By the time we get to Phoenix ...

CHRISTMAS came early for nine inter-county hurlers yesterday, with call-ups for next month’s All-Star tour to Arizona.

Benny Dunne (Tipperary), Paul Flynn (Waterford), Kevin Broderick (Galway), Dara Ryan (Wexford), John Hoyne (Kilkenny), Tony Browne (Waterford), Mark Foley (Limerick), Ciaran Herron (Antrim) and Liam Dunne (Wexford) will be with the travelling party which leaves for Phoenix on January 21.

Several players have cried off for a variety of reasons - including the Ó hAilpín brothers, with Setanta now based in Australia, and Seán Óg, who will be in Vietnam with the Cork hurlers.

That also means Richard Curran and Joe Deane are unavailable for the US trip, while replacements were also required for Kilkenny quartet, Michael Kavanagh, Derek Lyng, Henry Shefflin and Martin Comerford, who are on both All-Star teams.

2002 All-Stars DJ Carey, Brian Lohan and Colin Lynch have also pulled out.

The All-Stars teams will be managed by Brian Cody (Kilkenny) and Cyril Lyons (Clare).

Meanwhile, details of the Schoolboy International Rules tour to Australia in 2004, have been announced. The first Test game will take place under lights on Easter Thursday - April 8 - as a curtain raiser to Brisbane v Collingwood Australian Rules encounter in the Gabba Stadium in Brisbane.

On Easter Monday - April 11- the action moves to the Telstra Dome in Melbourne where the second Test will be played in advance of the St.Kilda v Richmond game. The final Test will take place in Freemantle Oval in Perth on Thursday, April 15.

The Irish team will be managed by Hugh Kenny (Wicklow/Leinster), and he will be assisted by John Landers (Limerick/Munster) Adrian Hassett (Galway/Connacht) and Paul O’Callaghan (Donegal/Ulster).

The numbers participating in GAA Summer Camps in 2002 have exceeded 60,000 for the first time.

The most significant increase took place this year in Munster and Leinster.

The numbers participating in Munster increased from 16,771 in 2003 to 20,892 in 2004, while in Leinster, the number participating jumped from 19,845 in 2003 to 23,174 in 2004.

Since Summer Camps were first established in Leinster in 1993 the numbers participating have increased from 5,268 to 23,174. GAA President, Sean Kelly said that Summer Camps are now a significant feature of the GAA Underage Development Programme.