Hurlathon 2009.

Blackrock Hurlathon 2009

In their field of dreams many young Rockies dream of entering the cauldron that is Croke Park on all Ireland Final day to take their place behind the Artane boys Band and follow in the foosteps of Giants of Blackrock and Cork whose photographs illuminate the corridors of this historic club. Many of our younger Rockies enjoyed a little bit of that magic at the start of the inaugural Blackrock Hurlathon last Saturday when they marched in the parade to mark the start of the event accompanied by the wonderful sound of a piper leading the parade. It was a wonderful sight and a moment our young Rockies and their parents will treasure for a long time to come.

The Hurlathon started at 10.00a.m with the youngest members of the club going right through all our age groups right up the seniors vs legends team finishing at 10.00p.m

One of the highlights of the day was the over fifties versus bingo Committee match who seemed to roll back the years at the sight of the caman and sliothar managing to produce an epic for a memorable 20 minutes.

The current all stars playing the legends produced some magic moments of hurling which entertained the large gallery. The Cashmans, the Browns, the Ryans, Wayne Sherlock, Eamonn O'Donoghue, Paddy Moylan, Manager extraordinaire Jimmy Brohan were just some of the many legends from Blackrock who partcipated in the games.

But then Blackrock have so many unsung heroes who do huge voluntary work for the club and thats what made the hurlathon so special.

The event brought together the entire club,young and old, primary coach to juvenile coach to senior coach , Bingo committee to the ladies committe who look after the Coffee shop, from the 4 year old player to players in their fifties, it was a celebration of everyone and everything that makes the club special.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated and helped during the day and in particular to fellow committe members for the hurlathon , Michael Scannell, Seamus Hartnett, Tom Cashman and Ger O' Mahony.

A big thank you to all our guests who threw the ball in at each hour and and to each and everyone who turned up on the day.

The dream remains for every young Rocky, to wear the Green and Gold of Blackrock and the red and white of Cork and there can be little doubt that this great nursery of hurling will see many new stars to adorn the walls of Blackrock and continue in the tradition of inspiring the next generation to be captivated by the greatest field sport of all.

Rockies Abu.

Aidan Lougheed