Microchipped sliotars in place next year as committee examines state of the ball

Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The standardisation of the sliotar is expected to be copper-fastened by a motion at February’s Annual Congress.

A proposal which will update the current dimensions, weight and size of the hurley ball could be put to Central Council for endorsement before Christmas.

The digital sliotar advisory group are to recommend only sliotars with electronic chips inserted into the core to confirm their veracity be used for sanctioned games. A mobile phone app will be able to determine if the sliotar is produced by an officially approved manufacturer whose product has passed a battery of quality standards.

Once described as “The Wild West” by GAA director of organisational culture Pat Daly, the GAA have been working on regulating the sliotar market with the use of technology. Kieran Moran and Dermot Brabazon have led the research in DCU’s Advanced Processing Technology Research Centre.

But for the pandemic, microchipped balls could have been in production this year and the chip will also confirm the sliotar has been ethically manufactured — most are now produced in Pakistan.

However, GAA president Larry McCarthy has formed the committee to look at all aspects of the sliotar following sustained concerns that the ball is travelling too far, be it as a result of its weight and/or the size of the rims.

The sliotar advisory group is led by former Kilkenny chairman and secretary Ned Quinn, who was also the previous Central Competitions Control Committee chairman. He is joined by Daly, Munster PRO and former Cork chairman Bob Ryan, ex-Tipperary goalkeeper and recently-appointed U20 manager Brendan Cummins, former Kildare camogie player and the Camogie Association’s technical development and participation manager Louise Conlon, Gaelfest chairman Terry Reilly and Dr Eoin Mac Donncha, son of the late GAA president Joe McDonagh.

Rule 4.4 (i) of the GAA Official Guide Part II states the diameter of the sliotar — not including the rim (rib) — shall be between 69mm and 72mm. Its mass “shall be between 110 and 120 grams” and the rim (rib) width “shall be between 3.6mm and 5.4mm.” 

It continues: “The thickness of the leather cover shall be between 1.8mm. and 2.7mm and shall not be laminated with a coating greater than 0.15mm. Sliotars will only be approved for use on the basis of compliance with standards and tests as set out by Central Council.” 

The rule was recently amended to stress sliotars must comply with “the 16 standards set out by the Central Council.”