Shane Elliott – Raising Ulster Hurling’s profile

Hurling in Ulster needs every opportunity it can get to raise its profile. We all know that the local game is not on the same level as football when it comes to television coverage and column inches in the written media. Such coverage is vital in an increasingly competitive market to help promote participation by encouraging young fellas to commit themselves to the game.

Undoubtedly, raising the profile of anything can help to make it a more attractive proposition and hurling is no different in that regard. With the Rugby World Cup in full flow you can be guaranteed that rugby clubs will see an increase in interest at their younger age levels. Sure, who in their younger days didn’t play a bit of tennis during Wimbledon. Profile directly impacts on participation.

That’s why TG4 covering the Antrim County Final between Dunloy and Cushendall is a big plus and the Irish channel deserve huge credit for their efforts in promoting the club game. The fact they are covering it also shows that our club championship is of interest in the South given our continued ability to be able to compete at All Ireland level.

The inter- county game gets its fair share of coverage at the top level between RTE and Sky, so any promotion of the club game is very welcome and TG4 have been leading the way on this for some time. RTE, though late to the party, have also started to show club games so there does seem to be an appreciation that the club scene is alive and well and the games are of interest to people beyond the counties they are played in.

With the profile of the inter-county game growing with every year it is easy to overlook the importance of the club game. The formation of the Club Players Association has been in part a reaction to this. I share their fear that we are in danger of losing the run of ourselves and forgetting what makes the association tick, namely the club and the sense of community that sets us apart from many other
sports.

I know that TG4 covering the County final has brought increased and welcome attention to the local game and I have little doubt that the game itself will showcase all that is good about Antrim hurling and in doing so emphasise the fact that there is hurling beyond the top counties. Through raising the profile, I hope it will also make our children want to play the game and aspire to play for the Senior team.

Young people are easily influenced, and television is still a very powerful medium so seeing players they know on screen makes the game seem a bit more appealing.

There is little doubt that hurling is the poor relation in terms of profile and perhaps Pat Spillane did have a point earlier in the year when he described the game as suffering from an “identity crisis”. His point being that with helmets hiding players faces and players not being encouraged to speak to the media, the public don’t know who our top players actually are even at the very top level.

I would argue that raising the profile of the club game is every bit as important as we need our heroes to be local people and not necessarily the TJ Reid’s and Seamus Callanan’s of this world.

My own community is buzzing this week with the anticipation of the county final, the flags are flying, and young fellas are walking the streets in even greater numbers with their sticks. That is down to the higher profile and exposure of the game. As hurling is competing with many other attractions the association needs to do everything in its power to maximise such exposure throughout the year especially
here in the North.

Be that through the written press, television or social media there needs to a clear communication strategy setting out how this can be achieved. Let’s develop ways of really getting to know our players both at county and club level and give our young players role models they can relate to.

Such a strategy requires a willingness to engage with the media, let the guard down a bit and let players be themselves. Ultimately, I think the Association, county boards and managers of our teams could do more to help by being a bit less paranoid and guarded about what they are willing to reveal. Players are human beings and like recognition even in their own communities for something they are doing well. So,
when we get the chance, we should throw the helmets aside and let personalities thrive a little bit more.

Going back to my initial point TG4 have been the standard bearers at improving the profile of the club game, RTE are getting on board and locally the BBC through their online internet based services are including more coverage though admittedly it would be good to see more extensive coverage in their mainstream platforms. We all know hurling is a great spectator sport, we just need to ensure it is available to a wider audience at both county and club level.