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Down / Re: Down Club Hurling & Football
« on: January 16, 2023, 07:41:00 PM »
I see a proposal to include Burren & Carryduff 2nds in the ACFL has been released.
The wording of the conclusion certainly does not portray a neutral stance awaiting a vote.
Reading it would suggest a deal has already been done behind closed doors to include these teams.
If these parishes have grown so big that 1 club cannot accommodate the playing numbers then maybe its time to form a 2nd club within the parish with its own youth structure, committee, pitch, and facilities therefore giving them the right to compete with junior clubs and grow accordingly.
Junior clubs work hard to maintain stand alone facilities and provide Gaelic games in challenging circumstances with limited numbers. The last thing these clubs need is to have moral sapping defeats at the hands of clubs who are drawing players from all areas. There is a real risk of junior clubs failing to field ( as we have seen with Mitchels ) when players walk away following such defeats. Adult players will be lost to other sports with underage players having no footsteps to follow, with the potential for smaller clubs going the way of Ballykinlar and Killyleagh.
We should protect the weak and not allow these superpowers to steamroll our smaller clubs.
Conclusion: Down GAA will lose a lot more from the smaller clubs than the 20 plus players wanting to represent Burren & Carryduff who could quite easily go back to play for their home clubs.
The wording of the conclusion certainly does not portray a neutral stance awaiting a vote.
Reading it would suggest a deal has already been done behind closed doors to include these teams.
If these parishes have grown so big that 1 club cannot accommodate the playing numbers then maybe its time to form a 2nd club within the parish with its own youth structure, committee, pitch, and facilities therefore giving them the right to compete with junior clubs and grow accordingly.
Junior clubs work hard to maintain stand alone facilities and provide Gaelic games in challenging circumstances with limited numbers. The last thing these clubs need is to have moral sapping defeats at the hands of clubs who are drawing players from all areas. There is a real risk of junior clubs failing to field ( as we have seen with Mitchels ) when players walk away following such defeats. Adult players will be lost to other sports with underage players having no footsteps to follow, with the potential for smaller clubs going the way of Ballykinlar and Killyleagh.
We should protect the weak and not allow these superpowers to steamroll our smaller clubs.
Conclusion: Down GAA will lose a lot more from the smaller clubs than the 20 plus players wanting to represent Burren & Carryduff who could quite easily go back to play for their home clubs.
