Luca Kavanagh, Louis Butler and Matthew Guilfoyle displaying the new Noctra glove
GAA gloves makes the experience comfortable
Noctra young enterpreneurs recently launched a new brand of GAA gloves at the Lucan Sarsfields Club.
Lucan men Matthew Guilfoyle, Louis Butler and Luca Kavanagh (21) designed the first GAA gloves with an internal silicone composition, which they believe “makes the whole experience far more comfortable,” while also giving players a tighter grip.
Players with Lucan Sarsfields since childhood, the founders of new sportswear brand Noctra spent “months developing and testing the design to create something that truly improves the experience for athletes on the pitch,” they said.
According to Matthew, traditional GAA gloves always felt “too clunky” and they were looking to fix that.
The internal silicon allows the gloves to stick to the back palm of the player’s hands, he explained.
Once the final design was agreed, positive feedback from local and Dublin Senior players who tested the gloves persuaded the group to officially put them on the market.
Following their first online sales at €22 per pair, a slightly higher price compared to traditional gloves due to the silicon, Noctra received positive reviews and are proceeding with their marketing campaign online.
“We’ll be interested in working with physical retailers in the future. We are still at early stages,” said Matthew.
“The really good reviews we had from top-tier players make us optimistic about it.”
Noctra had a revenue of €1,000 so far, with set-up costs being “reasonably low,” said Matthew.
Matthew is a Business Studies International student at DCU while his two partners are Business Management students at Maynooth University.
Their gloves will be launched at a pop-up shop on Lucan Sarsfield grounds on Saturday, June 7.
“As young sportspeople and entrepreneurs from the local area, we’re excited to bring this innovation to our home club,” said Matthew.
“There will be a lot of kids from the underage teams and we’re happy to talk to anyone who pops over.
“It’s something that hasn’t been done before in the GAA market. We believe our story highlights the importance of community, sport, and innovation.”
