Young Tipperary hurlers take over Croke Park

Croke Park recently played host to some of Ireland’s most talented hurlers, along with over 500 children, who lined-out to learn tips and skills from their hurling heroes as part of Centra’s Live Well hurling initiative. The participating children, who experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity, came from 12 lucky GAA clubs who each claimed their very special spot by winning a Live Well hurling challenge during the summer. One of these lucky clubs included Kilruane McDonagh’s GAA Club from Tipperary.

 Centra’s Live Well initiative, which comes to life through their sponsorship of All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, aims to encourage healthy living, provide education and promote the importance of staying active.

 The grand finale of the Live Well hurling initiative provided these lucky kids with a full day of activity at the home of the GAA – including skills and drills with some of Ireland’s finest hurlers, stadium tours and games to keep active.

 The 520 strong group of children, aged between 5 and 12, took to Croke Park’s hallowed turf with hurling stars, such as Maurice Shanahan, Podge Collins, Seamus Hickey, Lee Chin, Seamus Callanan, Anthony Nash, Shane Dooley, Richie Hogan, Dotsy O’Callaghan and Jason Flynn.

 Centra hosted 11 Live Well hurling events in stadiums across the country this summer and saw over 12,000 people got active. These community hurling events gave children and fans alike the opportunity to train with and learn from senior county players, as well as giving them advice on eating and hydration. Each club taking part in today’s Croke Park event earned their spot at one of these community events, where they won a Live Well Challenge on the day.

 In addition to the community events, Centra introduced a series of #LiveWell Hurling Challenges to encourage fans of all ages to pick up a hurl, test their skills and upload their videos online, for the chance to win some great prizes – including shopping vouchers, a trip home to Ireland and All-Ireland final tickets. The Live Well Challenges received entries from all across the world, with over 2.1million views on these videos. 

 Speaking about the event in Croke Park, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra, said; “Our Live Well initiative is all about encouraging healthy living, getting people to be more active and educating them about diet and nutrition. Our sponsorship of the Senior Hurling Championship gives us a great platform to engage people of all ages to help promote a healthy lifestyle. 

 The attendance numbers at our events throughout the summer has been hugely inspiring. It is fantastic to see so many children, of all ages, enthusiastic and passionate about sport and getting active.” 

 

For further information on Centra’s Live Well programme, check out www.centra.ie or follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.