Popularity of handball is off the wall in East Kerry
THE popularity of handball as a one of the fastest growing sports in Kerry is set to continue in the East Kerry region with the continued development of Spa/Killarney Handball Club.
Late last season the club hosted a number of major fixtures including the One Wall Juvenile County Championships and the One Wall Munster Championships. The Munster event, on June 22nd, attracted over 200 players from Under 10 to Masters to the Killarney venue.
These championships were hosted by the club at their base in the magnificent sports hall at the Spa GAA Grounds in Killarney. The club boasts two state of the art indoor handball walls which were designed and built by local player and sportsman Mike Casey and opened in May 2018 by Junior Sports Minister, Brendan Griffin.
“We are delighted to see our facility used to the maximum. Currently Spa/Killarney Handball Club, still in its infancy, has 24 members over the age of 18. Our plan for this year was to establish a juvenile club and also involve the two local schools, Lissivigeen and Tiernaboul, in handball training and competition. However this was put on hold, not least by the outbreak of Covid 19. The late and much loved Spa GAA administrator John Kelly was the pioneering inspiration to develop handball in Spa and we are honoured to see his wishes come to fruition,” Tadgh O’Sullivan from Spa/Killarney Handball Club said.
Last Summer while the Kerry footballers were inflicting impressive victories over Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, the Kerry handballers were recording a historic string of five titles at the Munster One Wall Handball championships in Killarney. Kerry topped the medal table with five titles followed by Cork (3), Tipperary (3) and Limerick (1).
In the Ladies B final Siobhan Printice (Tipperary) beat Currow native Aoife Walsh (Spa/Killarney Handball Club) 15-9 and 15-8 in a spirited game that highlighted the improving standard and interest in the ladies game.
In the Master A competition Brendan O’Donoghue became the first Spa/Killarney man to win a Munster championship game defeating Cork’s Michael Linehan.
He went on to defeat his club colleague Tadhg O’Sullivan, one of the event organisers and a pioneer for the sport in Killarney, in the semi final and lost narrowly in the final to Mike O’Connor (Limerick).
This was just the beginning of a fairy tail Summer for the Killarney based club. At the All-Ireland Hardball Championships in Mayo, Brendan O’Donoghue, the current Munster champion, became the first Spa/Killarney man to win an All Ireland Handball medal. He achieved this unique and much publicised honour in the highly ranked Masters 55 B final. O’Donoghue lost to Billy Silcott (Antrim) 18-14 in one of the most competitive and exciting games of the championship but was rewarded with an All Ireland silver medal. This game showcased all the skills associated with the sport, fought out in a titanic struggle between two exceptionally talented players.
“This success was a major boost for the newly established Spa/Killarney Handball Club. The club has ambitious plans to introduce the game to local schools in the Killarney region, either at the end of the current school year or next September ensuring the
sport will have a bright future in East Kerry.”
One of the initiatives operated by the club this year was an inaugural Club League. This was a Doubles Competition but had to be curtailed due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
“This League was aimed at promoting the game in the region by running a Doubles competition involving one very experienced player partnering with a new player. Thankfully we had completed the opening round, which proved very entertaining and competitive, before the Covid 19 shut down. We are hoping to resume the competition when the sanctions are eventually lifted. We are hoping that handball will be one of the sports allowed to open in view of the distancing associated with the sport. If needed we can improvise some of the rules and ensure limited numbers of the public attending. We are looking forward to continued success for the club which is actively attracting new members.”