15 year old Offaly boy not allowed to hurl??

[Zulu]

Zulu. In my experience the kids are NEVER the problem. At worst the child just wants to play with his friends, and that is perfectly understandable, and I think the GAA should have some flexibility there. 99% of the time, the friends will be in the local club anyway. With regard to the other issues, it's Mammy and Daddy that are the problem. Especially when Daddy used to play with X, and wants his child to play with X , even though they live in Y. (A lot of times in this case the child doesn't really want to move. We had that situation here this very year.)

Or the town field is handier because mammy does the messages in there on a Saturday morning, and it's better to use town GAA's "babysitting" facilities rather than have to actually go to the local rural pitch.

I have to say that in all my GAA life, my club in Offaly and my club here in Tipp would be the biggest of the local clubs. (Say the clubs within the school's catchment area). But I wouldn't like to see people coming to our club, and hurting smaller satellite clubs, on the basis that we have a hurling wall or are a handy option for a Saturday morning.

AZ there isn't a rule you could word that would cover all situations and that is why I believe that CB's should have leeway to asses cases on their own merits. It would be fairly easy to spot a suspicious case, i.e. a 12 year old who is likely to be county development player looking to leave a small club for a bigger more successful club. In those cases you would need to have a fairly watertight case but to tell every kid there's no chance of leaving a club is nonsense.

[AZOffaly]

In fairness blanketattack, that's not the case here. And if we follow your thoughts through to their logical conclusion, then you can simply pick whichever club you want to play for, with no restrictions or whatever?

Soccer and Rugby are different. In many cases there wasn't a soccer or rugby club local to you, so you had to travel to a nearby town to play. The culture of always playing with your own just doesn't exist in those sports. I forget what part of Kerry you are from, but if you were from Foilmore say, you'd have to travel to Cahirciveen to play soccer with Skellig United or whatever they are called.  But if you want to play GAA, you play with St. Michaels, and their pitch is right there in Foilmore.

Now, if you want to go down that route, then it's a different kettle of fish entirely, and a different argument really, because I don't think that's what you are suggesting.  I'm not against a common sense solution in this area, but I think using the Birr case as a poster child (no pun intended) is not necessarily the right thing to do. The Kerry case you mention was probably a lot more clear cut in terms of what common sense would tell you to do.

[AZOffaly]

That's not new. Sure that goes on in the GAA as well. Not sure what point you are making there Tony, to be honest.

Jeez sorry AZ for asking a genuine question (not a statement!) that I was curious about that didn't have any "point" to it! Look up "question" in the dictionary.

Didn't mean to come across like that Tony. Apologies. I wasn't sure what the context of the question was on this thread is all. I thought you were comparing grammar school rugby players, and their status as 'assets' with GAA clubs' views of their players.  I was just confused, not trying to be sarky.

[Tony Baloney]

That's not new. Sure that goes on in the GAA as well. Not sure what point you are making there Tony, to be honest.

Jeez sorry AZ for asking a genuine question (not a statement!) that I was curious about that didn't have any "point" to it! Look up "question" in the dictionary.

Didn't mean to come across like that Tony. Apologies. I wasn't sure what the context of the question was on this thread is all. I thought you were comparing grammar school rugby players, and their status as 'assets' with GAA clubs' views of their players.  I was just confused, not trying to be sarky.

I should apologise for over-reacting. I know it wasn't in the context of the thread but it is something I thought of when reading it. 

[AZOffaly]

Zulu. In my experience the kids are NEVER the problem. At worst the child just wants to play with his friends, and that is perfectly understandable, and I think the GAA should have some flexibility there. 99% of the time, the friends will be in the local club anyway. With regard to the other issues, it's Mammy and Daddy that are the problem. Especially when Daddy used to play with X, and wants his child to play with X , even though they live in Y. (A lot of times in this case the child doesn't really want to move. We had that situation here this very year.)

Or the town field is handier because mammy does the messages in there on a Saturday morning, and it's better to use town GAA's "babysitting" facilities rather than have to actually go to the local rural pitch.

I have to say that in all my GAA life, my club in Offaly and my club here in Tipp would be the biggest of the local clubs. (Say the clubs within the school's catchment area). But I wouldn't like to see people coming to our club, and hurting smaller satellite clubs, on the basis that we have a hurling wall or are a handy option for a Saturday morning.

AZ there isn't a rule you could word that would cover all situations and that is why I believe that CB's should have leeway to asses cases on their own merits. It would be fairly easy to spot a suspicious case, i.e. a 12 year old who is likely to be county development player looking to leave a small club for a bigger more successful club. In those cases you would need to have a fairly watertight case but to tell every kid there's no chance of leaving a club is nonsense.

I'm agreeing with you I'm just saying you'd have to even frame the 'common sense' part of it fairly clearly. What is common sense to you, me or 100 other people might not be common sense at all when the blood is getting heated and a good player wants to move clubs to be closer to his pals.

[Tony Baloney]

That's not new. Sure that goes on in the GAA as well. Not sure what point you are making there Tony, to be honest.

Jeez sorry AZ for asking a genuine question (not a statement!) that I was curious about that didn't have any "point" to it! Look up "question" in the dictionary.

Didn't mean to come across like that Tony. Apologies. I wasn't sure what the context of the question was on this thread is all. I thought you were comparing grammar school rugby players, and their status as 'assets' with GAA clubs' views of their players.  I was just confused, not trying to be sarky.

Meanwhile, over on General Discussion... 

Bit sad the way this thread has gone but typical of the GAABoard this last while.

RIP to the man.

Has always been this way since I joined (not linked  ) and not exclusive to the gaaboard. Some boys could start a fight in a phonebox.

[AZOffaly]

Jaysus. This wasn't a fight

[Tony Baloney]

Jaysus. This wasn't a fight

Right answer my question then. I didn't know this before about rugby schools - asset protection? Simple yes or no and I'll move on 

[AZOffaly]

I'll say that, similar to the GAA when county players are often unofficially told to skip club sessions, it's more about protecting the players when the school can't see or trust what's going on in the clubs. So yes, if you call the players an asset, I suspect it's about trying to reduce the risk of them getting hurt playing with their clubs.

[Tony Baloney]

I'll say that, similar to the GAA when county players are often unofficially told to skip club sessions, it's more about protecting the players when the school can't see or trust what's going on in the clubs. So yes, if you call the players an asset, I suspect it's about trying to reduce the risk of them getting hurt playing with their clubs.

Cheers. Bit of a cheek from the schools.

Now, that 15 year old playing for Birr...

[Zulu]

Zulu. In my experience the kids are NEVER the problem. At worst the child just wants to play with his friends, and that is perfectly understandable, and I think the GAA should have some flexibility there. 99% of the time, the friends will be in the local club anyway. With regard to the other issues, it's Mammy and Daddy that are the problem. Especially when Daddy used to play with X, and wants his child to play with X , even though they live in Y. (A lot of times in this case the child doesn't really want to move. We had that situation here this very year.)

Or the town field is handier because mammy does the messages in there on a Saturday morning, and it's better to use town GAA's "babysitting" facilities rather than have to actually go to the local rural pitch.

I have to say that in all my GAA life, my club in Offaly and my club here in Tipp would be the biggest of the local clubs. (Say the clubs within the school's catchment area). But I wouldn't like to see people coming to our club, and hurting smaller satellite clubs, on the basis that we have a hurling wall or are a handy option for a Saturday morning.

AZ there isn't a rule you could word that would cover all situations and that is why I believe that CB's should have leeway to asses cases on their own merits. It would be fairly easy to spot a suspicious case, i.e. a 12 year old who is likely to be county development player looking to leave a small club for a bigger more successful club. In those cases you would need to have a fairly watertight case but to tell every kid there's no chance of leaving a club is nonsense.

I'm agreeing with you I'm just saying you'd have to even frame the 'common sense' part of it fairly clearly. What is common sense to you, me or 100 other people might not be common sense at all when the blood is getting heated and a good player wants to move clubs to be closer to his pals.

I know AZ and I'm not using the Birr situation as the classic example, the Kerry case was actually more in my mind. However, I think you can look at a few things to decide if there is merit to the case, the following for example;

1. Where did/does the child go to school
2. The child's parents association with a club
3. Where is the child's home
4. The age of the child and the duration he/she is playing with their current club
5. The status of the club they are proposing to leave and the status of the club they are proposing to join

If you are in the parish of one club but live closer to another club and go to school with kids who normally play with that club then I think an 8 year old would have a good case. Anyone who simply hides behind the rule book is IMO has the wrong priorities. Kids should come before clubs.

Now if he is a 15 year old who thinks moving to another club would increases his chances of playing with the county minors in a few years then we have a totally different story and would probably object to his transfer.

[Jinxy]

That's not new. Sure that goes on in the GAA as well. Not sure what point you are making there Tony, to be honest.

Young lads are told not to play football for their clubs by the school?
Where does that happen?

[armaghniac]

If you are in the parish of one club but live closer to another club and go to school with kids who normally play with that club then I think an 8 year old would have a good case. Anyone who simply hides behind the rule book is IMO has the wrong priorities. Kids should come before clubs.

Do you mean that club boundaries should be aligned with schools, or that "kids" should be allowed play with one club until secondary school when they have to go to the proper club?

[Zulu]

No, I was making a hypothetical case. Why do you out the word kids in quotations? When I said school I was referring to primary school but my point is simple. We shouldn't have a black and white rule for kids sport, have whatever rules you want but allow the CB to look at applications for a transfer and decide whether this case has merit. Small clubs have to be protected and we don't want super clubs based around towns while clubs on the outskirts of the town can't field but we have to also consider what is best for individual kids.

[AZOffaly]

That's not new. Sure that goes on in the GAA as well. Not sure what point you are making there Tony, to be honest.

Young lads are told not to play football for their clubs by the school?
Where does that happen?

Wasn't clear enough. I meant you have teams in the GAA, normally county teams, where players are encouraged to miss or take it handy for club activities.