BY MICHAEL O’LEARY
Last year, The Young Irelands Rounders Tournament took place in Gowran for the very first time and it was a major success with several teams participating.
It’s back once again this year in a shortened version, and at time of writing it is scheduled to take place next Wednesday evening in Gowran 23rd of August from 6-8pm, with the Finals scheduled for tomorrow week, Saturday 26th August that will be run off as part of Family Fun Day.
The inaugural Tournament last year drew a huge response with 16 Teams competing from different townlands of Gowran/Dungarvan Parish, and the novelty aspect of that certainly added to and enhanced the competition.
The idea of a Rounders Tournament came about thanks to The Young Irelands Healthy Committee who do trojan work in arranging a variety of events throughout the year.
Last years Tournament was won by Steeples who won The Final against Scart.The Rounders Tournament brought about a wonderful community spirit in Gowran last year, and it’s open to all ages of all abilities.
Rounders is a sport that was popular to so many having been played a lot in Primary Schools, and is often the forgotten sport of the GAA.
It’s a striking and fielding game played with a round ball with plenty of similarities between Rounders and Baseball, and it’s actually very popular in the UK where more than 7 million play the sport, so it definitely has a broadening appeal beyond Ireland.
Anyone that is interested in joining a team can get in contact with a member of The Young Irelands Healthy Club Committee.
Check out The Young Irelands GAA and Camogie Club pages on Facebook for further details.
