Hurling Helmets

[rolloutking]

I have a white cooper with a Gerry Cleere which i got about 2 years ago. I also have one of those replica coopers from Tipperary and can say that they are exactly the same. I have went through all the mycro's and various other helmets and i feel that the coopers are the best as they are light and the padding is comfortable. If they are fitted with a good guard then your safe as houses in them unless someone pulls a real dorty stroke, but no helmet would stand up to a full belt of a stick.

Incidently i got 3 green SK100 coopers today. I was working on the Vhi Cul Camps, in a football area. A man comes out on the pitch and says to me, 'I have 3 oul hurly helmets sitting at home. They have no guard on the front of them and there only taking up room in my shed'...Next minute i see the son coming across the pitch with 3 brand new coopers. He said 'are they any good to you'...I was like 'Awk im sure wel get some use outta them.' I then quickly fired them into the boot of the car and have a Gerry Cleere fitted to one of them already. All i need now is the wee studs to clip the strap into.

I have seen a few lads wearing the Cooper SH100's and they look a tidy fit. The only difference that i have found with them is that the strap things that goes around your ear are black as opposed to white on the SK100 model. The Cooper logo is also a wee bit bigger.

Cooper helmets seem to go for a lot on ebay cos they are so rare but i would say that there is a vast amount of them out there just sitting in peoples homes that dont realise how valuable they are, just like the man who gave me those three today.

Another Cooper helmet that i like is the Cooper SKB 100. This is exactly the same as the SK 100 only that its meant to be a skateboarding helmet and has a logo of a skateboarder on the front underneath the Cooper logo.

I also have one of the new Mycro helmets designed by Ronan Curran and dont particularly like them. I found them to be heavy and restrict your neck movement a lot more than the Coopers. The foam on the inside is also very hard and i havnt found any way of adusting the size apart the straps on the side.

[heurebag]

dont need helmets

jus stick a lock of tape round yr head n make sure u eat ur porridge in the mornin

[The Claw]

like this?
http://www.quirke.ie/catalog/photolibrary_info.php?id=41888&first=0

[Canalman]

Received a 6 staple bash  while wearing my old cooper (with Cleere visor) two years ago. Still reckon it is by far the best helmet around. We have torealize that no helmet will give you full protection from a full belt.
Grew up wearing the helmet without the visor and our club and school coaches were always emphasizing safety and protecting yourself, basics I think are now being neglected as a result of the complacency with  the new mycro helmets.

[billy the kid]

I think the GPA should be ashamed of themselves they are undermining everything the GAA stands for.  What they are asking for is Pay for |Play dressed up in fancy clothes.

They are an elitist Organisation who are only concerned with themselves and I firmly believe its a case of a few leading the many.

Don't get me wrong i totally agree with players being treated well and looked after if they get injured but they are always looking for more and more.

Currently every season inter-county players in Derry get:

2 pairs of boots
2 full kits a season,
2 full sets of training gear. (1 wet and 1 normal)
1 rain jacket
1 zip up top
1 jumper
2 polo shirts
1 tracksuit
Home training Equipment
Free access to state of the art gym

All the above are official Derry gear from O neills with emblems and crests and this is only the gear I KNOW FOR CERTAIN they get!

Also they have access to a top class physio, team doctor dietician and heart screening facilities.

they receive meals after ALL games and on the way to away games

they get fed after every training

and they also get VERY GOOD rebates on their mileage expenses.

Again these are jut the things i KNOW FOR CERTAIN!!

for each national league game they receive 4 passes each allowing friends and family to gain admission to the games for FREE and the passes can be used for both hurling and football even if only involved in one code.

They receive at least 2 and sometimes more FREE tickets for ALL championship matches they are involved in

They receive 2 good tickets for the all Ireland final in their code (hurling or football) for FREE

Before the club championship begins they receive a pass allowing them to gain FREE entry to ALL championship matches within the county in EITHER code at ANY level
 
The above list was given to me when I asked a PRESENT COUNTY PLAYER from our club about conditions at inter-county level.

I don't think anyone would begrudge them these things as the gear and medical farcicalities are a MUST and so are the mileage expenses and the meals.

The other stuff are added perks and again I would say Just right they are training very hard and giving a big commitment to Our County.

Looking at the list I would say our county players are fairly well looked after wouldn't you? And this is just the example of our county alot of other counties like Armagh and Tyrone get even more gear and perks which again is fair enough.

But to ask for money and to make out that they are so hard done by and listening to some of their leaders you'd think some were hardly fit to feed themselves and on the way to financial ruin is an absolute myth and border line lie!! Nobodies making them play!!!

What ever happened to being proud to play for your county and pride in the jersey? That used to be enough to make people play for their counties.

Has Pride and honour fallen of the radar of the GPA in their obsession with self-worth and self-gain.
If pride in the jersey and being honoured to represent your County plus the list i have supplied aren't enough to make individuals play for OUR county teams do we really want them to? The type of character who would undermine the very fabric of our great organisation to line his own pockets.   

I was also informed by the County player from my own Club that most county players don't want to strike but are being openly pressurised to do so. Is this Democracy?

Its also evident the GPA are so far removed from the grassroots GAA and the supporters that they haven't noticed that the vast majority are strongly against it, but why would they listen to us mere mortals?

Down Manager Ross Carr has the right idea:

If these prima donnas strike and refuse to play Each County should find a panel of players who will represent their counties for pride honour and the other perks i listed. There would be a stampede to trials and it would totally negate the strike and render their actions futile and meaningless.

We cannot let the elitist few hold the rest of us to ransom while they try to gain financially for doing what most TRUE Gaels consider an Honour and a privilege – PLAY FOR YOUR COUNTY  

[youngfella]

super stuff billy, but whats it got to do with hurling helmets

[orangeman]

Billy has put this piece on every thread imaginable !

[youngfella]

  they should get helmets. give if dont wearing they give them to someone that will!