Leinster Minor Hurling Championship kicks off this weekend with Laois hosting Kerry in Portlaoise

The Laois minor hurling panel is set to take to the field this weekend as the Leinster Championship gets underway.

Managed by Brendan Phelan, who guided the Laois U-16s to Celtic Challenge glory in 2025, the panel includes 36 players from 17 clubs, with four players, Dan Downey, Cillian Hoey, Oisin Gilligan, and Tadhg Hughes, also featuring on the minor football panel.

Laois begin their campaign at home against Kerry in Round One. The other opening fixtures are Wicklow v Antrim, Carlow v Offaly, and Meath v Kildare. A fifth Round One game had been scheduled between Westmeath and Down, but Down withdrew, leaving four games.

The Leinster minor hurling championship will be played using a backdoor system, giving every county a second chance after the opening round. The four Round 1 losers will face each other in Round 2, with the winners of those games progressing.

In Round 3, those Round 2 winners will take on the four Round 1 winners, leaving four teams still in contention. Those four sides will then advance to Round 4, where they face off for the two available qualification spots.

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The two winners from Round 4 will progress to Phase 2 Tier 1 of the competition, where they will be drawn into groups alongside Kilkenny and Dublin in Group 1 or Wexford and Galway in Group 2. These groups will operate on a criss-cross basis, similar to the format used in the 2025 Laois GAA SHC.

The teams that do not secure qualification for Tier 1 will instead drop into Tier 2, with those fixtures to be confirmed once Phase 1 of the competition has been completed.

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Laois Minor Hurling Panel 2026: Luke Hynes (Camross), Oisin McRedmond (Portlaoise), LJ Cuddy (Camross), Shane Carroll (Portlaoise), Jacob Hilliard (Camross), Killian James (St Paul’s), Aaron Bredin (Camross), Oisin Gilligan (Ballyfin), Tadhg Lowry (Camross), Fionnan Gilligan (Ballyfin), Darragh Mortimer (Camross), Eoin O’Loughlin (Ballyfin), Leo Guilfoyle (Camross), Harry Donoghue (The Harps), Evan McWey (Ballypickas), Jamie Mahony (The Harps), Bobby McWey (Ballypickas), Bobby O’Connor (Trumera), Cillian Hoey (Portarlington), Tadhg Hughes (Rosenallis), Canice Meade (Clough/Ballacolla), Rory Standish (Rathdowney–Errill), Luke Delaney (Castletown), Dan Bowe (Rathdowney–Errill), Callum Jones (Borris-Kilcotton), Ryan Keeshan (Rathdowney–Errill), Conor Hickey (Borris-Kilcotton), James Doherty (Rathdowney–Errill), Darragh Keeshan (Borris-Kilcotton), Ryan Brennan (St Lazarian’s Abbeyleix), Ross Quinlan (Borris-Kilcotton), Jerry O’Connell (St Lazarian’s Abbeyleix), Paudie Fahy (Borris-Kilcotton), Jack Rice (St Fintan’s, Mountrath), Rian Dwyer (Ballinakill), Dan Downey (Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe).

Laois v Kerry will form part of a double-header at Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Saturday, March 21, with the Laois camogie team also in action. The camogie game against Westmeath throws in at 1pm, followed by the minor hurlers facing Kerry at 3.30pm.