THE SCENE IS set for the All-Ireland U16 hurling tournament at various venues around Tipperary on Saturday.
Group fixtures and the knockout phases will be run off at club grounds before the finals take place at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Saturday evening.
The Tipperary Supporters club has sponsored this competition since 2006 and recent competitions have spawned many current intercounty senior stars.
Here’s a list of just some of the players who have graced this competition in recent times, before going on to bigger and better things:
2006
James Barry & Noel McGrath (Tipperary)
William Egan, Aidan Walsh & Luke O’ Farrell (Cork)
Noel Connors (Waterford)
Graeme Mulcahy (Limerick)
Darach Honan (Clare)
David Glennon & Johnny Coen (Galway)
Liam Rushe & Niall McMorrow (Dublin)
2007
Denis Maher & John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer (Tipperary)
Philip Mahony (Waterford)
Seanie O’Brien (Limerick)
Conor McGrath (Clare)
Mark Schutte (Dublin)
Liam Óg McGovern (Wexford)
2008
Niall O’Meara (Tipperary)
Christopher Joyce & Conor Lehane (Cork)
Darragh Fives (Waterford)
Declan Hannon (Limerick)
David O’Halloran (Clare)
Danny Sutcliffe (Dublin)
Ger Aylward & Cillian Buckley (Kilkenny)
2009
Shane Dowling (Limerick)
Shane Maloney (Galway)
Here’s a full rundown of Saturday’s fixtures in the A and B competitions:
So who should we be looking out for from the various competing counties at the weekend? Leave your ‘tips for the top’ in the comments section below…