IT Sligo Hurling Club seeking more members ahead of new academic year
IT Sligo’s hurlers are on the look-out for new members ahead of the new academic year which begins in September.
Prospective students will shortly be filling out their CAO forms, and anyone thinking of applying for IT Sligo who may have an interest in hurling is encouraged to join the team.
IT Sligo Hurling Club was formed in he 1992-93 season under the organisation of Jim Nestor and Jacko Kelly.
In the club’s debut seeason, the club won the Division 3 League final and the Division 3 Championship, overcoming the Army Apprentices in the final.
The team contained many established county players such as John Flavin (Limerick) and Niall Hand (Offaly). Over the next five years, the club had a lot of memorable ups and downs.
During the 1993/94 season, the team competed in Division 2 of the HE League and unfortunately found the step up too difficult, especially having lost their county stars.
The 1994/95 season was spent back in Division 3 without any success, despite continuing support from captain Pat Buckley (Cork) and Jim Nestor.
In 1995/96 the team reached the Division 3 league final where the Army Apprentices exacted revenge, narrowly defeating the then RTC Sligo hurlers.
The 1996/97 season was Pat Buckley’s last as captain and player coach but, unfortunately no honours were attained.
In the winter semester of the 1997/98 season, the team suffered badly as a result of injuries, suspension and lack of training and promptly lost two of their three league fixtures played.
In January 1998, a new staff management team was persuaded to run the team affairs. The revamped management team included Brian McCann (team manager, a native of Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim), Molua Donohoe (fitness trainer originally from Belfast), Bill O’Kelly-Lynch (coaching - Galway) and Peter Hennessy (selector, originally from Belfast).
A new, more disciplined coaching regime was instigated in the short run-up to the forthcoming Division 3 Championship quarter-final against Castlebar.
In the 1998/99 season the management team was strengthened by the addition of coach Ger Reilly, a former Westmeath county hurler and Sligo county player at the time.
The team also benefited from disciplined and structured training from the start of the academic year.
The size of the panel was also increased with new students and some existing students discovering the club for the first time.
With the increased fresher numbers, a fresher hurling team was formed for the first time. Success loomed for the revamped freshers team.
The new and improved freshers team defeated all four Division 2 rivals during the winter semester, namely Dundalk IT, Letterkenny IT, UCC and Castlebar GMIT and captured the Division 2 title.
Following the successful league campaign, IT Sligo Hurling Club received a bye to the semi-final weekend stage of the Ryan Cup where Dundalk IT (winners of their quarter-final tie versus NCI) were the opposition.
At the Ryan Cup weekend, the seniors defeated Dundalk IT 3-07 to 0-06 in the semi-final and UUC 1-05 to 0-05 in the final to lift the All Ireland Higher Education B trophy for the very first time.
Fast forward a couple of years and IT Sligo still enjoy success, most notably the Ryan Cup final in 2005 - the club’s greatest achievement so far.
Currently, the club also has a camogie team which recently won the Fergal Maher Cup in 2016.
With top class facilities for players at IT Sligo, players have the ultimate experience right at their footstep.
For more information regarding the Hurling Club, contact IT Sligo directly, or check out the Facebook page on IT Sligo GAA Club.