The Sixmilebridge GAA underage academy held their first "Bridge Bucks and Parents" night in the GAA hall last night with over 50 enthusiastic Boys and Girls in attendance. The event was open to all U6 & U8 players (or born in 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010) in the Sixmilebridge Community with the following ethos -

"aim of these nights is for the young hurlers and their Parent(s) to come down to the club and enjoy some Fun drills and games"

With Alan White in attendance rumour had it the current Junior Hurling & Camogie team managements were behind the event in order to check out the skill levels of the parents as part of a player recruitment drive for 2016 but once Peter Caseys whistle was blown it was evident this session would be beneficial to both parents and our young stars of the future.

The night focused on interacting with the players, encouragement, basic skills demonstrated in a fun way with a lot of focus on agility and movement. The 60 minute session passed by in no time and the evening finished with a quick chat and some super tips from Peter.

Huge encouragement can be taken from the night from a Club, Player and Parent perspective. The fun drills demonstrated in the hall showed that you do not have any hurling experience to showcase our wonderful game to the youth, all you need is a bit of enthusiasm while the drills demonstrated showed you do not need a large lawn to hone your skills but dancing around the kitchen or hall at home listening to the latest tunes on Clare FM will improve your movement and footwork.(Don’t say we encouraged training in the kitchen).

Reaction from the parents was great to hear:

"I'm half thinking of going back hurling now after tonight - my big problem when I was hurling was I had a wild swing and could be hooked from Labasheeda but after listening to Peter on hurley sizing the caman I was using was way too long for me"

- Eoin Gavin

"It’s true what they say that you learn something new every day and Peter always has a few nuggets of information which are of benefit to more experienced players like myself."

- Caimin Morey - Sixmilebridge Senior Winning Captain 2015

"Thanks to Mike for the invite tonight - We are new to the Village of Sixmilebridge and originally hail from a non hurling hinterland in Donegal so felt a bit embarrassed about getting involved in something we knew nothing about - but we know hurling is much loved in the Bridge so are delighted to be here. The tips from Peter mean I can have fun at home with my son Daniel in teaching him the basics of the game and hopefully when we hit the field later on in the year I can help out in some way with the coaching experts."

- Mary originally from Dungloe

Huge Kudos to Peter Casey for the session - Peter who is currently working for Clare GAA Games Development is truly one of the best in the business and a great friend of Sixmilebridge GAA.

For anyone who missed last night we are running 2 more sessions in the 3 part series for February -

Wednesday February 10th @ 6:30PM (60 Mins)

Wednesday February 24th @ 6:30PM (60 Mins)

What young players need to bring with them:

Parent/Guardian/Adult/Older Brother or Sister (>16)

Hurley

Helmet

Footwear - Runners

Some Pictures of the night here - We will be posting some video of coaching tips later