A LIMERICK team will do battle to retain their All Ireland title this Sunday.
No, it’s not the senior hurlers, it’s the Munster Wheelchair Hurling/Camogie Club.
The six-a-side heroes won the title the last time it was played, pre Covid in 2019, and if they bring home the silverware this time, that will be four All Irelands and three league titles to their credit.
“They’re really gearing up for this,” Stephen Casey, co-founder of the sport in Limerick, told the Limerick Post.
“Some of them eat, sleep, and drink it – they sleep with their hurleys.”
The club was started in 2011 after one of the founding members, who was involved in another club, met a man with a disability who was eager to play.
“I was involved in a sports and social club at the time,” Stephen said.
“My friend wanted to do something that would allow people with a disability to play the game. He spoke to me about it and we decided to get together and give it a go.”
The pair bought indoor hurleys with special rubber guards at the top and put the word out for people to come and have a knock-around. The rest is history.
The game is to a huge extent the same as regular hurling except it’s played on the ground and indoors.
“We have six aside – a goalie, two defenders, two forwards, and a midfielder. They can score goals and points.”
The senior team has between eight and ten players for selection in the league and Stephen is particularly proud that there is now also a junior team for under 16s with 16 members.
On Sunday, the senior team will play in the M Donnelly Interprovincial Wheelchair Hurling Camogie All Ireland in the National Handball Centre, beside Croke Park.
The competition will take place over a single day with all of the teams playing and the victors from the early clashes playing each other.
“We’re very excited about it and we’re really hoping to bring that title home to Limerick again,” said Stephen.
