Jim Wood's Long Association with the hurl and sliothar During his relatively short but eventful playing career, Jim Woods packed a lot of action. The former Clare and Newmarket-On-Fergus star gathered his hurley and kit and headed into the sunset just after he had turned 30 - a time when many hurlers are still at their prime - but he still had much to reflect on four years on the Clare Senior team when he played against some of the best in the country, a massive ten Senior County Championships medals (and two Munster club medals) won with Newmarket-On-Fergus during the 1960s and early 70s and a lorry-load of memories, most of them good. In a sense when Jim stopped playing he was only at the half time stage - he was to go on to enjoy considerable success as a club and intercounty selector and coach as well as 19 years as a referee, taking charge of games at every level. He was also Chairman of his club and was a selector of the Munster Hurling team for two years in the 70s. These days Jim is no longer involved directly in the G.A.A. but he maintains a keen interest in what is happening at club, intercounty and national level. Like all Claremen (and women!) he was overjoyed at the Banner County's success in winning the McCarthy Cup last September and hopes it was merely the first episode in a new golden era for hurling in the South West. Jim knew plenty about the disappointments, the near misses, so when Clare finally did hit gold-dust, he could hardly believe it. "One thing I will never forget is the mass of Clare people on the Croke Park pitch after the win over Offaly. They took up nearly the whole area, you could hardly see a blade of grass. It was a very impressive sight with everybody waving flags and banners, half of Clare seemed to be there". Jim runs a construction company - Jim Woods Building Contractors from Newmarket-On-Fergus and carries out work throughout the Clare area and beyond. His work has brought him as far afield as Russia and he has made a number of trips to the country over the last ten years. "I went out to work with Aer Rianta constructing their duty free shops. We were also involved in the building of offices and stores out there. We have carried out work in St. Petersburg and supervised the building of a duty free shop on the Russian, Finnish border at a place called Vyborg. Most of our work abroad has been completed in Russia but we have also done some projects in Germany". These days his busy schedule prevents him from taking a great role in G.A.A. affairs. Born in Foynes in Limerick Jim Woods moved with his family to Newmarket-On-Fergus at an early age, and growing up, his prowess with the sliothar and caman soon became apparent. At just 16 years old he was already in the local Senior team, well capable of holding his own in a man's world. Soon the county selectors were having a look at the promising youngster. In the early 1960s Jim was selected for the county Minors and moved quickly on to the Under 21's team as his intercounty apprenticeship continued apace. Invariably, for club and county, he was posted in at one of the half back positions, providing a solid bulwark against opposition attacks. Meanwhile he was embarking on a club career which brought a wealth of riches as Newmarket-On-Fergus began to dominate Clare hurling. "We were able to put together a brilliant team at the time and from 1963 to '74 we won ten Senior County Championship. Altogether between 1963 and '91 we won a total of thirteen titles and lost out twice at the semi final stage. When I was playing I was lucky enough to be part of two three-in-a-row teams and a four in-a-row team as well. We won it in 1963, '64, '65 and again in '67, '68, '69 and again in '71, '72, '73, and '74", he fondly recalls. Picking up a county medal never became repetitive or mundane, there was always something special about ending up on top of the heap but winning the Muster Club Championship - as they did on two occasions - was something special. "I enjoyed all the county finals we won but the Munster title itself in 1968 was the high point of my career: there wasn't too many Munster medals of any kind going around Clare in those days. We often regretted there wasn't an All-Ireland Championship at the time as we felt we could have gone on to greatest things". Hard work and sheer ability saw the team sweep aside most opposition, both inside and outside Clare. "We had a brilliant collection of talented, skilful hurlers and at one stage about a third of the team had played for Munster including Pat Cronin, Liam Danagher, Jim Cullinan, Michael Considine and others. We also trained very hard". Jim's Senior debut for Clare was made in the Munster Championship clash against Limerick and it was a match he was almost forced to miss. "It was a very big occasion for me, of course and a sort of baptism of fire as it was my first competitive match for Clare. Just before the game I had a cold and wondered if I would be able to play but once the action started I forget all about the cold and just got on with things. We won the match and I was happy enough with my performance. I got on O'K." In the next round Clare were defeated by Tipperary, it was to become a familiar story. Packed with top class hurlers, Tipperary were to repeatedly smother their neighbours Championship ambitions: it was no different in the Munster final of 1967 when Jim was among the subs as Clare lost to the Premier County by 4-12 to 2-6. Once he retired from hurling Jim Woods was far from finished with the game. He took up refereeing for 19 years and took charge of games at all grades, including the National League semi final in the early 80's between Cork and Galway. He has no doubts that taking charge of a hurling match is much more difficult than a football game. "The play moves much quicker, with some clearances reaching seventy or eighty yards you need to be very fit. I enjoyed refereeing to an extent, somebody had to do it", he adds. He also turned his hand to coaching and selecting and helped Newmarket to a county title in the 70s. Jim then became a Clare selector for two years and held that position when Clare won the National League title in 1976 defeating Kilkenny by 2-8 to 0-9. The captain of the Clare side that day was Jimmy McNamara, a Newmarket-On-Fergus man. Also on that team was Ger Loughnane and Fr. Harry Bohan was manager. "He introduced a new style of inter-county management which placed a big emphasis on the relationship between players and management. It was a new, but effective approach," adds Jim. Winning the National Leagues in '77 and '78 provided a huge boost to Clare but it proved impossible to translate League success into Championship glory. "By that stage, Cork had replaced Tipperary as the kingpins in Munster", he mournfully recalls. His experience as coach brought home to Jim the special demand the job makes on somebody. "It is a very exacting job, time consuming. You need to be able to impart knowledge, to access and understand players. You also have to stamp your authority, let people know who is in charge. If you don't do that you won't have the respect of the players and get the response you want". Hurling these days, Jim feels, is more exact and measured than the past. Much of the spontaneity has gone out of the modern game. Players are now coached to feed the ball to their colleagues in what he calls "blackboard hurling". He sees another sign of growing sophistication in the stylised equipment used, most top class players now having a couple of their own specially made sticks on the sideline ready to be thrown in if needed. It wasn't always like that. Over the years Jim has noticed the disappearance of overhead play, the clash of the ash as the ball flew through the air. Rarely does he see a player connecting in full flight. "It is a skill that seems to have died. Players now concentrate more on getting the ball and controlling it before sending it to a colleague. It is more scientific. Overhead hurling was not as accurate a delivery but it kept the game speeded up and kept the backs at a disadvantage. They didn't know where it might end up". Clare's achievement in winning the McCarthy Cup last September means the county can now hold its head up high. The river has been crossed and inspired by the confidence gained in the win over Offaly, they can go on to achieve even further glory. Jim Woods certainly hopes so. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine. 16th Feb 1996 Tweet

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