Mayo Handball want hidden gem to shine again

When the leading official describes their own sport as “Ireland's best hidden secret” it is obvious that something has to change. The state of handball in Mayo has definitely seen better days. The total number of players is in decline. A number of clubs have folded or are teetering on the edge of existence, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit the sporting community very hard. Furthermore many handball facilities in the county are in need of refurbishment.
GAA Handball president Conor McDonnell is not sugar coating the current situation: “First we need to be honest about ourselves. Look for links within the community and start from the grassroots down at school level, and get the children playing at a very young age to maximise their potential overall. And then you are creating a link between the school and the club which is essential. And then it goes further up there when the clubs have players involved at county level.”
Ciarán Burke, chairman of Mayo Handball said: “Our sport is the hidden gem of the GAA. It has a strong history but many people don´t have a lot of engagement with it because it has no presence in their area.”
The handball representatives in Mayo have presented a new five-year-plan to help put the game back on its feet again. Burke explained: “We will use the facilities present, we will engage with the clubs present and our aim is to increase participation levels across the county. We have plans to go into local schools and then with the hope that engagement there will transpire into the local clubs, and then further down the line will lead to the creation of new clubs.”
The majority of people involved are volunteers, but with this new plan Mayo Handball are looking to source funding that will help deploy paid personnel to achieve their goals, which is to put themselves out more, as Conor McDonnell explained: “For many years, we didn't get any TV coverage, but this year we have a cooperation with TG4. They are beginning to stream our games live. We have got to promote the sport ourselves, use every initiative. We have to keep chasing after them.”
The link between sport and mental health is huge. And it doesn't require sophisticated or huge facilities. Sometimes a bit of pragmatism is enough.
”We can go out after a day's work, and we need an outlet. When I was young, we just hit a ball against the wall. It's simple. I played at a competition last year, and at the very last minute, access to the hall was changed. So a few guys taped up a wall with the Handball dimensions. You're never really stuck for a facility” said McDonnell.
The new plan for handball in Mayo doesn't offer the one silver bullet. A set of indicators have been defined. Next a task force will be formed to drive the change and regularly assess the progress, reporting back to the Mayo County Committee. The annual budget is defined as typically €40,000 per year.