DYLAN and Beacon have always been the unofficial leaders of the gang, but Dylan is not really interested in hanging out. Every spare minute he gets, he is practising his hurling, improving, honing, perfecting his skills. He and Beacon together invented the game speedpuck. They play it together whenever they get the chance, although Beacon has yet to win. Dylan is an extraordinarily gifted hurler, so good that The Bantor has taken to calling him “the special one”.

BEACON is a very accomplished hurler, and determined to be the best he can, maybe even as good as Dylan. He is fiercely loyal to Ballybraddan, and takes the rivalry with Rockfort very seriously. He is determined and very competitive, but his competitiveness combined with his passionate nature can sometimes get him into trouble. Beacon got his distinctive nickname because he is prone to blushing whenever he is irritated or embarrassed. He has an older sister GRAINNE in Sixth class and a younger sister FIONA in Fourth class. His mother, MARY, runs Cafe Avalon. Beacon has a secret crush on Grainne’s friend, JESSICA, but since he blushes whenever he sees her, maybe it’s not so secret after all…

AISLING is definitely not a hurler. In fact she is determinedly not sporty at all. While she wishes the team well and is proud of her friends’ achievements, she really cannot see the point of being a stick carrier. Her friends enjoy her quick wit, while her enemies fear her sharp tongue. She values her friendship with SAM, and enjoys the shared friendly competitiveness. While she will always be Sam’s number one supporter, she hopes that Sam doesn’t get too wrapped up in hurling. But maybe that won’t be a problem, because maybe, just maybe, Aisling is starting to get interested in the deeds of the stick carriers.

SAM was born in Australia. Her parents moved home to Ballybraddan this year. She still has her uniform from her old school in Melbourne and she wears it. She will go on about all things Australia whenever she gets a chance, and she has found a willing eager audience in her new friend, Aisling. Sam is bright and confident, and relishes a challenge. When she decides something is going to happen, she will do everything she can to make it happen. Sam has decided she is going to be a hurler, a good enough hurler to hold a place in the team. Sam has also decided that Aisling is going to be a skateboarder…

Seamus O’Cloherty, SOC to his friends, is the team goalkeeper. He thinks that it is always the scorers who get the attention, and that goalies are too often ignored, and he is determined to help change this. By his side on this mission is his trusty sidekick, his hurley, Hoopy. Hoopy was made for him by his Granddad, Hawk, and Soc would be devastated if ever Hoopy came to any harm. Though he is AIDAN’s twin, Soc sometimes acts like he is the older brother. Then he is older, five whole minutes older to be precise. He is extremely protective of his twin, regardless of whether or not Aidan thinks he needs protecting……

AIDAN is SOC’s slightly younger twin brother, and though he supports Soc in his hurling, and quite enjoys the game as a spectator, he has never been interested in being a hurler. Being non-sporty has led people like Speedy to assume that Aidan is weak, but Aidan doesn’t really care what people like Speedy think of him. As long as Sam, Aisling, the gang, and his brother respect him, that’s all that matters. While Soc takes Hoopy everywhere, Aidan always has his sketchpad with him. Often he can be found hiding away in the Tower, or in the branches of the ash tree in Market Square, sketching. To date nobody has seen his sketches. Despite having a fear of water, Aidan is happiest when he is fishing with Soc and his father, and he hopes these fishing outings never end. He is embarrassed by his fear, and hopes nobody will ever find out…..

SOLO’s mother, Jennifer, often jokily remarks to him that “you can take being enigmatic too far,” but Solo is an enigma. Though he carries a hurley, he claims not to be a hurler. He has the strangest practise routine, and he has an even stranger, downright weird, secret fear. He moved to Ballybraddan from Crattan, and he was very happy to get out of Crattan. He is making up his mind whether he is as happy to be in Ballybraddan. Yes, Solo is a puzzle. What was so bad about Crattan? Why is he called Solo? What is his name? Why is he fascinated with rotting fruit and veg? Just what is this bizarre secret fear?

ZIGGY moved with his family from Poland to Ballybraddan. He instantly fell in love with hurling and set about reading any book he could find about it. Ziggy is now an expert about all the legends of the game, and his dearest wish is that he too could be a legend. But, unfortunately, though he would always get 100 per cent for effort and attitude, Ziggy has not yet perfected the necessary hurling skills. He will practise and practise to emulate the feats of the likes of Dylan and Beacon, but they just seem so natural and comfortable with their hurleys, while, as Aisling describes it, poor Ziggy “has the grace of a landed salmon”. But he tries. And he tries. Perhaps all he really needs is a skilled mentor to help him discover the hurling great inside. Perhaps Dylan will be the one…Or The Bantor…Or maybe there is someone else…..

SPEEDY thinks he is the strongest guy in fifth class. He is definitely the loudest. Whatever he does he is the first to declare himself the greatest at it. If Speedy hits you with a paper jet, he is the self proclaimed paper jet flying champeen. He would dearly love the members of the gang to actually take him on in a feat of strength, but they have nothing to do with him. So he really doesn’t know if he is stronger than Beacon, or Solo, or Sam or Aisling or Ziggy, or Soc. Of course he assumes he is way stronger than Aidan. Maybe that’s why he picks on him. Even though Speedy can be funny, and is not all bad, Speedy is still a bully. Perhaps he can change his ways…..

GERRY is one of Speedy’s two sidekicks, and he would like to think that he is a bit more sensitive than Speedy and quite a deal brighter than the other member of the group, Seany. He is usually not as eager as Seany to join in when Speedy gets up to no good, but he still goes along with quite a bit. Maybe one day he’ll find the strength to say no……

SEANY likes to think of himself as the smart one, the one with all the witty answers, and his faltering efforts to demonstrate this is one of the things Speedy and Gerry find so entertaining. Because quick wit is absolutely, positively not something Seany is blessed with. Aisling has described Seany as “a few Kimberly biscuits short of an Aisling Special”. Though, most of the time, his messing about and slagging is only mildly annoying, and even amusing, sometimes, in his eagerness to get Speedy’s approval, he does go too far. He is so loyal to Speedy that it would take something really huge for Seany ever to refuse to go along with it…..

SNIPS Conroy is the Ballybraddan team captain. It is up to him to make sure they work together as a team. The big problem is the natural rivalry between fifth class players and sixth class players. He will have to discover real leadership qualities in order to bridge this divide and mould his squad into team Ballybraddan. There is a certain girl that Snips has a crush on, and he dearly hopes she feels the same way. But can the path of love ever be a smooth one? And Snips does not know he may have a rival, both on the field, and off…….

THE BANTOR is the team coach. He came to Ballybraddan from Kilcrane, where he coached a championship winning side. He knows the taste of victory, but that was twenty years ago. He still wears the same old tracksuit. Most of the letters of the word BAINISTEOIR have faded away. The ones that remain BA N T O R give him his nickname. In all his time with Ballybraddan they have never even got out of the preliminaries and made it in to the championship proper. It’s the same pattern every year; Ballybraddan beat Carrick, lose against Dunaree, and their competitive season ends. He knows all about the importance of hurling, but he also knows that lots of other things matter too. This is really what he wants to teach his team. It really is not all about winning. But then, this year, he knows Ballybraddan have a real chance, because he knows just how good Dylan is….