Speaking at the launch, Shane Guest Senior Brand Manager Cadbury said “We are delighted to announce that Kerry legend Darragh O’Sé will be added to the judging panel for this year’s “Hero of the Future Awards”. The awards recognise the outstanding talent of the Cadbury GAA U21 Championship in any given year and Darragh will be an invaluable addition to the panel as they attempt to make the 2011 decision. I look forward to another thrilling year of U21 football and wish all the teams the very best for the Championship, this year will see an even greater promotion of the competition with a return of our bespoke Cadbury Buses and greater involvement from broadcast partners TG4”.

Speaking at the launch Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Críostóir Ó Cuana said:  "It’s that time of the year once again when we contemplate the onset of the Cadbury’s GAA U21 Football Championship and if this year’s competition provides us with the same levels of entertainment as last year, we all have something to look forward to. The final between eventual winners Dublin and Donegal was an excellent spectacle and before the decider fixture there were a number of excellent games from the provincial championship onwards. I wish all of our competing counties every success and acknowledge Cadbury’s innovative support of this competition and their excellent use of talent spotting ambassadors in what is a much respected scheme."

Last year’s championship culminated in another unforgettable match with Dublin just edging a hard fought encounter against Ulster Champions Donegal. The Cadbury GAA Under 21 Football Championship is widely regarded as an important stepping stone to senior success with a large number of Under 21 players already starring for their senior county teams in the National League and in previous Senior All Ireland Championships. Amongst those is 2010 Senior All-Star Aidan Walsh from Cork who was integral in ending Cork’s wait for a Senior All Ireland as were previous Cadbury Hero of the Future’s: Colm O’Neill (HOTF 2009) and Fintan Goold’s (HOTF 2007). Aidan has also recently been awarded a Cadbury Scholarship from CIT.

Pictured at the launch of the Cadbury GAA Football U21 All-Ireland Championship in Croke Park are, front row left right, Dermot Molloy, Donegal, Shane Guest, Senior Brand manager Cadbury, Uachtarán CLG Criostóir Ó Cuana and Aidan Walsh, Cork. Back row, left to right, Cadbury Hero of the Future judges Michael O'Domhnaill, Dermot Earley, Darragh O Sé and Paul Caffrey. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Cadbury Hero of the Future Awards:

The Cadbury Hero of the Future Award is selected by public voting on www.cadburygaau21.com and adjudication from Kerry legend Darragh O’Sé, Kildare Senior Footballer Dermot Earley, former Dublin Manager Paul Caffrey and TG4 journalist Micheal Ó Domhnaill. The winning player will win a holiday voucher for himself, €1000 for his club and €1000 for his county board. Cadbury also offer each of the 15 Hero’s of the Match a training kit for their club.

Past winners are:

* 2006: Keith Higgins from Mayo
* 2007: Fintan Goold from Cork
* 2008: Killian Young from Kerry
* 2009: Colm O’Neill from Cork
* 2010: Rory O’Carroll from Dublin

Cadbury Scholarship

The Cadbury Scholarship programme now covers 9 third level institutions with 16 students receiving awards of €1000 so far in 2010.

·         John Heslin – Westmeath (UCD)

·         Donal Kingston – Laois (UCD)

·         Alan O’Mara – Cavan (DIT)

·         Sean Murray – Dublin  (Trinity)

·         Tomas Corrigan – Fermanagh (Trinity)

·         Eamon Doherty – Donegal (DCU)

·         Chris McGuinness – Monaghan (DCU)

·         Keith Rogers – Mayo (NUI Galway)

·         Fergal Flanagan – Cavan (NUI Galway)

·         Aidan Walsh – Cork (CIT)

·         Barry O’Driscoll – Cork (UCC)

·         Paul Geaney – Kerry (UCC)

·         Donagh O’Sullivan – Cork (UL)

·         Thomas Ladden – Kerry (UL)

·         2 x University of Ulster – scholarships yet to take place

Cadbury GAA Online

For the 2011 Cadbury continues to build on its digital platforms for its dedicated online community who follow every move of the Championship throughout the season. With established social media platforms including Facebook www.facebook.com/U21GAAFootball  Twitter http://twitter.com/CadburyU21  and Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cadburyu21football and a newly updated website www.cadburygaau21.com GAA fans from every corner of the globe can contribute with comments, photos and videos and of course vote for the 2011 Cadbury Hero of the Future.

“The online element of the Cadbury GAA U21 Football sponsorship is one that we continue to build on year to year. We are fortunate to have an ever increasing online following with both individual fans and GAA clubs and County Boards alike. Our aim is to make Cadbury GAA online one of the ‘go to’ locations for GAA content.” Shane Guest, Senior Brand Manager Cadbury

Cadbury Buses

This year’s campaign will continue with the project started in 2010 and have fully branded, bespoke buses, taking supporters of the four semi-finalists and two finalists to the matches. These will be promoted in the relevant counties and help to facilitate greater supporter engagement.

For further information: Darragh Rea
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