Cúltec Hurleys are helping Uganda GAA head into the next hurling season ready to win as they donate over 100 hurls to Uganda for the very first All-Uganda Championship, which takes place in March 2023.
Hundreds of boys and girls from Kampala and surrounding villages are expected to join the Championship next year and battle it out to be crowned the winners of the All-Uganda Championship.
With Cúltec’s carbon fibre wrapped composite hurls, the players will have high-quality hurls to play with.
Cúltec first came across Uganda Gaa Club with the help of social media earlier this year. They got in contact with Galway man John Walsh, who is a member of the Irish Society in Uganda, and helps to run the GAA club along with its founders Bakaze Robert and Amanyire Moses.
The two founders discovered hurling on YouTube and had the club in full working order for two years before any Irish involvement.
As the local children play with basic equipment, sometimes even using hurls made out of local wood, Cúltec offered to donate 100 hurls in many sizes and colours along with sliotars to give them a helping hand.
The Irish Embassy in Uganda has shown a great interest in getting more local people to take part in hurling, with Ambassador Kevin Colgan participating in training sessions earlier this year, and Irish Political and Trade Secretary, Conor McCann, helping out with any logistical issues.
The Irish Ambassador to Uganda Kevin Colgan said, “The Embassy of Ireland have been following the development of Uganda GAA Club with great interest. Last year I was delighted to visit a training session being held by the club”.
“I am pleased that we have been able to facilitate the arrival of this high-quality material, which I have no doubt will help the club take their hurling to the next level. The Embassy will continue to support Uganda GAA, and we hope that there will be continued interest from Ireland in the progress of the team, and support for their endeavours.”
Declan Peppard, owner of Travelcare Uganda, kindly offered to cover the cost of shipping the hurls from Ireland to Uganda. He stated, “Having lived in Uganda for the past 26 years, it’s really brilliant to see that Ugandan kids can now experience and enjoy the game of hurling with superior Irish hurls. We are delighted to partner with Cúltec in getting the hurls to Uganda”.
John Walsh from the Irish Society in Uganda said: “We are extremely fortunate in Ireland that every parish has GAA facilities for children to play and learn valuable life skills in teamwork and build lifelong friendships”.
“The Irish Society want to do our part in bringing sports and the great game of hurling to Ugandan children, and we are delighted to receive this generous donation from Cúltec”.
John also revealed that the club only had 15 hurls to play with, making it difficult to organise games against other schools due to the lack of equipment.
He continued, “But thanks to the wonderful donation from John and Deirdre Donohoe of Cúltec, we are able to move full steam ahead and have the first All-Uganda championships final on March 1th next year, as part of our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations”.
“We are excited to share our National Game with the boys and girls of Uganda. We hope to inspire many others in the village to join the club, especially young girls with the new pink hurls!”.
Deirdre Donohoe, owner of Cúltec said “We know the importance of supporting young girls in sports, especially in developing countries and we hope this represents a step forward in terms of encouraging more girls and women to practice sports in Uganda”
