Laois County Football Leagues all chat in here

Started by Unlaoised, February 18, 2016, 11:59:09 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Downtheroad

Quote from: redsetanta on July 13, 2016, 03:21:35 PM
What would be the list of teams and amalgamations DTR?
A very good question and one that cannot be answered easily.The reason why I favour group teams is that it allows players from all clubs an opportunity to play at the highest level in the county. Logically, the 10 clubs that perform best in the Senior championship prior to the change over would make sense. That would mean the 8 quarter finalists under the current system and a playoff between the 4 losing 3rd round teams would get the other 2. The group teams will require criteria to be laid down but it would be desirable that every player from intermediate and junior clubs gets an opportunity to play senior. I imagine criteria can be based on geography or it might also be left to junior/inter clubs to get together to form senior teams of consequence.

However your question does raise the possibility that due to the culture that prevails in the county it is very possible that there isn't an appetite for 6 divisional/group teams and maybe the original plan of the Co Board to reduce the championship from 16 to 12 is a more  realistic option. If this is to done, it should happen in one year and to hell with the consequences for individual clubs.

Unless leadership is given at Co Board level, I don't see any mood for change at grassroots level.

High Fielder

It's not enough. Clubs are giving places to really poor players and that has to stop. These players need to be filtered down the grades so that good players can play a good standard of football. There's a bigger picture here. These dinosaurs go to County Board meetings and give out stink about Lillis, O'Flaharta McNulty or whoever, and in the background they are pedalling this farce of a set up. Good players deserve better than this. League football is a shambles and allows lads to do nothing for months on end and give their all for a month or two. We don't even throw in an early round of the Championship. We are literally aiding and abetting mediocrity. Somebody needs to get a grip here

BallyroanAbu

Take it your a "good footballer".  Clubs are about far more than the team, while playing is important and for me the most important.  There are many other factors why clubs are not interested in amalgamation go have a look around and see how many of a community's focal points are ran from a GAA club.  People rightfully are worried about the impact an amalgamation has on their community apart from team performance.  To be honest the divisional thing would work better if we were interested in it.

maccer

Clubs would still exist and be a focal point in a divisional set up. Are you suggesting clubs in Kerry have faded away with the arrival of divisional sides. Replace the league with a club championship. Have a meaningful prize for the winners eg represent laois in Leinster if a divisional side wins the main championship.

Think of county underage teams with players from intermediate/junior clubs. They get good coaching while with the county underage teams and probably while in 3rd level education. Eventually they will solely survive in their club environment. Level of coaching will probably drop in standard, exposure and competitive level will definitely drop so their chances of continuing to play for the county are poor. In a divisional set up that would change.

redsetanta

It's up to club delegates to bring it to the county board so it can be debated robustly. The main aim has to be the betterment of the county team which will mean more revenue which will ultimately benefit all clubs.
The senior team is the flagship so their success will filter down meaning more kids wanting to get involved whether by playing the game or attending matches.
The divisional team should happen, keeping the integrity of the local club and providing a higher standard of club football for players and supporters alike.
Any club members on this site should be pushing for change at club level. If that doesn't happen we may forget about it.
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

High Fielder

Quote from: BallyroanAbu on July 14, 2016, 10:54:28 AM
Take it your a "good footballer".  Clubs are about far more than the team, while playing is important and for me the most important.  There are many other factors why clubs are not interested in amalgamation go have a look around and see how many of a community's focal points are ran from a GAA club.  People rightfully are worried about the impact an amalgamation has on their community apart from team performance.  To be honest the divisional thing would work better if we were interested in it.

You more than anyone have been bleating pissing and moaning about how bad Laois are and how badly they are doing. Nobody wants to see clubs fold but the better footballers have to be put together on the same field somehow, so that they have something to play for, and be part of something worthwhile. County footballers in Laois go back to their clubs and prop up lads who are half fit and don't take it seriously for the best part of the year. How do you honestly expect to improve standards going on like that? I mean I'm all for a good moan every now and then, but let's fix it rather than sit and hope for the best.

Dave like the tv channel

I said drop 8 teams, but if 6 were dropped with a North Laois and a South Laois divisional side to make up 12. The teams would play in 2 x 6 or 3 x 4 (twice?) over the summer.

It's time for a change. The CB have to lead this.

Timmy

High Fielder I think that's a bit disrespectful to a lot of genuine dedicated club players around the county.

If we think a divisional format is going to solve the problems of the competitiveness of our county team I think you are wrong. We are a small county, any player who has the ability or potentially has the ability to play for Laois is being (or should be) picked up by our development squads. That is where the success of our county teams will be determined, not the club scene. Look at our relative success recently. The 2003 leinster winning team was backboned by the 96-98 minors. Without looking i'd be surprised if there was many on that panel that hadn't played underage for Laois. Likewise the minor teams from around 2003 backboned our senior team contesting a couple of quarter finals. The problem is we took our eye off the ball in player developement.

High Fielder

I'm calling it like it is. League football in this county is terrible and we play it for months. We then shoehorn our championship into 2 months max. What's that all about? It's not working as a system and with respect Timmy I don't care if you are right or I am. The debate needs to happen and we have to do something different to maximise whatever potential we have. What we're doing now is failing us and even supposed Laois people are happy to slag off what are still the best players in the county. It's more fashionable at the moment to sit at home and be an armchair critic rather than going and supporting these lads. A few lads on Twitter in particular seem to have it all sussed and don't seem to realise that some of their own club men are involved with Laois

BallyroanAbu

I moan about the county team because we as county have made dreadful decisions over the last couple of years.  I don't think their is anything wrong with the talent coming through but the problem lies in the way it's developed and used.  I don't think we are going to win all Irelands but I do think somewhere between division 1 & 2 is where we should be.  With regard to your proposed joining up perspective you are talking between 10-20 years to see the fruits of this so it's a long term decision.  It will happen over time due to where population lives but it has to be a choice not something pushed on them by the county board.  Players have some sort of lofty belief where they lie in a clubs planning to be honest   I think if the GAA was all about the games it would have finished up years ago.  It's a community organisation which happens to be sporting.  In Ballyroan they help out with funerals, schools, summer camps & a million other things pretty much like every other GAA club so if amalgamations mean an end to this I can't see many going for it. 

Keyser Söze

Ballyroan Abu what is your take on your club changing its name several years back?
Has that "arrangement" been of benefit?
Was there any resistance to doing so?

I agree that there are very players in Laois of intercounty standard that Cheddar or Lillis don't know about.

Divisional teams would bring as many problems as solutions. When do they train? Do the players train with their home clubs too? If yes are they over trained? If not are they neglecting their duties with one and the other.
I'd imagine trying to get nights when none of the home clubs are training or playing would be more difficult than you might imagine.
I'd be inclined to agree with the idea that Laois isn't really big enough to support this.

The upsurge in the amount of "Area" teams for championship in 2016 might be worth exploring for a few years.

I've said it before, if the clubs in this county who are currently in a long standing underage relationship joined up properly at adult level, that would be a very good start to making our teams more competitive.

I also agree with alot of what Ballyroan says; supplanting players from random clubs together and ignoring average players in your own club who may well progress with time is totally against what I would consider to be the ethos of the GAA.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

High Fielder

Kerry have done it for a while now. Seems to be working ok. If you're an average player with designs on bigger things, you can always step up.

We have to change how we do things in Laois. It's not working as it is. Too much bad football being played, too many games one sided or conceded and not enough quality players coming through. That's not a good formula for county success and the two are intertwined because we get our players from clubs.

BallyroanAbu

BallyroanAbbey is a good thing for both Abbeyleix & Ballyroan, we have a serious juvenile structure to the point where we are now the strongest in the county.  The pipeline is coming along it's a lot slower than people imagine.  We have always had a relationship with Abbeyleix so that makes things easier.  So we are 10 years joined up and this years minor is the first team that has played together all the way.  BallyroanAbbey the name bothers some people others don't care.  I suppose our biggest issue is with Ballypickas in hurling who we historically hurled with at junior but they are been hit hard as our juveniles are now turning out for Abbeyleix.  If we can figure this out I think we can bring more people on board.  Overall a good thing I would say both clubs have upped their game and hopefully this continues.

Don Draper

I admire Ballypickas greatly, but its time to do the sensible thing. When they won the U21 with Abbeyleix a few years ago, it should have been done then. Its inevitable. Its the right thing, hard and all as that is to say.

Dave like the tv channel

It is time. There are so many old clubs that no longer exist. Do people mourn the loss of Jamestown, Rapla, Boley? It's time to consolidate our clubs, for the good of the overall health of the GAA in Laois.