In early 2023 the club made the brave decision to enter 3 teams in the U13 Hurling Championship – many wondered how would it work, would there be enough coaches, enough players, enough jerseys, enough pitch slots - how would the logistics be managed etc. but like everything in the Bridge there is a positive can do attitude and where there is a will there is a way.

A decision was made early on by the coaches that while there was close on 55 players involved there was to be a 3 Teams / OneUnit Mantra across the squad and this was across all off field and on field sessions.

The U13A hurlers reached the county final only to be narrowly beaten by Clooney/Quin in a thrilling game in Shannon back in July. Full report here

However another highlight of the year was our 2 Academy teams reaching the semi finals of their championship. The teams were names Bridge Saffrons and Bridge Blues and the Saffrons had a thrilling last minute win over Corofin/Ruan to reach the final while the Blues were beaten by the Newmarket Blues in the semi final. This setup a local derby between the Bridge Saffrons and the Newmarket Blues.

U13 Academy Final Report

Sixmilebridge 3-08 Newmarket 1-04

O’Garney Park was the venue for the Academy final which pitted neighbours the Bridge and Newmarket in one final showdown at U13 for 2023. A sizeable crowd had gathered with the weather perfect for hurling.

The Bridge hit the ground running with Jack Monahan on fire as he hit 3 points in quick succession before Noah Connelly and Blake Corbett chipped in with minors. Newmarket responded with 1-2 before the Bridge had a major on half time to put them 1-05 to 1-02 up at the break.

Six minutes after the restart Derek McCauley was on hand to rattle the Newmarket net before Cillian Rafferty added a point form play. Jack Monahan rounded off a wonderful display with our 3rd goal to ensure the win on a score of 3-08 to 1-04.

There were wonderful scenes of jubilation on the final whistle with the OneUnit of players celebrating together – many of the players had suffered heartbreak with 3 final losses this year in Schools 7 A Side, Schools Division 1 hurling and the U13A county final so the relief and joy on the final whistle was infectious.

Michael O’Connor from the County board presented the trophy to the Bridge Captain Zack Sheedy for what capped off a wonderful year in hurling for his household with his brother Mark having won an All Ireland Minor title with Clare earlier this year.

End of Season Activity

We started the season with a bonding session in Cratloe Woods to introduce the 2011 and 2010 boys, during the year we had a fun day out in Jump Lanes so it was important we ended the year in style and on Monday last the boys headed for Killaloe for a trip to the Aqua Park.

Wrap Up

A massive well done to all the coaches who put so much time into this group of lads. The team met close on 100 times between training, challenge games, championship games and fun activities. There were 3 matches most weeks along with training – The 2 academy matches clashed on the same days at the same times in different venues so a big well done to Stephen who looked after the team logistics and training times etc.

A big thank you to all the parents who backed the team managements vision at the start of the year and had the boys at training and matches fully kitted out and on time.

We had 3 great leaders in Liam, Larry and Zack who captained the teams and 52 boys who soldiered with them through some huge battles throughout the year. While all the games didn’t go our way the boys never gave up and their attitude was exemplary throughout the year.

The 2011 boys are now preparing for the U12 Championship while the 2010 boys have joined the U14 squad in preparation for their competition. We look forward to getting all the gang back together in 2025 for a rattle at the U15 Championships with success starting with maintaining our numbers and promoting our great game in our great club.

So if you were to ask was the year a success - I think the answer is an astounding Yes - Having 3 teams meant all the boys got ample game time and any year you end with more players than you started out with is a successful year.

BridgeAbú | AlwaysHurling | 3Teams1Unit