What a dreadful year 2023 has been for Laois GAA.
Our Senior footballers who were Div 2 a few years ago under a progressive coach have failed to reach the final of Div 4 which was contested by Wicklow and Sligo and then slaughtered in the championship.
Our senior hurlers who were competing in the Liam McCarthy and were competitive against the likes of Tipp and Clare a few years ago under a progressive coach have almost certainly failed to reach the final of Joe McD cup which will be contested by Offaly and most likely Carlow.
We dont seem to be competitive at any level and only last weekend we had a hurling development team annihilated against Tipp (12-20 to 0-9) and our Ladies footballers were hammered by the Dubs.
Surely there is need for some kind of emergency AGM to get all GAA folk together and see what is going on and what can be done about it.
This has not happened overnight and there is no quick fix but we need to get all the best and most passionate Laois GAA people together and figure this thing out unless we end up the bottom of the pile permanently.
Agree with everything you said Joey. We're in a desperate state, and arguably doing more harm than any good right now
Wholeheartedly agree. We seem to be on a continuous slide to the bottom and our County Board don't seem to giveca toss.
What can be done?
Quote from: Chrimtain on May 10, 2023, 11:55:36 AM
Wholeheartedly agree. We seem to be on a continuous slide to the bottom and our County Board don't seem to giveca toss.
What can be done?
It would be easier to answer that negatively right now. We're so far behind and so off the pace that every time we come away with a hammering, we are doing further harm. We have issues that are specific to us and wider issues that every smaller/dual county must deal with. As for what needs to be done, that's not something you could write about in a few sentences. I sometimes wonder if we did everything that needs to be done, would we even be competitive then?
A review was conducted by Nicky Brennan a few years ago. Safe to say we've gotten a lot worse than that. Anyone know what the review points were and what was actioned?
Offaly back into a U20 hurling final all from hard work from the top table down massive crowd in Tullamore tonight.
I remember being in rosenallis when that offaly u20 team were u14. Just 6 short years ago.
Laois beat offaly that day by 25 points. And that's no exaggeration. That laois team subsequently took honours at u14 and u15 level. This year at u20 level laois were beaten by an average westmeath side.
One example of how no proper planning or structures were forthcoming to develop a crop of players with serious potential.
Meanwhile offaly got a county legend in michael duignan, to replace their dinosaurs with a meaningful, structured plan and a blueprint of many committees and sub committees to identify what needed to be done.
quote author=Laois man link=topic=32013.msg2199926#msg2199926 date=1683750088]
Offaly back into a U20 hurling final all from hard work from the top table down massive crowd in Tullamore tonight.
[/quote]
Even just look at what Offaly did with their minors compared to us. They used the school system to keep the players together playing high quality opposition and then that has fed into u20s. Its looks like they have actually accelerated in their progress making Leinster final 2 years early.
What did we do? Let team go separate ways. Brought in some for u20s and lost to Westmeath.
Its quality games at right level that really bring on players. Gym work etc is important but exposure to progressively more difficult opposition is what teams need and it was plotted well by Offaly.
Just look at our Dev Team beaten by 40+ points last week to see who is nurturing our young players. Nobody.
Craig Rogers retweeted this from The CLARE TIMES asking the County Board to take note!
1 d
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What a difference a couple of years make:
2 years ago our minor lads were massively let down, they were sent out to championship battle under prepared and poorly coached, the result was they suffered a humiliating 40 point drubbing at the hands of Cork.
Our county board at the time was toxic and people got given coaching roles based on loyalty rather than ability, we were sinking fast and all hurling people in the county could see radical change was needed
The Change came: following a bloody campaign, the County board changed and with that change came a fresh and new approach to how we promoted/coached and administered the GAA in Clare
Just 2 short years on from that 40 point drubbing and we are now Munster Minor champions, our u20 side are in a Munster final next week and our seniors just handed Limerick their first defeat in a long long while
We stood together, we removed the toxic culture from the Board and we won the battle
The minors now have a passionate and talented Management team and the rest is history
We have so much to be grateful for
HON THE BANNER
wats the Clare times
https://www.facebook.com/claresupporter (https://www.facebook.com/claresupporter)
Offaly with a smaller population and a similar hurling/football split are so far ahead of us on so many levels
Just one of countless examples
https://twitter.com/lonesharkoy/status/1656416881929011200?s=46&t=Z3KW3Rw04beopUDsdM2Hwg
What a difference a change in CB chairman has made in Offaly in just two years. But who in Laois could make such a difference?
Is it a case of apathy rules in Laois? Perhaps nobody capable of making a difference is interested enough in Laois.
I think apathy has been a problem for a very long time.
I have very little knowledge of the in's and out's of county board business or who may or may not be the type(s) of individuals who would drive things on.
When our young minor hurlers starting competing well in the Leinster championship about 10 years ago or so we had Zoom involved with Setanta and Cheddar managing the minor team.
I would happily have both men involved in the running of hurling in the county from the youngest age.
Pay them for their time and give them a reasonably free hand in appointing coaches they want etc with a view to producing competitive underage hurling teams over the next few years with a goal of winning a minor leinster championship. . Both men have more than enough credit in the bank to get others involved. How many lads, former team mates and ex county players would turn down a few hours a week if asked by Critchley or Cheddar.
Would they want it though? Have they ever been asked?
Duignan met heavy resistance to him coming in as County Board Chairman from the existing incumbents and it took him 3 county conventions before he got the team he wanted in with him to get into the various positions on the county board.
Do we have someone with that level of determination to drive change ?
I doubt it too
in relation to that Celtic Challenge u17 Quarter Final game v Tipperary
Tipp played only u16's against us,after 20 odd minutes, the scoreboard was putting up Tipp goals as points and at half time they turned off the scoreboard completely in Cashel, the scoreline was way worse than what was officially given
This was a national competition where our Kids got humiliated,this was not a once off either this year,our u15 hurlers have gotten some heavy beatings too.
Either we do better by our players or we dont enter these competitions any more
[quoted
Tipp played only u16's against us,after 20 odd minutes, the scoreboard was putting up Tipp goals as points and at half time they turned off the scoreboard completely in Cashel, the scoreline was way worse than what was officially given
[/quote]
I heard that last week and genuinely couldn't believe it . Demoralising to hear .
Quote from: Spiritof86 on May 12, 2023, 01:31:13 PM
[quoted
Tipp played only u16's against us,after 20 odd minutes, the scoreboard was putting up Tipp goals as points and at half time they turned off the scoreboard completely in Cashel, the scoreline was way worse than what was officially given
I heard that last week and genuinely couldn't believe it . Demoralising to hear .
[/quote]
Imagine being a player and being sent out unprepared to get slaughtered and not just a once off
Young lads would be better off not going into panels than having to put up with these shambolic set ups
Ah it's fecking heartbreaking for those young lads . Imagine going home to tell the family about representing the county and the scoreboard had to be turned off because they were getting beaten out the door .
Absolute bullshit organisational set ups with severely inadequate coaching in place . It's the ultimately the kids who are losing out here in Laois .
Quote from: Spiritof86 on May 12, 2023, 01:31:13 PM
[quoted
Tipp played only u16's against us,after 20 odd minutes, the scoreboard was putting up Tipp goals as points and at half time they turned off the scoreboard completely in Cashel, the scoreline was way worse than what was officially given
I heard that last week and genuinely couldn't believe it . Demoralising to hear .
[/quote]
So the 12-29 or whatever it was, was actually a lot more?? Holy Christ.
Quote from: Zooming around on May 12, 2023, 03:04:39 PM
Quote from: Spiritof86 on May 12, 2023, 01:31:13 PM
Quote
Tipp played only u16's against us,after 20 odd minutes, the scoreboard was putting up Tipp goals as points and at half time they turned off the scoreboard completely in Cashel, the scoreline was way worse than what was officially given
I heard that last week and genuinely couldn't believe it . Demoralising to hear .
So the 12-29 or whatever it was, was actually a lot more?? Holy Christ.
Was it 29 goals and 12 points plus whatever they didn't chalk up on the scoreboard?
This is a horrendous state of affairs. To be honest though not surprising. Was in at the Setanta first night back the other night and my God, there are alot of chaps 10 to 11 years old that can barely strike a ball.
Now, some of these could be down to picking up the game only recently - but if it's not then it's very worrying to see how far back chaps are when compared to those in other counties at similar ages. Alot of work to do there.
many ex county players coaching setsnta?
Is there a football equivalent of Setanta?
Quote from: redsetanta on May 12, 2023, 10:07:36 AM
I have very little knowledge of the in's and out's of county board business or who may or may not be the type(s) of individuals who would drive things on.
When our young minor hurlers starting competing well in the Leinster championship about 10 years ago or so we had Zoom involved with Setanta and Cheddar managing the minor team.
I would happily have both men involved in the running of hurling in the county from the youngest age.
Pay them for their time and give them a reasonably free hand in appointing coaches they want etc with a view to producing competitive underage hurling teams over the next few years with a goal of winning a minor leinster championship. . Both men have more than enough credit in the bank to get others involved. How many lads, former team mates and ex county players would turn down a few hours a week if asked by Critchley or Cheddar.
Would they want it though? Have they ever been asked?
I hear Critchley Cheddar and Rigney mentioned a lot as people who could help Laois hurling, which in theory I agree sounds great, however for the last 10 years they have stood by and watched Portlaoise do in Laois hurling what Offaly did at Intercounty level and fall asunder, so while it would be great to have them involved I certainly wouldn't be handing them over the keys to the county
Quote from: G@@ on May 12, 2023, 03:55:17 PM
Quote from: Zooming around on May 12, 2023, 03:04:39 PM
Quote from: Spiritof86 on May 12, 2023, 01:31:13 PM
Quote
Tipp played only u16's against us,after 20 odd minutes, the scoreboard was putting up Tipp goals as points and at half time they turned off the scoreboard completely in Cashel, the scoreline was way worse than what was officially given
I heard that last week and genuinely couldn't believe it . Demoralising to hear .
So the 12-29 or whatever it was, was actually a lot more?? Holy Christ.
Was it 29 goals and 12 points plus whatever they didn't chalk up on the scoreboard?
This is a horrendous state of affairs. To be honest though not surprising. Was in at the Setanta first night back the other night and my God, there are alot of chaps 10 to 11 years old that can barely strike a ball.
Now, some of these could be down to picking up the game only recently - but if it's not then it's very worrying to see how far back chaps are when compared to those in other counties at similar ages. Alot of work to do there.
So when you saw these young lads struggling did you go over to whoever was in charge and offer to help out?? Maybe it's easier for people to give out about what they see on forums like this than actually try to get involved to improve things. And forgive me if you think I'm having a personal go at you cos I'm not. It goes for everyone. People talk about Offaly here the whole time but what Duignan got over there was a huge buy in from people who wanted to help out. Can we say that about Laois?. I know that our main teams are struggling to get people in to help yet a man who (1)obviously knows about hurling (2) Is in the COE for Setanta possibly with his own child and (3) Cares enough to comment online, isn't confident enough in his own abilities to go over and say that he'll help to get some of the kids striking properly. It may be a small thing but it everyone did a small bit the things would improve
According to a report in one of de tipp papers all de tipp papers were born in 2006 which i reckon means they weren't u16.. Looking at de laois team i say nearly half of them were u16.. They qualified for it by beating offaly and kildare both comfortably enough(they did get a beating by one of de cork teams).. Obviously its not good enough but it was de highest level of tat competition so they r ranked in the top 8 of de 38 teams entered
What makes the Laois situation even worse is a population increase of 30K in the last 20 years. We grew by half a Monaghan! And look at how effective they are with 30K less than us. Portlaoise should have 2 senior teams for both codes with the population there. The level their hurling team is at for for a town of 25K is shocking. If Portlaoise had their house in order and then pick the best of the small towns and villages we'd be somewhere further along in both codes.
I don't know what the problem is but when you see Kilkenny city with similar population of 26K with 3 senior hurling teams....it's a sickner. Don't even have one hurling team in Portlaoise anywhere near the standard of any of the 3 Kilkenny city teams.
It's so disappointing.
The County Board – Where to start with this?? The one thing that I have constantly said is that there is a lack of direction for our county teams at all grades. There doesn't ever seem to be any long term plan – Where do we want to be in 10 year's time? How are we going to get there? We just seem to be plodding along hoping to come upon a team that we can follow. Instead of starting at the bottom (where we are) putting the blocks in place and building for the future. It took a while but the penny finally dropped in Offaly and they are now sowing seeds for a brighter future and even still they have a long, long way to travel. I asked the question when PJ Kelly was appointed – What legacy will he leave behind? What is he going to do to change our fortunes? Unfortunately I haven't seen anything different to previous Chairmen. Who is going to take on this challenge in Laois?? We need change – We need Action – And we need it now!!!
Head of games Development – GDA Coordinator – With the departure of Mike Henchy - This is a hugely important appointment. There is apathy around the games dept and they seem to have gotten the brunt of the blame for our academy squad's poor performances. Whether that is fair or not I don't know but we do need to be seeing the fruits of their work in the next few years.
In addition - Install Cheddar as Director of Hurling – Allow him to work with the new head of games development to grow and foster hurling from setanta to u20 level.
Development Squads - Head Hunt Proper Managers and Coaches for academy squads - They are out there. We need to seek funding for each academy squad individually. Treat these lads with respect and provide a professional set up for each squad. ENVA are on board supporting our squads but there should be further financial support from other companies. Again I believe those companies are out there.
Strength and Conditioning – We have a new S&C head in Laois GAA. He needs to sort out that end. We have Willie Maher complaining about the conditioning of our senior hurlers. Most of them have been playing senior hurling for at least a few years – why on Earth are they not conditioned properly to play county hurling??
U20 County Team – I believe we have a very talented group at this level. Brochan Reilly, Cathal Cuddy, Joe Pearson, Bobby Murphy, Cody Comerford, Tom Cuddy, Aaron Phelan, Colin Byrne, Jer Quinlan, Brian Duggan, James Cuddy, Ryan Quinlan, Ciaran Flynn, Lochlainn Conway – Those 14 players all saw some championship action this year and are underage next year and along with a few more that can make the step up we should have a nice team next year. They need a really good set up and while Ollie Hally hasn't been bad I feel this group needs a knew voice and a progressive management set up that can give them their best shot of being successful. This year's team while talented were muscled out of it by Westmeath. They need a good winter of S&C.
Setanta Programme – Fair play to Brendan Phelan. While there might be lads in there that can't hit the ball...they won't learn how to do it playing the xbox at home. There will be benefit from this. The interest is huge with well over 100 at both u10 and u11 groups. I think the plan is to have u12 and u13 next year which will bring the total numbers up to 500 across the 4 groups – fantastic! They will need a lead coordinator and administration for each group in my opinion. The whole thing needs a proper structure. Again I would head hunt lead coaches here to plan the sessions. I do believe if the set-up is good we will get the buy in and it will be a success. Hopefully that will start to be reflected in the development squads in the next few years.
The county board are predominantly from football clubs. The co board are ok with hurling at nothing in the county, they are used to it and expect the same. The fact that football is at its lowest ebb for many years they might actually think about doing something about it and hopefully if they do we have to hope they won't exclude hurling in their plans.
Fair play to Brendan Phelan is right.
The football side could do with someone doing a similar job.
I believe Brendan has a passion for Laois GAA in general. Now, he, in my opinion, with his passion and drive would make an ideal chairman of the CB.
Theres an onus in everyone in the clubs to step up too and sort out their coaching
A friend of mine from a traditional football county was involved in a football development squad here recently.
He was shocked at the standard of young lads that were being sent for trials and also being included on Panels
He said he could name the 4/5 clubs that were doing their coaching right based on the lads arriving in, the rest he said he was wondering what the hell they were doing in training
A complete lack of even the basics skills for that age group and level.
He described it a being like a first year maths teacher and lads coming in from the national schools, not being able to add or subtract.
Quote from: Sir Alex7 on May 13, 2023, 11:37:34 PM
According to a report in one of de tipp papers all de tipp papers were born in 2006 which i reckon means they weren't u16.. Looking at de laois team i say nearly half of them were u16.. They qualified for it by beating offaly and kildare both comfortably enough(they did get a beating by one of de cork teams).. Obviously its not good enough but it was de highest level of tat competition so they r ranked in the top 8 of de 38 teams entered
have you a link to that match report,please.
Quote from: clonadmad on May 15, 2023, 09:02:42 AM
Theres an onus in everyone in the clubs to step up too and sort out their coaching
A friend of mine from a traditional football county was involved in a football development squad here recently.
He was shocked at the standard of young lads that were being sent for trials and also being included on Panels
He said he could name the 4/5 clubs that were doing their coaching right based on the lads arriving in, the rest he said he was wondering what the hell they were doing in training
A complete lack of even the basics skills for that age group and level.
He described it a being like a first year maths teacher and lads coming in from the national schools, not being able to add or subtract.
The inequality in coaching is massive and I don't know how you address it. I don't like having a go at coaches either as, 90% of the time it comes down to parents giving up their spare time to try and drive things on, especially at club level. I'm also a Laois exile in faraway lands so I probably have even less grounds to give an opinion on this, but I'll give a small example of what I witnessed. I was home visiting my sister a few weeks back and it coincided with an u7 and u9 hurling blitz that my nephew was playing in. Our home club is Clough Ballacolla and we were taking on a neighboring team of similar size. There was no scoreboard or score keeping, but if there was it would have been a similar case to that Tipp u17 match and it would have been turned off. The Clough/Ballacolla young lads were just so far ahead in every aspect of early stage hurling development that you couldn't even try make a competitive affair out of things. I couldn't get my head around it, there was no big lads who were walking through players as you often see at that level, it was just the very basic stuff that had them worlds apart. The whole thing was demoralising affair for all involved by the end and it does nobody any use. There should be no reason why there's such a massive chasm between a group of 7 and 9 year olds who live no more than 10 miles apart!
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. It definitely comes to mind looking at Laois hurling at the moment.
Following their humiliating defeat to Wexford last week, tonight, our minor footballers have been well beaten by Wicklow.
I mean no disrespect to Wicklow, but how much lower can we go? At both adult and underage level, maybe along with Carlow, we must be at rock bottom in Leinster football now. And we all know Leinster football is the weakest of the four provinces.
Yes, Laois GAA needs urgent help!!!
On the other hand, maybe we should bask in the praise OMP's broadcasting facilities received from TG4 recently.
Is it possible our CB is prioritising the provision of facilities at OMP above the promotion of the games in the county?
It feels quite hopeless, sadly.
I do know one thing, and I say this specifically with football in mind. In the last number of years, we've been doing no more than throwing the dice. We keep putting teams into competitions but the reality is they're miles behind. Some have fared better than others, but eventually we end up getting taught a lesson. It won't just magic itself better and we won't just play our way out of it. Right now, we're doing the same things on a yearly basis and expecting different results. Madness
satanta runnin, morda og startin. lads need to get in n help out.
First of all people need to stop mentioning Zoom and Cheddar in relation to been director or head development officer etc etc . They've been asked on more than one occasion and are clearly not interested . They've invested a lot of their time in Laois GAA over the years and they owe us nothing
. The Setanta Hurling programme started last Wednesday in Laois split between the centre of excellence and Clonad . Great numbers in attendance.
There is a football equivalent due to start at end of the month.
Unfortunately the problems in Laois GAA are a lot more complicated than the above .
People are fed up with the regime and their inability to do anything worthwhile. These people are administrators, not innovators. People reference Offaly a lot on here, but they have someone over them who is driving and pushing. That has created momentum and people are getting interested again. We're a busted flush. Out on our arse completely
https://twitter.com/Rodgie5/status/1656428844604174337?t=2ncHuOMucnXSwf7E_Y1otw&s=19
is creg doin anythin to help i wondr.
Offaly on a steep upward curve. U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.
If the will is there, there is a way.
Quote from: redsetanta on May 18, 2023, 01:01:25 PM
Offaly on a steep upward curve. U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.
If the will is there, there is a way.
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they win a senior All Ireland title within the next decade and I bet that's their ambition. If Offaly can do it, is there any reason why we can't achieve some success?
History, funding, Chairman, better coaches/coaching. Off the top of my head. And genuinely, I don't intend to be mean spirited by saying that. I just have zero faith in anything we're doing at the moment
Quote from: redsetanta on May 18, 2023, 01:01:25 PM
Offaly on a steep upward curve. U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.
If the will is there, there is a way.
Won it with 6 of last years minor team starting as well
In a minor football semifinal also
In the Joe McDonagh Final and probably going to be very competitive in the Tailteann cup also
Interesting to note also the number of dual players they have at the underage grades
Where we have the mentors in underage squads here telling lads to choose one
Quote from: Chrimtain on May 18, 2023, 04:30:01 PM
Quote from: redsetanta on May 18, 2023, 01:01:25 PM
Offaly on a steep upward curve. U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.
If the will is there, there is a way.
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they win a senior All Ireland title within the next decade and I bet that's their ambition. If Offaly can do it, is there any reason why we can't achieve some success?
Offaly Senior all Ireland in the next decade ???? There's not a snowballs chance in hell that will happen
Quote from: Laoiseabu on May 19, 2023, 12:16:27 AM
Quote from: Chrimtain on May 18, 2023, 04:30:01 PM
Quote from: redsetanta on May 18, 2023, 01:01:25 PM
Offaly on a steep upward curve. U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.
If the will is there, there is a way.
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they win a senior All Ireland title within the next decade and I bet that's their ambition. If Offaly can do it, is there any reason why we can't achieve some success?
Offaly Senior all Ireland in the next decade ???? There's not a snowballs chance in hell that will happen
Galway winning plenty of titles at underage and have only 1 senior All Ireland in 30 odd years in the hurling. A big ask for Offaly but can certainly try. How they accommodate younger players at senior will be a bigger challenge.
Quote from: Laoiseabu on May 19, 2023, 12:16:27 AM
Quote from: Chrimtain on May 18, 2023, 04:30:01 PM
Quote from: redsetanta on May 18, 2023, 01:01:25 PM
Offaly on a steep upward curve. U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.
If the will is there, there is a way.
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they win a senior All Ireland title within the next decade and I bet that's their ambition. If Offaly can do it, is there any reason why we can't achieve some success?
Offaly Senior all Ireland in the next decade ???? There’s not a snowballs chance in hell that will happen
I believe it is possible in hurling. No one would have predicted a few years ago that they would win a Leinster minor title and an under 20 title in quick succession. They will not be satisfied with that. They want more and they will achieve more.
My fault, but I think we are going off topic here. This thread is about the woes of Laois GAA.
There is no doubt though, we should use Offaly's template for improving standards in this county.
I don't know the figures, but I'm guessing Offaly are investing significantly more than us. With Lowry's money and Duignan's leadership, they have a good platform. Last time I checked, our expenditure was exceptionally low for a proper dual county. We seem to be in the business of balancing our books rather than investing in the future. I don't know of a JP McManus or Shane Lowry who will throw their wad in our direction.
There's a case to be made, and I'm.not making it just now, for pulling all our teams and throwing everything we have at a 10 year project. Even though we're spending conmeasuratively less than most counties, it's still wasted money if we're only taking hidings all the time. As I said, I'm not hitting that panic button just yet, but there are days when it feels like we should go nuclear options. Something has to give somewhere.
From Will O'Callaghans Twitter
Since Duignan became Offaly chairman in 2020:
🥇All-Ireland u-20 Football, Leinster u-20 Football, Leinster u-20 Hurling, Leinster Minor Hurling, Div 2A (2), Christy Ring, Kehoe Cup.
🥈Div 3 Football, All-Ireland Minor Hurling, Leinster Minor Hurling, Leinster Minor Football.
Quote from: High Fielder on May 19, 2023, 08:07:53 AM
I don't know the figures, but I'm guessing Offaly are investing significantly more than us. With Lowry's money and Duignan's leadership, they have a good platform. Last time I checked, our expenditure was exceptionally low for a proper dual county. We seem to be in the business of balancing our books rather than investing in the future. I don't know of a JP McManus or Shane Lowry who will throw their wad in our direction.
There's a case to be made, and I'm.not making it just now, for pulling all our teams and throwing everything we have at a 10 year project. Even though we're spending conmeasuratively less than most counties, it's still wasted money if we're only taking hidings all the time. As I said, I'm not hitting that panic button just yet, but there are days when it feels like we should go nuclear options. Something has to give somewhere.
Have we as a county put together a funding proposal for high net worth individuals within the county or those who have done well abroad?
Have we done similar with businesses within the county or headed up by Laois people?
You have a situation where the main sponsor of Tipperary camogie is headquartered in Portlaoise
The CB ran a surplus of close to €1m over the past 2 years,why isn't that being spent somewhere as opposed to sitting in the bank
Over the past 10 years the GAA coaching grant for Laois has been greater than the likes of Offaly,Kilkenny,Clare,Limerick,Tipperary,Kerry Donegal and Tyrone
Having Money is one thing,spending it in areas where you get a return on investment is another
Good post clonad. And very fair points. I accept it all and these conversations need to be had. I don't think any of us are happy with the current goings on. I'm sensing disillusionment sadly, and lots of it. That could be the greatest barrier to any progress being made
Quote from: High Fielder on May 19, 2023, 08:07:53 AM
I don't know the figures, but I'm guessing Offaly are investing significantly more than us. With Lowry's money and Duignan's leadership, they have a good platform. Last time I checked, our expenditure was exceptionally low for a proper dual county. We seem to be in the business of balancing our books rather than investing in the future. I don't know of a JP McManus or Shane Lowry who will throw their wad in our direction.
There's a case to be made, and I'm.not making it just now, for pulling all our teams and throwing everything we have at a 10 year project. Even though we're spending conmeasuratively less than most counties, it's still wasted money if we're only taking hidings all the time. As I said, I'm not hitting that panic button just yet, but there are days when it feels like we should go nuclear options. Something has to give somewhere.
It's not a chicken or egg situation in Offaly, Lowry is investing BECAUSE Duignan's in charge.
Laois GAA struggle to maintain a half decent website so we can see whats happening around the county. We look like a joke from every angle. You need people in charge with a bit of vision, people who are successful business men who know how to get things done. Surely there are ex players out their who run businesses whose brains and expertise could be picked?
The main reason Laois won a Leinster championship in 2003 was the vision to go get Mick O'Dwyer as manager, I know lots of work went in to make sure there was a pool of talent there for him, but Micko was a big name, created a buzz around the county and people were willing to donate or do what was needed. Everyone put the shoulder to the wheel and we got some of the best days ever as a county.
I think High Fielder, you put your finger on it when you said our CB are administrators, but they are not men with a vision and clear path for Laois GAA.
We have money in the bank, we have a good C of E, we have a good ( and green ) stadium in OMP. But what we want are good football and hurling teams to support.
We have one of the wealthiest men in the world living in laois. Now I'm not sure if he is Gaa orientated but surely he could be approached. We also have a laois multi billionaire who while based abroad has a house not 10 miles from O Moore pk surely these people could be approached and told that any money donated would be ring fenced for juvenile development then get a juvenile director of hurling and 1for football and run the setup independent of Co board. Not without oversight obviously but with budgets that will get the best young fellas in and look after them properly RE gear and food and gyms etc
Quote from: Jd on May 19, 2023, 11:57:12 AM
We have one of the wealthiest men in the world living in laois. Now I'm not sure if he is Gaa orientated but surely he could be approached. We also have a laois multi billionaire who while based abroad has a house not 10 miles from O Moore pk surely these people could be approached and told that any money donated would be ring fenced for juvenile development then get a juvenile director of hurling and 1for football and run the setup independent of Co board. Not without oversight obviously but with budgets that will get the best young fellas in and look after them properly RE gear and food and gyms etc
People like that get hundreds of organisations approaching them for funds on a yearly basis, between charity's, non profits groups, start ups etc...for them to even touch someone like Laois GAA they would want to be either a) hugely invested and interested in the future of Laois hurling and football and b) get sold a vision/plan of what their investment would mean and where it would put the fortunes of Laois GAA teams within the next 10 years. Its been awhile since I lived at home, but is there anyone within the current set up who could come up with a serious 10 year plan on what would be involved, so they the could approach some of the money men just mentioned.
The difference with Lowry in Offaly and JP in Limerick is they already fell into category a, so as soon as the right men came to them with correct vision they were willing to open their wallets!
I agree Of course they do but they are somewhat invested in Laois now. A television of newspaper article of "Mr X signing a ten year deal to sponsor all Laois juvenile development" might appeal to them. Of course a ten year plan has to be in place but it is doable. And to be honest it might not cost them a huge amount as other sponsors would come on board. We refer to Offaly but it's not the amount that Lowry is giving to them but it's his profile and the fact that they have a strong backer in place that's dragging them along
Eddie Brennan
@NedzerB13
·
19 May
What's changed in Offaly??
Looks like the top table drove standards & leadership underage teams in both codes are delivering silverware consistently in a short space of time
Very impressive
Kinda tells you all you need to know when the About page of the County Board section of the Laois GAA website (https://laoisgaa.ie/county-board/about/) is nothing but an empty page. It should be their motto: Laois GAA - just can't be bothered!
Compare and contrast our pitiful efforts at a website and social media with Offaly and their supporters
https://twitter.com/offaly_gaa/status/1659113737083600897?s=46&t=Z3KW3Rw04beopUDsdM2Hwg
https://twitter.com/shanelowrygolf/status/1659144318261526528?s=46&t=Z3KW3Rw04beopUDsdM2Hwg
https://twitter.com/neildelamere/status/1658865088168697857?s=46&t=Z3KW3Rw04beopUDsdM2Hwg
Over 750k views of those 3 tweets and that's before you go near any other platform
If the co board are any good at all, there should be action taken now. The first thing they need to do is call on the best people possible in the county to draw up a long term plan. Possibly headed up by the likes of Cheddar (although he will say he gave them a plan a few years ago and they threw it in the bin - because they knew better apparently!) Get the plan in place from top to bottom and part of that plan should be how it is all going to be funded. I've been saying it for years that we need a plan. The fact that our footballers have had poor results is highlighting how bad we are at all grades in both codes. The worst thing that could happen now is the senior footballers have a good run in the talteann Cup ask it would give them the trump card of 'ah sure we're not that bad after all and we'll stay doing the same thing for the next 10 years.
We are not the only ones blaming a County Board for a slip in standards. Here, Bernard Flynn has a go at the Meath County Board......
https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/meath-legend-bernard-flynn-hits-out-at-royal-chiefs-over-decade-of-decline/a2105265459.html
Somehow, I suspect the Meath CB will react an awful.lot quicker than our crew.
It stings people in Meath. It means something. We have gone the other way, with Carlow and Wicklow. We'll settle for a very rare day in the sun. We're sending out under prepared teams across all grades in both codes. Mostly to be taught a lesson at some point. It's madness. And nobody cares. Not the GAA. Not the media. And not the CB. Demoralising and downright shameful. Personally I'd be happy if we didn't bother our arse. We're doing more harm than good at the moment
https://laoisgaa.ie/shane-keegan-appointed-head-of-games-development-at-clg-laois/
The guy seems to be vey highly qualified. If he gets a few years in the post, you'd be hopeful he could get things moving in the right direction.
Quote from: SCFC on June 20, 2023, 09:39:06 AM
https://laoisgaa.ie/shane-keegan-appointed-head-of-games-development-at-clg-laois/
The guy seems to be vey highly qualified. If he gets a few years in the post, you'd be hopeful he could get things moving in the right direction.
Absolutely. A great appointment and it couldn't come at a better time. Keegan is well experienced and will have a strong network of contacts too. Hopefully he will bring others in on the scene too and create something good. But the County Board will need to back him with proper funding. Knowing Keegans nature he'll make a strong investment case in games development that the county board won't be able to back away from. Delighted for him, hope it goes well for him.
Quote from: SCFC on June 20, 2023, 09:39:06 AM
https://laoisgaa.ie/shane-keegan-appointed-head-of-games-development-at-clg-laois/
The guy seems to be vey highly qualified. If he gets a few years in the post, you'd be hopeful he could get things moving in the right direction.
This could be a very good appointment, Keegan is driven and very well connected within the coaching world. My only concern is, would he get feed up dealing with the County Board? Ambitious people don't tend do well with Laois County board.
Hope it goes well for him and he can balance the workload. Not an easy task in the context of him managing a League of Ireland Football Club as well.
Quote from: Laoisred on June 21, 2023, 10:04:33 AM
Hope it goes well for him and he can balance the workload. Not an easy task in the context of him managing a League of Ireland Football Club as well.
Surely he's not going to continue to work with Cobh?
Quote from: Chrimtain on June 21, 2023, 12:02:49 PM
Quote from: Laoisred on June 21, 2023, 10:04:33 AM
Hope it goes well for him and he can balance the workload. Not an easy task in the context of him managing a League of Ireland Football Club as well.
Surely he's not going to continue to work with Cobh?
Staying with Cobh until end of season apparently .
Its been a few weeks now since our croke park humiliation. I haven't heard a word of any plans to address the issues with hurling and football in our county.
Maybe there's massive work going on behind the scenes that we will be public knowledge in the near future??
Unlikely. Just fill the vacant positions and kick on again. Depending on who takes over the footballers, it's possible that we'll have a much reduced panel next year. That prospect used to frighten me, but I'd rather see us default and field no team than take the annual beatings we're taking. In reality, there's no crisis management going on. There isn't even a crisis. Just rinse and repeat and hope for better next year. All a bit hopeless really
anywan at convnetion last nite will seen why we are where weRe.
Quote from: georgedoylesrightleg on December 05, 2023, 08:35:25 AManywan at convnetion last nite will seen why we are where weRe.
What happened?
What clubs are discouraging their players from representing Laois? Hurling or football or both?
Quote from: Chrimtain on December 05, 2023, 02:20:49 PMWhat clubs are discouraging their players from representing Laois? Hurling or football or both?
Would you blame them?
Yes, most definitely would blame them. To discourage any young player from playing isn't good. It doesn't help anyone. County teams need everyone. Albeit in Laois the silverware might not be a certain, it still gives the player the opportunity to paly at he top level.
Quote from: clonadsane on December 05, 2023, 06:18:21 PMQuote from: Chrimtain on December 05, 2023, 02:20:49 PMWhat clubs are discouraging their players from representing Laois? Hurling or football or both?
Would you blame them?
Bring back Clonadmad!!
Quote from: Ballygowen on December 06, 2023, 11:08:30 AMYes, most definitely would blame them. To discourage any young player from playing isn't good. It doesn't help anyone. County teams need everyone. Albeit in Laois the silverware might not be a certain, it still gives the player the opportunity to paly at he top level.
I don't condone active discouragement, but I also don't blame players for staying away. The GAA is having a real identity crisis at the moment, and for the likes of Laois and many other counties, there's a meaningless to intercounty participation that is very hard to deny. There is no doubt that players would be better off looking after their personal wellbeing; their jobs, their relationships and their homes. It's no fun representing Laois at the moment, and playing the game should be enjoyable first and foremost.