Templeudigan's Dermot Flynn swops his hurley for the little blue ball

Written by Antoin Ó Braoin, Rúnaí Contae
For those of us who are heavily biased in favour of handball over all other activities it is around this time of year we breathe a collective sigh of relief that the hurling, football and camogie season is almost over.  As much as we cherish our sister GAA sports within our great national movement, it is a juggling act for everyone concerned each year as they seek to ensure that dual players who wish to participate in both codes can do so to their benefit.

 
Templeudigan’s Dermot Flynn is such a person. With hurling training on Tuesday and Thursday and a game at the weekend the current netminder for Rathnure senior team was often simply unable to dedicate the time and training necessary to make a real impact in the county handball championship. Then Ferns St. Aidan’s knocked them out of the senior hurling championships a few weeks ago and suddenly the demands on his leisure time was drastically reduced for the remainder of 2014.
Despite his hurling demands, Flynn, who also played in goal for Wexford senior hurlers about 5 years ago, has been quite successful in the 40×20 court in recent years, winning the prestigious Winter League singles title in 2010 in addition to the county junior D doubles championship alongside another Rathnure hurler cum handballer Sean O’Neill.
Already in this championship Dermot Flynn has chalked up a couple of fine wins in the junior C singles grade with wins over John Moran, Ballymitty and Eamon Bowe, Davidstown.
Who knows now that he has put his caman aside until next year he might just be in a position yet again to challenge for handball honours. Either way the sport of handball is richer for the participation of these GAA stalwarts who grace our games with their presence.