Three-year-minors are rare but then again Richie Hogan was a rare talent. He was on the Kilkenny minor team from 2004 to 2006, winning two Leinster championships and losing an All-Ireland in 2004, in a replay.
By the time he was 18, and in his final year as a minor, Hogan had already graduated to the Kilkenny under-21s, winning an All-Ireland in 2006. All of the experience gained as a minor stood to him in great stead he says, when he was called into the Kilkenny senior panel for the first time in 2007.
One experience he’ll never forget is that 2004 All-Ireland minor final. He spoke about his memories of the occasion at the launch of the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships.
It was such a special time, the nature of being in school in St Kierans college is that most of your friends would be on the team too. For us it was everything.
We played in an All-Ireland final in 2004 on the day Kilkenny and Cork played in a senior final and by the time the game finished, there were 80,000 people in the stadium.
It was a draw, we played in a replay in Tullamore and the game was delayed fifteen minutes because of the crowd that turned up. And that was a packed house.
They were incredible memories. They were hugely advantageous to me in terms of making the step from minor to senior, and knowing that I could perform at the highest stage that was available to me.
Electric Ireland GAA All-Ireland Minor Championship Launch 29/5/2024
Pictured is former Kilkenny Minor hurler, Richie Hogan, at the launch of the 2024 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships. This summer, Electric Ireland will use their social channels to spotlight players from across the Championships, in recognition of the major impact that playing Minor can have on young people’s future successes, on and off the field. You can follow the campaign on social media @ElectricIreland and via the hashtag #ThisIsMajor.
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Nowadays it’s different. Minor has changed from under-18 to under-17 for starters and Hogan feels it’s a much bigger jump from minor to senior.
You obviously have the age-difference. When I stepped up to senior in 2007, I had played three years minor with Kilkenny.
I also played a year under-21, winning an All-Ireland in 2006 when I was a minor as well.
That also helped me, I had a little bit more experience, and at that point, I also had three years adult club hurling behind me.
It’s a lot different now. You’re not allowed play adult club hurling when you’re seventeen so it’s a much bigger jump.
It was certainly a big jump for Hogan too, trying to find a place for himself on one of the greatest senior hurling panels of all time.
For me, the games weren’t the toughest thing. When I got chances, they were a lot easier than it was to actually make my place on the team, because I was stepping straight onto a four-in-a-row winning All-Ireland team.
For me the difficulty was actually getting game-time, proving yourself in training. The matches were nearly the easiest part.
The battles with your own team-mates and trying to establish yourself as a senior player was the really difficult part. It’s incomparable now. Obviously, they’re far younger, less experienced. They’re fifth year, TYs, junior certs as well.
12 September 2004; Richard Hogan, Killkenny, in action against Ciaran O'Donovan, Galway. All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Final, Galway v Kilkenny, Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / SPORTSFILE *** Local Caption *** Any photograph taken by SPORTSFILE during, or in connection with, the 2004 Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Final which displays GAA logos or contains an image or part of an image of any GAA intellectual property, or, which contains images of a GAA player/players in their playing uniforms, may only be used for editorial and non-advertising purposes. Use of photographs for advertising, as posters or for purchase separately is strictly prohibited unless prior written approval has been obtained from the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Another change is the separation of the All-Ireland minor final from the senior final, when it was previously always a double-header. Richie Hogan obviously experienced that in 2004, and spoke glowingly of that experience, but he thinks that giving the minor games their own profile is no bad thing either.
I think it’s no harm. It gives the minor championships its own profile.
First of all there are far more minor games on tv now than when I was playing and yes, it was great to play in an occasion when you were the curtain raiser to a big championship game, and I think if they can keep an open mind to that when it makes sense.
It makes complete sense, let’s say if Kilkenny were playing Wexford in a big Leinster championship match, and say Kilkenny were playing Wexford in a minor championship match on the same day, then it makes perfect sense to match those games up.
But I think for minor to have its own profile is good.
And I think it’s been a success as well. It takes a couple of years to bed it in but definitely with its own strong sponsor, its own strong broadcasting partner, I think it can have a very good platform itself.
Kilkenny are inevitably right in the mix in this year’s championship, with an All-Ireland semi-final to come. Richie Hogan’s brother is a selector on the team while his club manager Niall Bergin is also managing the Kilkenny minors.
It was a really brilliant Leinster championship, a really strong one. Of the six teams that are left, four of them are from Leinster. There are some brilliant young players on the team, and I can’t wait to see those guys coming through in four or five years time.
The minor championships are special and having its own showpiece event is massive. For Hogan, hopefully his Black Cats will be reaching the latter stages of the competition once again.
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