Have van will travel - Meath hurling on the move again

SUPPORT

Back in the day GAA teams travelled lighter than they do now; had less too. A club - we're talking about 30, 40 years ago and beyond - invariably had one set of jerseys. Teams that represented a club, say those operating at senior and junior levels, usually had to make do with that one precious set - and maybe on the same day!

At a time when club committees operated on what was then termed "shoestring budgets" there wasn't much temptation for players to slip into slothful affluence.

Players would be required to bring their own shorts, socks and, of course, boots to games. There might be one or two footballs available, maybe, and a couple of sliotars to puck around before a match got underway. Not much more than that. It wasn't much better at inter-county level. There would be no swapping of jerseys at the end of games either. That was a definite no, no.

Times have changed, changed greatly. Now teams travel with large support casts and a vast array of equipment, that includes jerseys, tracksuits, cones, hurling sticks, shorts and socks for each player as well as a large number of footballs or sliotars. Taking all this equipment to games can be a big operation - and almost as crucial to the day's adventures as ensuring the high-scoring, in-form, marquee forward is fit and ready.

The Meath senior hurling team, like any inter-county side, needs its own support system in place and that includes a van to transport all the gear and equipment required to games and training sessions. Such a van has been supplied by a company that has connections with the Royal County.

Sports Lighting Systems (SLS) - who have installed floodlights for Trim GAA, as well at Dunganny - is an enterprise based in Clane and they have agreed to furnish a van (a refurbished Volkswagen Caddy) to Meath hurling for the immediate future so that equipment can be carried around to the playing fields of Ireland. SLS have answered the call after a previous arrangement between another firm and Meath hurling fell through. Literally,

"We have a fleet of vans we use for our work in installing floodlights," explains the Business Development Manager for SLS, Mark Foran.

"We were happy to take one of those vans out of our fleet and give it to the people involved in Meath hurling, to help them out, great hurling folk like CJ Murtagh and John Andrews. They have been very appreciative of our help and we fully appreciate their appreciation.

"Supporting grassroots GAA is something that's very high on our agenda," added Foran. "Up to 80 per cent of our installations we have done so far would have been in the GAA. We have sponsored a number of teams around the country also over the past 15 years or so but this is the first time we've supported any of the county teams."

The two people who are fundamental to ensuring Meath hurlers are never short of equipment or playing gear are kitmen Gerry McLoughlin and Paul Dunne. They are essential to the smooth running of the operation, always willing to help out in whatever way they can.

Over the years they have, in this way, giving unstinting dedication to Meath hurling. Unsung heroes is a term that hardly covers what they do; working quietly as they do in the background, away from the limelight.

Now the two kitmen have a new van at their disposal thanks to SLS. Where would the GAA be without the backing from businesses?