It appears to be a natural progression for former hurlers to turn to management when they finally hang up their hurls for good. Some take to the job with ease while more struggle to adapt to their new surroundings. Former Westmeath and Brownstown hurler Pat Clancy certainly falls into the first category. During a successful career with both club and county, Pat amassed six senior hurling championship medals during a ten year period from 1983 to '93. He represented the club until 2006 when as player/manager he guided them to an intermediate title. His county career saw him play during the golden era of the mid eighties when the county gained promotion to Division 1 of the NHL; while he also won and All-Ireland B and Kehoe Cup medals as well as All-Ireland inter-firms honours. His knowledge of the game can be rivaled by few and following the acquisition of the relevant coaching badges, Pat has begun to make a name for himself on the management scene. Following successful stints with the Westmeath minor hurling squad and his club, Pat has taken up the reins of Louth. Many may frown upon his decision to manage a county that is far from a hurling stronghold, but he explains through a questions and answers session his reasons for taking on the job and what he hopes to achieve with the Wee County. At present, Pat and former Ringtown hurler Noel Boyce are the only two Westmeath natives to be involved in managing county hurling teams. Noel is overseeing the fortunes of Longford this year. Before this another former Brownstown hurler John Davis had a successful stint with Meath and Westmeath, but aside from this trio, there have not been many former county players who have ventured into county management outside Westmeath, which is a surprising statistic given the standard of hurlers that the county has produced down through the years. There have been many who have moved into club management and indeed some have been in charge of the Midlanders, but for some taking that step out of the county has proven to be a difficult one. Hurling in Louth has seen little success in recent years with only a Division 3 title to show for their troubles in the last decade. However, an appearance in the 2005 Nicky Rackard Cup final at Croke Park should have been a major boost for hurling in the county, even though they lost to London in the decider. Nonetheless, their fortunes did not improve last year and the county board set about finding a new manager and had Pat in mind from an early stage. How did you come about to be offered the job or was there an application process? "I got a call from Louth County Board Chairman Paddy Oliver asking if I was interested in such a position." Had you to give the offer much consideration? "Yes, quite a bit actually as I had my family and work commitments to consider also." What was your knowledge of Louth hurling beforehand? "I spent four years in Dundalk IT back in the 80's and had made some good friends up there. Brownstown had played a challenge against Knockbridge last year and I had watched their progress through the Leinster Junior Championship on the basis that Brownstown might meet them again at some stage." What do you hope to achieve with the county? "I hope to gain promotion from Division 3 and achieve success in the Nicky Rackard Cup competition." Have you been surprised by the standard of hurling in the county? "Yes. Quite, it is good considering the number of clubs playing the game and the fact that no hurling club owns its own grounds. Hurling in Louth is very much secondary to football, have you encountered any problems off the field so far or is the County Board doing enough to promote the game? "I am in the job since January 1st and have had complete support from the Louth County Board in anything I have requested. The underage structures are not providing enough players to the senior levels and this will need to be addressed if continuity and success are to be achieved." Is it a daunting task managing a county that you would not be too familiar with or are you excited by the challenge? "Early on it was all information gathering but now I am getting to terms with the processes and players. I have to say I am enjoying the experience." There are only six hurling teams in Louth, do you feel this number must increase in order to promote standard at county level? "There is a concentration of teams in the Dundalk area with three clubs in existence. Outside of that there are only three more clubs. Hurling needs to extend its base in areas such as Drogheda where the population has increased." Last year's manager Kevin McDonnell is now a selector, which is an unusual situation, was it the county board or you that picked the back room team? Kevin is involved with the Wolfe Tones club in Drogheda and is very enthusiastic when it comes to Louth hurling. His internal knowledge of Louth hurling along with that of Aidan Costello (a Westmeath man in exile!) make my job less difficult. I have been involved in the selection of all back room personnel. Westmeath would not be considered as a great county for producing hurling inter-county managers, but now we have two as Noel Boyce and yourself are involved at that level. Can you see more from the county going the same route? "I don't see why not! We have produced some top class hurlers who have gone on to do well in management at club and county level with Westmeath." Why do you feel that more Westmeath people have not being involved with other counties in both hurling and football? "I don't really know. Maybe we feel that our profile as a county will not attract outside interest or maybe we are dedicated to the success of our own county and clubs and work towards these internal goals." Would you consider the Westmeath hurling manager's job at any stage in your career? "Never say never." Westmeath hurling has made considerable strides in recent years. How far do you think we can go? "Progress in hurling is a gradual and slow moving vehicle. 20 years ago we were on the brink of success but the backup ie Underage structures could not provide the flow of talent required to sustain the improvement. I believe that the Underage structures within the county are now up there with the best and will provide talented hurlers for the foreseeable future. Given this talent I can see Westmeath again gaining promotion from Christy Ring hurling to compete successfully with the likes of Dublin, Laois, Antrim, and Offaly in the coming years. There are concerns over the future of hurling as there are realistically only about six counties with any chance of winning the All-Ireland. What do you feel should be done to promote the game more? "Promoting underage hurling is the key. Hurling is competing with Gaelic Football, Soccer and Rugby for the attentions of our young people. We need to understand that young guys and girls will not just play hurling because their forefathers did. Times are changing rapidly and hurling needs to keep up." Tweet

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