Electric Ireland, proud sponsors of the GAA Minor Championships, is pleased to spotlight 15 standout performers from the 2021 Minor Hurling season, today unveiling the 2021 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Hurling Team of the Year, the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Player of the Year and the Electric Ireland Minor Special Recognition Award Winner for hurling. As Electric Ireland welcomed crowds back to stadiums across the country, the 2021 Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Championship ensured a return of some major moments back into these young player’s lives and reminded everyone that there is nothing minor about the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championship.
This year’s Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Team of the Year features nine players from All-Ireland champions Cork, with All-Ireland finalists, Galway and Leinster champions, Kilkenny both having 2 players represented. While Waterford & Wexford each have one representative on this year’s team.
Jack Leahy, a member of the Cork Minor Hurling team has been named as the 2021 Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Player of the Year. The Dungourney forward had a major impact on this year’s Electric Ireland GAA Minor Hurling Championship, scoring a staggering 4-41 during Cork’s impressive journey to victory.
The team was selected by a panel of GAA experts and was determined in part by Electric Ireland’s ‘Player of the Week’ initiative on Twitter.
2021 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Hurling Team of the Year
1. Paudie O’Sullivan (Cork and Fr. O’Neills)
2. Darragh O’Sullivan (Cork and Ballinhassig)
3. Kevin Lyons (Cork and Ballygarvan)
4. Tiarnan Leen (Galway and Craughwell)
5. Gearóid Dunne (Kilkenny and Tullaroan)
6. Ben O’Connor (Cork and St Finbarr’s)
7. Timmy Wilk (Cork and Cobh)
8. Mikey Finn (Cork and Midleton)
9. William Buckley (Cork and St Finbarr’s)
10. Diarmuid Healy (Cork and Lisgoold)
11. Micheál Power (Galway and Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry)
12. Harry Shine (Kilkenny and Dicksboro)
13. Patrick Fitzgerald (Waterford and Ballygunner)
14. Jack Leahy (Cork and Dungourney)
15. Simon Roche (Wexford and Oulart The Ballagh)
The 2021 Minor Championships also saw the return of the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition awards, recognising those Minor players who stepped up and a made life-changing contributions to our society.
The winner of the 2021 Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Special Recognition Award is the 2021 Kildare Minor Hurling Squad. On 27th March 2021, 67 members of the Kildare Minor Hurling training squad undertook a virtual run of 840km from Mizen Head to Malin Head and back to St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge to raise funds for Barretstown Children’s Charity, a local Kildare based charity that runs camps and programmes for children and their families living with serious illness and Kildare GAA.
As well as undertaking the run and fundraising, the squad also spent the weeks leading up to the virtual run promoting their fundraising activity throughout their local communities and clubs by creating videos and photos that were shared online across their social media channels. The fundraising virtual run raised over €24,000.
Sarah Sharkey, Brand, PR and Sponsorship Manager at Electric Ireland, commented “We are delighted to announce the 2021 Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Team of the Year. Along with spotlighting the players’ achievements on the pitch, we were also delighted to celebrate their accomplishments off-the-pitch by once again recognising the major impact the minor players had on their communities through the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition awards. Both awards demonstrate the positive impact partaking in the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships has long after the championship ends.”
Uachtarán CLG Larry McCarthy said “I congratulate the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Team of the Year and specifically Jack Leahy, the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Player of the Year, on their incredible achievements during the 2021 season. After such a tough campaign without supporters in 2020, It was wonderful that family members were able to witness these great young players in action in 2021. I have been very fortunate to see these young men throughout the competition and the level of skill which they have shown truly has been major. I would also like to congratulate the Kildare Minor Hurling Squad who have shown us that Minor players have just as much to offer society away from the pitch as they do on it. As a result, I am confident of the future of our great games and our communities knowing that it is in the hands of these young players”
The Electric Ireland Minor Football Team of the Year, Football Player of the Year and Special Recognition Award Winner for Football will be unveiled on Wednesday, 15th September.
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#GAAThisIsMajor
