Sure they couldn’t escape it.
His father hurled before him and the Grandfather was a good club hurler back in the day too. Some say that hurlers are born, not made and while there undoubtedly are many exceptions to that rule, you can’t beat a bit of breeding.
The slicks wrists, the clever hurling brain pass down through the generations and then the youngsters are born and raised with a hurl in their right hand and a sliotar in their left.
How in the name of God could they drop the hurl when they’re brought over to the field as under-6s and they’re watching Munster championship games on summer Sundays?
Some lads have arrived to this world for one purpose and that’s to puck balls over the bar from the far 65.
In Kilkenny, hurling is more than a religion or a way of life. Sliotars are pucked off the walls in between classes in the county’s biggest secondary school, St Kieran’s College and any young fella who doesn’t bring his 30 something inch wand into school every day with him is seen as something of an outlier.
That’s just the way it is down there.
The Kilkenny minors were out in the All-Ireland minor final on Sunday afternoon against Galway and a good deal of these youngsters have honed their skills in the Kilkenny City school.
Tommy Walsh was running the rule over his county’s chances in the minor decider on TG4 prior to throw-in, and he gave them every chance of causing an upset against a fancied Galway side who had beaten them earlier in the year.
Tommy was scanning through the programme when a few of the black and amber names jumped out at him.
“I’ve marked three of their fathers,” said the Tullaroan man.
“There’s good breeding in these young lads!”
Jamie Young from O’Loughlin’s stood out, young Buggy from Castlecomer didn’t lick it off the ground either. It’s in the blood for Conor Kelly as well.
Tommy Walsh duine de laochra @KilkennyCLG ag caint linn ar @GAA_BEO. Níl aon dabht ach go bhfuil na scéalta aige!
'I marked three of their fathers' – the always engaging Tommy Walsh talks us through the Kilkenny minors before throw in! #AllIrelandFinal@ballsdotie @broadsheet_ie pic.twitter.com/NKR1ZuR5Sn
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) August 19, 2018
This comes just a day after he provided the youngsters at a blitz in Dicksboro GAA club with some words of wisdom about the game.
Tommy Walsh with super advice for young hurlers!🇳🇬👍 pic.twitter.com/jxQnapvZnM
— Dicksboro GAA & Camogie Club (@DicksboroGAA) August 18, 2018
Never change Tommy.
