Smith and Briody impress in Arizona

Declan Smith and Shane Briody of St. Patrick's Handball Club, Cavan, have recently been in action in the annual WPH-sanctioned Flagstaff Regional Handball tournament in Flagstaff in the state of Arizona. Both players, who are currently living in the city of Tucson in southern Arizona for the summer months, made the trip to compete against some of the top players in America. Laragh man Smith and Ballyhaise footballer Briody both played in the A singles. The two battled their way through to the round of 16 before Smith lost a tough match to Robert Scola 21-7, 21-6 while Briody fell to the same fate against Matt Schulz 21-17, 14-21 6-11 in a grueling three games. The two Cavan men teamed up in the Open Doubles and faced a tough first round draw against Edgar Medina, current US A National Champion and his partner Alex Pastor from Phoenix. The match ended 21-5 21-10 in favour of the Americans. Smith and Briody did however go on to win the Open doubles consolation bracket and beat Patrick Bornhoeft and Matt Schulz in the final on an impressive score line 21-4 21-17. The two players are currently in training in Tucson with some of the top players in the world including Luis Moreno and Sean Lenning, both of whom face Paul Brady regularly in competition. Under the tutelage of Fred Lewis, six-time national champion and a legend of the game, both players are learning from the best. "It's been an experience of a life time and I'm glad to be here learning from all these players," said Smith. Smith's next challenge comes in the form of the Three Wall Junior Nationals in Los Angeles while Briody returns home to Ballyhaise. In early August Smith will travel to Sante Fe in New Mexico with Tucson's elite for the Prairie Dog Classic in the hope of some more success before returning home in late August. In other local news, Paul Brady travelled to London this week along with Tyrone manager Mickey Harte to address a group of young GAA enthusiasts at St Paul's Academy in south London. The school has been promoting Gaelic games for the past number of years and has enjoyed huge success, with one team winning Division Five of the Féile Peil na nÓg this year. They have also been embracing handball in a big way. "I was delighted to be asked to come over and speak to the students and play a handball exhibition," said Brady. "It's very inspiring. They have done huge work here and are very talented, at handball and football." Brady was also on hand last Saturday for a coaching session at St Pat's for a group of 14 young players who have taken up the sport. The St Patrick's club have run a coaching course for seven weeks for 10 and 11-year-olds, which will culminate in a tournament this Saturday. "There are some terrific young players in this group," stated world number one Brady. "I'm looking forward to seeing them in action again this weekend."