GAA to trial 'smart sliotar' in U20 championships

The GAA will trial a 'smart sliotar' in this year's Under 20 hurling championships, in a move to ensure that all balls used at inter-county level conform to regulations and that they are ethically manufactured.

Over 35 companies are officially licensed to supply sliotars to the GAA, but the Sliotar Work Group discovered in the course of their research that not all balls consistently meet the specified standards of coefficient of restitution (bounce), rim size and diameter.

There are also other companies illegally using the official GAA stamp who have not submitted sliotars for approval.

With the new smart sliotar, a tag or chip is embedded in the core, which can be read by an app on a mobile phone that will confirm it as a genuine approved ball. The GAA will inspect manufacturers to ensure the balls conform to the guidelines.

If the trial is successful, from 2023 all the sliotars used in inter-county games will be smart ones supplied directly by the GAA and scanned before matches for verification.

O'Neill's and Kilkenny-based PDMR are the only two licensed manufacturers who have so far volunteered to produce the smart sliotars but the GAA are hopeful more will come on board.

The sole difference between the new balls and the yellow sliotars introduced last year is the tag, which is the size of a 10 cent coin and has negligible impact according to testing by current and former players.

A heavier tag would be needed for additional use as part of score detection or distance tracking.

The leeway in sliotar dimensions allowed to manufacturers did change slightly at recent Congress (lower maximum mass and rim height) but this was to reflect the trend of ball sizes rather than directly connected to the smart sliotar.

GAA President Larry