GAELIC GAMES/News round-up: The GAA handed out the ideal Christmas present yesterday for nine hurlers when it confirmed the replacements for the 2004 Hurling All Stars tour to Arizona and Nevada at the end of January.
DJ Carey, Brian Lohan and Colin Lynch are unavailable, while Kilkenny players Michael Kavanagh, Derek Lyng, Henry Shefflin and Martin Comerford were also All Stars in 2002 so replacements are required to fill each of their slots.
Young Player of the Year for 2003, Setanta Ó hAilpín, will also be absent from the tour having signed a professional contract with Aussie Rules outfit Carlton. The other Cork representatives Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Richard Curran and Joe Deane will not be able to depart for Phoenix, Arizona on January 21st as they will already be on tour with the county team in Vietnam.
All-Ireland semi-finalists Wexford, none of whose players were named in this year's All Star line-up, were finally rewarded with two players, Darragh Ryan and Liam Dunne, included in the trip. Waterford also had two players, Paul Flynn and Tony Browne, called up. Another notable inclusion was Antrim hurler Ciarán Herron. The sides will be managed by Brian Cody and recently departed Clare boss Cyril Lyons.
Meanwhile, the details of next April's Schoolboy International Rules tour to Australia have been announced. The players' durability will be put to the test, as they will play three gruelling matches in the space of a week. The pressure-cooker atmosphere will also be there as the first two Tests are curtain-raisers for Aussie Rules matches.
In another unique turn of events, the first Test game will take place under lights on Easter Thursday, April 8th, before the Brisbane v Collingwood encounter in the Gabba stadium, Brisbane. On Easter Monday, April 11th, the action moves to the Telstra Dome in Melbourne where the second Test will be played in advance of the St Kilda v Richmond game. The final Test takes place in Freemantle Oval in Perth on Thursday, April 15th.
The Irish team will be managed by Hugh Kenny (Wicklow/ Leinster), and he will be assisted by John Landers (Limerick/ Munster) Adrian Hassett (Galway/ Connacht) and Paul O'Callaghan (Donegal/Ulster).
The GAA were pleased to announce that the numbers participating in Summer Camps in 2003 exceeded 60,000 for the first time. The most significant increase took place in Munster with 16,771 in 200s rising to 20,892 in 2003. In Leinster the improvement was almost as impressive with a rise in participation levels of 3,329.
Summer Camps in Leinster have increased by more than 400 per cent since their inception 10 years ago. The 1993 summer camp figures were just in excess of 5,000 children. It further supports the theory that more kids are playing Gaelic games in Ireland today than ever before.
ALL STAR REPLACEMENTS: Benny Dunne (Tipperary), Paul Flynn (Waterford), Kevin Broderick (Galway), Darragh Ryan (Wexford), John Hoyne (Kilkenny), Tony Browne (Waterford), Mark Foley (Limerick), Ciaran Herron (Antrim), Liam Dunne (Wexford).
