Eight softball titles for Tyrone clubs

TYRONE handball enjoyed one of its most spectacular days as Loughmacrory played host to nine All Ireland underage finals on Saturday and the home team created so much history by securing a magnificent eight All Ireland Softball Championship titles.

In winning seven out of 16 All Ireland Juvenile Championships in the traditional 60×30 code at the weekend, plus the minor girls singles title, this represents a new milestone for the county and what makes it so remarkable is that the county has just the one ‘big alley’ for every club to use for training.

Home advantage was probably a factor in Saturday’s record breaking achievements but the chances are that the current crop of Tyrone juveniles could have travelled to any 60×30 venue in Ireland and accomplished the same set of results.

There were so many highlights and firsts recorded at the weekend but the standout achievement has to be the winning of all three elite singles titles in the girls grades.

None of the traditional 60×30 strongholds in handball had ever manged to pull off the elite treble of U14, U16 and U18 girls singles titles in the same year but Tyrone did it in sensational style on Saturday as Greencastle’s Emma Conway (U14) and Loughmacrory stars Lucy McCullagh (U16) and Laura Duff (minor) delivered breathtaking displays to see off formidable opponents from Wexford, Galway and Kilkenny.

>body2text<On top of these three outstanding wins, Tyrone also clinched the U15 and U17 girls singles titles thanks to Carrickmore’s Minnie McCallan and Greencastle’s Alice McGlinchey to complete a glorious clean sweep of all five girls underage singles titles.

Minnie and Alice were both very impressive in seeing off Kilkenny and Leitrim in their respective finals.

This kind of success in the girls division would have been unthinkable for any county before last weekend, and especially for Tyrone who had only captured two U14 singles titles (Mairead Fox 2016, Aoife Kelly 2011), two U16 singles titles (Laura Duff 2022 & 2023) and one minor singles gold medal (Maeve McElduff 2014) in the county’s entire history.

Even the U15 singles title was only ever won twice before (Caislin Tracey 2022 & Eilise McCrory 2013) and the U17 singles had never been won by a Tyrone player until Alice did it on Saturday.

But the 60×30 landscape changed last weekend as the Tyrone girls rose to the challenge and recorded five huge wins against the odds.

To add to these singles triumphs, Mary Jo Morris and Kayleigh McCoole teamed up to bring the girls U15 doubles title to Tyrone with a comprehensive win over Meath. The Greencastle and Breacach combination have worked hard for this breakthrough and earned their just reward.

Greencastle’s Caoimhe Maguire and Kaylagh Bradley gave it their best shot in the U14 doubles final against Kilkenny and will have learned so much in their first year of 60×30 competition as they both have another year remaining in this age group.

Tyrone also recorded two very notable triumphs in the boys grades as Loughmacrory pair Michéal McCrystal and Damhán Meenagh brushed aside Wexford in terrific style to claim the U14 doubles title, becoming the first Tyrone duo since Ruairi McCullagh and Eoin McElholm to win this particular prize.

The Tyrone lads displayed brilliant teamwork and lots of skill in a very polished doubles display.

And Carrickmore’s Aaron McElhone produced a stylish performance to collect the U15 singles gold medal following a handsome win over Dublin’s Daire Keogh, adding to his recent 40×20 U15 doubles winners medal.

But the U16 singles title is the biggest prize in juvenile handball and minor singles is the top underage title on the path to senior and in Lucy McCullagh and Laura Duff, Tyrone can boast two of the most exciting prospects in the country.

Laura has now captured three minor All Irelands in 2024, adding 60×30 singles and doubles medals to her prestigious 40×20 singles success earlier this year, and she’s still just 16 years of age with another full year of minor handball ahead of her.

Her tally of grade one national titles now stands at an incredible fourteen.

Kilkenny’s Katie Brennan arrived in Loughmacrory with high hopes of securing the U18 gold medal for 2024 but had no answer on the day to her relentless Tyrone opponent who  gave an exhibition in how to play the softball game.

Lucy collected the elite juvenile prize in stunning fashion this year, beating two renowned opponents in Claire Minogue (Clare) and Stephanie Walsh (Galway) over the last few weeks to achieve her goal. It’s a huge boost for Lucy to make this breakthrough, and it sets her up nicely for representing Team Ireland in the World Wallball Championships in August.

Loughmacrory has now made it three in a row at U16 singles with Lucy taking over the cup from her clubmate Laura.

Emma Conway is very much following in the footsteps of Lucy and Laura after winning the U14 singles final emphatically against Wexford’s Angel Cronin Kenny, thus adding to her 40×20 title success gained earlier in the year.

It has been a superb season for the prodigious Greencastle talent and there’s hopefully a lot more to come.

Overall this has been a phenomenal year for Tyrone juvenile handball so far and the county’s top young stars will now set their sights on the forthcoming World Championships in August and October.

University of Limerick will play host to the World Wallball Championships which will commence on 18th August and Kilkenny will be the main base for the World 40×20 Championships which will start on 26th October.

So, while the county is on a high after last weekend, the hard work continues for Tyrone’s top young talents to make sure the success story continues.