Sean McVeigh appointment as Hurling Academy Head will help bridge gap - Mary Coughlan 

Sean McVeigh’s appointment to the role of Donegal hurling Academy Head can help push the game closer to the coattails of the county’s footballers. 

The St Eunan’s man’s portfolio, as Hurling Performance/Talent Development Lead, is similar to that of Karl Lacey’s football one under the academy umbrella at the Donegal GAA Centre in Convoy. 

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Speaking to DonegalLive on Wednesday, chairperson Mary Coughlan says it’s an ambitious move but it’s one that she believes will help bridge the current gap in how the game of hurling is viewed in the north west. 

In late 2025, the GAA’s own National Head of Hurling Willie Maher sat with the county’s clubs in Convoy, including the seven new units set up last year. 

Hurling officer Cormac Hartnett outlined the plans that Donegal GAA were putting in place for urgent hurling development.

The culmination of all of that is this week’s announcement that former Donegal star McVeigh - who holds a Masters in High Performance Sport - is the new Hurling Academy Head.

By day, McVeigh is employed by sports tech company Kinetik IQ who provide and analyse  data for Premier League, American Football and Major League Baseball teams. 

“Cormac has been working with, and supporting, Declan Bushell and Marty McGrath in looking to develop hurling in the clubs and in the schools,” Coughlan said. 

“We launched our plan before Christmas, we’d Willie Maher down to talk through all of that. 

“There are two things we have to do. We have to look after our (hurling) academy to the same extent we do our footballers. 

“And there will be some very obvious cross fertilisation there like nutrition, strength and conditioning and so on. 

“The other thing is we need to look at our existing clubs and see what can be done to develop more players there. And, hopefully, with the seven new units, bring up enough young players into the group. 

“Our concern in Donegal is that at U-15 level, there are very few kids who are able to field a team in hurling. That age bracket is a real problem. 

“We need to get over that hurdle because we have to be able to field at senior level. 

“So that’s the plan. It’s ambitious but if you don’t have ambition then we’re going nowhere”.

Coughlan explains that promoting hurling in developing counties requires a combination of hard work and foresight. 

But it looks like Donegal GAA have their eye back on that small ball. 

“We’d a number of excellent candidates interested in the role and any one of them would have been fantastic,” she added. 

“Sean is a very impressive young man. And this is a commitment from the county board and county committee that we want to progress and move forward in this area. 

“Mickey McCann and his Donegal hurlers are at home in Letterkenny on Sunday. And I guarantee anyone who goes along to that will get their money’s worth and then some. 

“It’s a fantastic game and our team are going really well. 

“But we need to get children out and attending these games. Go to Tipperary, Cork and so on, all you see are young kids walking around with their hurls and ball. 

“They take it to school, to the shop, to the games. And that is the type of culture we want to promote going forward. 

“And it’s not taking from one code or the other, it’s just very important we develop our national game. 

“And there are other things we’d like to develop and support better like our handball. It’s an individual game, a great game. 

“Our camogie side created history in recent weeks, fielding at adult level. At Congress, rounders is also now going to be part of that process once more. 

“We need to get back to having children being involved in these games, get them out and get them active”.