The Gaelic Athletic Association/Gaelic Players Association Young Hurler of the Year (known for sponsorship reasons as the PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year, or simply the Young Hurler of the Year) is an annual award given to the player aged 21 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best during the All-Ireland Championship. The award has been presented since the 1996 All-Ireland Championship. The winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Gaelic Players Association (GPA). The first winner of the award was Limerick defender Mark Foley. The current holder is Adrian Mullen, who won the award for Kilkenny GAA in 2019. The only players to win the award twice are Eoin Kelly, who won it in 2001 and 2002; and Eoin Cody, in 2020 and 2021.
A shortlist of nominees is published in September. The winner, along with the winners of the GAA/GPA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in Dublin in November. Players consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by his peers.
Winners The award has been presented on 24 occasions as of 2019, with 23 different winners. The table also indicates where the winning player also won one of the other major "hurler of the year" awards, namely the GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year award (HOTY).
YearPlayerCountyAlso wonNotes 1996 Limerick 1997 Tipperary 1998 Offaly 1999 Cork 2000 Kilkenny 2001 Tipperary 2002 Tipperary 2003 Cork 2004 Cork 2005 Galway 2006 Kilkenny 2007 Limerick 2008 Galway 2009 Tipperary 2010 Tipperary 2011 Dublin 2012 Galway 2013 Clare HOTY 2014 Tipperary 2015 Waterford 2016 Waterford HOTY 2017 Galway 2018 Limerick 2019 Kilkenny 2020 Kilkenny 2021 Kilkenny 2022 Kilkenny 2023 Clare 2024 Clare 2025 Tipperary
Breakdown of winners
CountyNumber of winsWinning years Tipperary 1997, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2025 Kilkenny 2000, 2006, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Galway 2005, 2008, 2012, 2017 Limerick 1996, 2007, 2018 Cork 1999, 2003, 2004 Waterford 2015, 2016 Clare 2013, 2023, 2024 Offaly 1998 Dublin 2011
References
External links The official website of the Gaelic Players Association