History was made last Thursday night in Kildare when Round Towers fielded an adult hurling team for the first time.
'Towers played Cappagh away from home in Division 4 of the Kildare Junior League and, whilst victory didn't come their way, it was a significant landmark in a project that started in earnest seven years ago,
On 16 May 2016 hurling and camogie sessions began at the club.
At underage the club currently fields from Under-16 down to nursery level, but last year things stepped up a notch at adult level.
"We started social hurling last year and there was interest in that," says club member Paul Condon. "It took off from there.
"People from the area and those who moved to the area came together socially last year. They formed a tight group, most have children in the club, and from there we fielded an adult team for the first time ever last week.
"We have lots of work to do but the willingness is there and the club chairperson Liam Toft, secretary Padraig Gill and underage chairperson Gary Kavanagh are supporting us."
Next week the club host Moorefield for a first home fixture which should garner more interest.
Over the past seven years, young hurlers have come together in consistent numbers to train regularly and the plan is to keep interest in the small ball game and start developing more players.
The club is renowned as a football stronghold and has produced no end of class players for countless county teams. Last week saw them qualify for the Kildare Division 2 minor final whilst the club senior defeated Two Mile House in the county league.
For hurling mentors, however, the goal is simply to keep working, coming up with fresh new ideas and keep it interesting for young players with stalwarts like Christy Guiney and Brendan Domican watching over the undoubted progress being made.
"The club is also progressing well in camogie," Condon adds. "People like Vicki Duffy and Jerome Twomey are working fierce hard to drive it on along with coaches like Joe O’Driscoll, Bob Hennessy, Linda Mahoney and Michael Lambert."
