A record 83,000 children participate in 2008 Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps
- 4,587 children attended from All Ireland finalist counties Tyrone and Kerry

Thursday 11 September 2008 - The GAA and Vhi Healthcare today announced that a record 83,000 children, well over Croke Park’s capacity, participated in the 2008 Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps this summer. This is an increase of over 8,000 attendees since the Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps were introduced in 2006. Nearly 5,000 children attended camps held in All Ireland Gaelic Football finalist counties, Tyrone and Kerry; with 220 children participating in Canadian camps; almost 400 in camps held in Northern America; and almost 650 in camps held in the UK.

The 2008 Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps saw the appointment of a GAA ambassador in each county who then visited camps, giving tips to children on how to improve their game and offering the children a unique opportunity to ask them individual questions on their sport.  Ambassadors included Marc O Sé, Kerry (Football); James Cha Fitzpatrick, Kilkenny (Hurling); Ken McGrath, Waterford (Hurling); Paul Caffrey, Dublin (Manager, Dublin Senior Football team) and Cathal Naughton, Cork (Hurling) amongst others.

Commenting on the attendance figures, GAA President, Nickey Brennan said, “The Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps have been a massive success again in 2008 and the attendance figures are testament to this. To hear that if all of the attendees were to be invited to Croke Park that they would fill it and still need extra seats is an incredible achievement. The camps are an ideal way for children to develop their Gaelic Games skills in a structured, yet enjoyable way. The activity is also an important way of promoting Gaelic Games in a fun, non-competitive environment to children nationwide.”

Tony McSweeney, Director, Individual and Corporate Business, Vhi Healthcare commented, "We are extremely proud of the continued success of the Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps programme and in particular want to thank and pay tribute to the hundreds of coaches, co-ordinators, club personnel and parents whose efforts ensured that over 83,000 children enjoyed the benefits of sporting activities during the summer break.”

The Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps is a nationally co-ordinated programme aiming to encourage primary school children between the ages of 7 and 13, to learn and develop sporting and life-skills by participating in Gaelic Games, in a fun, non-competitive environment. 

The individual camps were managed by experienced coaches who devised a specific programme to ensure the participating children not only learned skills but also to place an emphasis on fun and team-building activity. The running of the camps was overseen by 32 county Vhi / GAA Cúl Camp co-ordinators. 
Further information regarding the Vhi / GAA Cúl Camps is available on www.gaa.ie or www.vhi.ie. 

Press Team