Tyrone Players Preparing For Handball Action Across The Globe

Friday 03.11.2023

Handball

Tyrone players preparing for handball action across the globe…

There’s a packed weekend of handball ahead with lots of Tyrone players in action in three different countries.
Conor McElduff, Eilise McCrory and Caitlin Conway will be among the players leaving Ireland to show their skills on the international stage.
Conor and Eilise recently pulled off a sensational double success for their club and county in the All Ireland wallball championships by historically capturing the mens and ladies senior singles titles, while Caitlin added to the Tyrone one wall success story with a notable triumph in the All Ireland junior wallball championship.

Conor and Caitlin will be among the Tyrone contingent flying out to take part in the Belgium Open this weekend and they will be joined by Sean Kerr who has enjoyed a great comeback campaign in 2023, reaching the Irish nationals mens open final where he lost to fellow county man Conor McElduff.
Paul Donnelly, Conor Keenan and Gerry Keenan have all enjoyed great campaigns on the one wall circuit in 2023 and will be among the Tyrone players arriving in Belgium this weekend.
Conor McElduff has captured every major one wall title across Europe at this stage, apart from the Belgium Open. So he is aiming to complete the  full set of major honours over the next few days.
Conor has just commenced employment with GAA Handball in Croke Park as a regional development officer, while Eilise McCrory is employed in a similar role by Ulster GAA.
Eilise is currently in Tuscan, Arizona, for one of the major US Pro Stops this weekend and will be hoping to repeat her recent one wall breakthrough success in America.

Eilise lifted the All Ireland senior one wall title the hard way by defeating the legendary Catriona Casey from Cork in the semi final and recently crowned Irish nationals champion Fiona Tully in the All Ireland decider. So, while this a different code Eilise is now playing, she’s certainly on a high for her trip to Tuscan.
Meanwhile, back home in Ireland, Tyrone will have three boys teams involved in the All Ireland juvenile team events in Croke Park on Sunday, while Tyrone will have a strong representation in the Ulster lineup for the Interprovincial team of ten girls competition in Croke Park on Saturday.
Ulster won the Interprovincial 60×30 team title back in the summer which was a  breakthrough success and the province will aim to complete the double this weekend, although this relates to the last 40×20 season which ended eight months ago.
It’s the same for the boys team events this weekend as the age groups are based on last season’s 40×20 campaign.

Nonetheless it will be a good experience for all three lads teams to get the opportunity to play in Croke Park.
The U12/U13 Tyrone team of Tiernan Kelly, Aidan Farley and the Loughmacrory quartet of Eolann Kelly, Cahir Mullin, Michéal McCrystal and Damhán Meenagh should have a great chance against the other provincial champions as Tyrone clinched the 60×30 team of six title impressively in this age group back in the summer with three of these players involved.
Tyrone should also be competitive in the U14/U15 Team of Six event and in the U16/U17 Team of Four competition.
The U14/U15 team will consist of Cathaoir Kelly, Marcus Conway, Eoin Mullan and the Carrickmore trio of Aaron McElhone, Rory Daly and Niall Morris, while the older team comprises four Breacach players, Fionn McCrory, Cahir Owens, Sean McCann and James Boyle.
Between the three Tyrone boys teams and the Ulster girls team, there will hopefully be some gold medals coming back to the county over the weekend.