyone’s on one level.”

For Maguire, who got involved through her own son Johnny, who first played hurling in school and then in Manorhamilton because there was no local club, it’s been a rewarding journey already.

“I would’ve watched hurling on TV, but I wouldn’t have really known how brilliant a game it is. The skill, the pace, and a lot of the skills are transferable into football and vice versa, so if you’ve a dual player it will add to both games.”

Plans are already underway for summer coaching and future teams, with no age limits on participation.

“We’ll look at the competition we can go into next year. If there’s enough for u-16, we’ll do that, if there’s enough for u-10, we’ll do that and hopefully we’ll have a few teams. It’ll take a couple of years to build but there’s loads of interest.”

And with the club’s jersey design competition already undertaken, the young players will soon be wearing their new colours before blitzes and challenge games follow.

“It’s really exciting and I’m honoured to be chairperson of it. It’s a job easily got as you might imagine.” laughed Maguire.

“We’ve John Flanagan and Rian Kennedy, and for us to be welcomed onto Croke Park pitch as one of the new hurling clubs, and to meet Jarlath Burns, it’s really exciting.”

It was Flanagan and Shane McNulty who first came together with the idea months ago – and now the reality is taking shape, with MacNean Hurling Club’s story only just beginning.