Hurling is being promoted like never before in Longford. One of those helping to spread the hurling gospel in the football-mad county is Westmeath man Tommy Hackett, who is over the Longford under 16 and minor teams. Coming from a county like Westmeath where hurling enjoys a relatively high profile and where county finals can attract attendances of up to 5,000, Tommy Hackett has been taken aback by the enthusiasm for the game, especially among the young people, since he arrived in neighbouring Longford last year. Traditionally, hurling has hardly got a look-in in a county where Gaelic football rules the roost. But over the past few years, the ancient game has begun to make inroads, particularly at underage level where solid foundations for the future are being currently laid. "Hurling is definitely getting stronger," enthuses Longford minor and under 16 manager Hackett, who has been greatly encouraged by recent progress. "There is a huge amount of work being done to promote the game and we have now progressed to the stage where we have full-time hurling coaches going around to the schools. In fairness to the county board, they are committed to promoting hurling and the chairman, Martin Skelly, has been very supportive." Hackett became involved with Longford last year following an approach by fellow Westmeath man, Noel Boyce, who doubles up as the county's hurling development officer and senior hurling manager. Tommy and his selectors Sean Stakelum (Longford Slashers) and Brendan Carberry (Southern Gaels/Cu Cullains) initially had just 17 players to work with between both panels. But that figure had increased to 43 before the respective under 16 and minor competitions got underway. Both teams took part in the Connacht and All-Ireland 'C' championships. A young minor side, mainly made up of 16 and 17-year-olds, were narrowly beaten by Mayo in their opening Connacht championship game. They led Louth by six points at half-time in their second outing, only to end up losing by a point. However, they recorded wins over Leitrim and Sligo before going on to lose to Cavan and Mayo in the All-Ireland series. The under 16 team had a very successful year and surpassed all expectations to win the Connacht championship. They beat Sligo, Leitrim and Louth in the round-robin series of the provincial championship before repeating their earlier victory over Sligo in the final at Carrick-on-Shannon. Longford went on to contest the All-Ireland 'C' final where they succumbed to a strong Armagh team in Garrison, Co. Donegal. Tommy has kept the same group of players together, and had them training indoors in Kenagh during the winter months. They have made a positive start to 2007, beating Wicklow by four points in Arklow to qualify for the Leinster minor shield final against Louth. Much to the Tommy's and the player's frustration, however, the final won't be played until June - two months after their only outing of the year to date. "A lack of games is the biggest problem facing counties like Longford. All that my lads want to do is hurl, but there just aren't enough games for them. I was disgusted to hear recently that the GAA have decided to scrap the All-Ireland 'C' championship this year. This is a big blow to all weaker hurling counties and does nothing for the promotion of the game. "I would call on Croke Park to provide meaningful competitions for our players. And when I say that, I'm not talking about blitzes. "We've had just one game so far this year and that isn't satisfactory. We were meant to have a second game in the Leinster shield against North Dublin, but they obviously felt they were too strong and decided to pull out." Longford has just four hurling clubs, Longford Slashers, Wolfe Tones, Clonguish and Southern Gaels/Cu Cullains, and one of those - Southern Gaels - doesn't field at adult level. Slashers, Tones and Clonguish contest the Longford senior hurling championship every year and also compete in the Westmeath leagues (Southern Gaels/Cu Cullains compete in the Westmeath underage leagues). Despite the county's small pool of players, Hackett predicts that Longford will be competing in the Christy Ring Cup within three to four years. "Offaly has proven that you don't need a big pick to win things," he says. "Obviously, Longford's pick is much smaller but the desire and ambition is there to do well. There are some very talented hurlers coming through from the group I'm working with. Nathan Cox, Michael Morrissey, Michael Cunningham and Johnny Casey have already graduated to the county senior panel. "Last year a hurling summer camp took place in Edgeworthstown and 225 kids under the age of 14 attended. The talent is there - it just needs to be tapped." Hackett is fulsome in his praise of those involved in promoting hurling in Longford, in particular Noel Boyce, hurling board secretary Barry Cox and Wolfe Tones club stalwarts Mattie McLoughlin and Willie Browne. He also pays tribute to Noel Egan, the Roscommon-based garda who was instrumental in setting up the Southern Gaels/Cu Cullains club in Cashel. A married man with two young children and a plasterer by trade, Tommy somehow finds the time to devote countless hours to hurling every week. A native of Ballykeeran outside Athlone, he was a member of the first Southern Gaels team to win the Westmeath under 16 championship in 1984, and later played for the Fr. Dalton's club in Ballymore. Now living in Loughegar, Mullingar, Tommy served as youth officer of the local Clonkill club for five years. Currently, he divides his spare time between refereeing, training the Crookedwood camogie team and the Longford under 16s and minors. He is also secretary of the Westmeath camogie board and chairperson of Crookedwood camogie club. He concludes by saying: "The reason I'm involved in the GAA is because I love to see young people hurling. I'm not in for the glory or what I can get out of it "I love what I'm doing in Longford and it's very rewarding to see the interest youngsters have in the game there now." Tweet

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