Club Story: Camogie a big hit in Malawi thanks to Kilrea Camogie Club

Camogie could be a big hit in one of the poorest parts of Africa thanks to Kilrea Camogie Club who gave their old kits to Anne Dallat a local women who is a regular visitor to Malawi where she works with orphans and HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Anne tells the story:

Kilrea Camogie Club kindly presented me with a large consignment of tops and skirts to take to my girls in Malawi and I was delighted.  They also gave me a camogie stick so that replicas could be made when I arrived.  I got a full set of rules and a few balls and thanks to Ethiopian Airways I was not surcharged for carrying several times the permitted weight!

The girls were ecstatic when I arrived at Fatima School for Girls in a remote area near Zomba.  They couldn’t wait to get kitted out and from the beginning took to camogie like fish to water.

In no time at all the ball was flying from one end of the improvised pitch to the other and there was a keen appetite to learn the rules of the game.  Camogie skills just seemed to come naturally to girls who would have little experience of being involved in ball games.  Many times during the training days I had to text one of the camogie girls back home to get the precise rules relating on different aspects of the game as I am no expert.

I have promised to find more kits as clearly it is not possible to have two teams in the same colours.  We improvised but the girls really want to take camogie up in a big way and have already written the word ‘camogie’ into their native Chichewa language.

I have reported the good news back to Kilrea Camogie Club and they are delighted that the strip, originally sponsored by Kilrea, Rasharkin & Dunloy Credit union, has found a new home and a new lease of life in one of the most deprived parts of Africa.

My dream now would be to encourage club players to come to Malawi to train the girls and already our local club is considering that.  I have no doubt it would be the experience of a lifetime to spend some time in a beautiful country where the friendliest people with virtually no material wealth give of their best and that includes learning to play camogie.’