Hurley and sliotar storage ideas for homes in Ireland with more than one hurler
One hurler in the house is a hurley and a helmet by the door. Two or three is a forest of sticks in the hall, sliotars in the boot of the car and under the couch, and a helmet in somebody else's gear bag ten minutes before training. None of it needs a renovation. It needs one place by the door where each thing goes back, and a spot in it for every player.
Pick one spot, by the door they use
Storage only works if it is on the way in. Put it where the players actually come in from the car, whether that is the hall, the back door, the utility room or the garage, rather than the room where it would look tidiest. Everything for training goes there: hurleys, sliotars, helmets and the gear bags.
Then give each player their own place within it: a hook or holder per hurley, a hook per helmet, a tag per bag. When a thing has a name on its spot, it comes back to it, and a gap shows straight away whose is missing.
Hurleys: on the wall, off the floor
A hurley leaning in a corner ends up on the floor, and a pile of them trips somebody. On the wall, each stick has its place and you can see at a glance which one has not come home from the pitch.
Keep them away from radiators and out of a damp shed. Hurleys are ash, and wood does not like drying out fast or staying wet. A dry wall in the hall or the garage is the right place.
Our personalised hurley holder is made for exactly this: one per player, in their county colours, with their name and number on the shield, €24.99 each with delivery in Ireland. No more arguing whose stick is whose.
Sliotars: one tube for all of them
Sliotars are the thing that goes missing. They roll under the couch, stay in the boot, end up over the neighbour's wall, and the one you need is never in the bag.
The fix is one container that every ball goes into when the players come home. Our sliotar dispenser is a tube on the wall: sliotars go in at the top and come out one at a time at the bottom, and the front window shows how many are in. It holds 4, 7 or 10 and grows in modules of 3, from €24.99 for an extra module or €39.99 for the 4.
For a special one, a county final ball or a first match ball, the sliotar mount keeps it on show beside the hurley, €24.99 with a name and number.
Helmets and gear bags
Helmets dry out better hanging on a hook than zipped into a bag after training, so give each one its own hook, at the height of whoever wears it. Gloves and the grip tape can live in a small basket underneath.
Gear bags all look the same at the side of a pitch. A GAA bag tag on each one, in the county colours with the player's name and number, €12.99, ends the "that's mine" rows in the car.
The short version
- One spot, by the door the players actually use.
- A hook or holder per hurley, on the wall and off the floor.
- One tube for every sliotar, so a missing one shows.
- A hook per helmet and a name tag per bag.
- Nothing beside a radiator, nothing left in a damp shed.
Questions
What is the best way to store hurleys at home?
On the wall, off the floor, with one hook or holder per player, in a dry spot away from radiators. A wall in the hall or the garage by the door the players use works best.
How do you stop sliotars going missing?
Give them one place by the door and make it the habit to drop them in on the way home. A dispenser with a window shows at a glance how many are in, so a missing one is noticed the same day.
How many sliotars does the dispenser hold?
4, 7 or 10, depending on the size, and an extra module holds 3 more. It is drawn for the GAA size 5 sliotar.