The future of laois hurling

[Ogie]

Juvenile is from U17 down

[clonadmad]

Juvenile is from U17 down

For the purposes of player registration

Minor is on its own

Juvenile membership figures includes u15 down

[Laois Rising]

Strategic Priority:

Urbanisation - Portlaoise
A second club (specifically for juvenile
players only) should be established in
Portlaoise at the Knockmay/Mountmellick
Road side of the town. This club would be
feeder unit (in time) to the adult clubs in
Portlaoise and environs.

To be established
in 2018 with
a view to
participating
in 2019
competitions


Three years down the line and we have made no inroads whatsoever to revitalise GAA in our urban areas. I honestly don't care about this talk of needing to be careful of creating a super monster like Dublin intercounty team if we invest in Portlaoise. The more kids getting to play GAA the better-ultimately it is about participation.

If Portlaoise do begin to clean up at underage level, then we can face that problem when the time arises. Something tells me with the glacial rate of progress currently it is not a problem we are going to have to face for at least the next decade.

[clonadmad]

Short term no need to worry about Portlaoise being a super club in hurling. They are in quite a bad place currently. There have been occasional green (and white!) shoots but there is 10 years work required to get them even back to where they were in the 90s.

If it does happen that Portlaoise become a dominant club then there are options. The town is more than big enough to support two clubs as is the case in many other county towns. However we are a million miles away from that. Not investing in Portlaoise because of an unfounded fear of the Dublin effect is madness.

Where did anyone say not to invest in portlaoise because of a Dublin type effect?

There's 5 clubs in the Portlaoise area

Build them all up

[Ogie]

How would they be registered on their own?
Their juvenile players especially since the drop to U17s ?

Is there a database on Gaa for registered members or where do you get above table / figures ?

[merman]

I sometimes think we look at Laois' current struggles without considering the many different issues that all need to be addressed....and before anyone mentions it, yes, I'm as guilty of this as anyone.

It's like a massive 3-D shape and many of us are coming at it from different angles; we focus and become consumed by what we can see right in front of us.

At the moment, the County Board is everyone's favourite punching bag...and with some justification. I would consider the current board generally competent but fresh ideas, voices and energy would be welcome. Yes, its somewhat frustrating to see the same names and faces but these people are nominated and elected by the clubs.

I maintain, however, that a singular focus on the county board is too simplistic. Some call it apathy but I don't agree; I think a lot of the best work being done around the county is within the clubs and that's, in my opinion at least, more important than anything the county board are or aren't doing.
Club coach education has started to come on; from an admittedly poor base. There are still issues within club structures and I'm inclined to agree with Keyser that more amalgamations will need to be considered.
More and more clubs are developing Nursery programmes and will hopefully see numbers increase in years to come.
If these players can be retained and receive a generally improved standard of coaching, we might then see some improvements at Development Panel level.

Primary schools also need to be part of the solution. Participation in Gaelic Games should be encouraged across the whole school year and the Club-School Link needs to be solidified and enhanced. All schools should be receiving support weekly with an emphasis on the classes below Cumann na mBunscol level. The fundamental responsibility here lies with the clubs but the county board may need to find ways to provide coaching too.

At Development Panel level, I agree with positive comments made about Jason Coffey. I think giving him a bit of time will see our overall standards develop and we might start to close that with the many counties ahead of us.
Development Panels are only as good as the players involved and the current call for coaches/mentors is welcome but I still think we have a long road ahead before we see any tangible improvements.

Ultimately, that's very simple but its about incremental improvements. Limerick's success hasn't been driven by changing adult structures; it is borne out of massive increases in participation levels, especially in the city.
They have more players coming through having received better coaching. It almost sounds too simple but that's what I feel it boils down to.
This can and should be driven by the county board but individual clubs also need to take responsibility with looking after themselves first and foremost. Looking for cheap and easy solutions has gotten us where we are. Clubs need to get into schools, get kids out to the clubs and get them the best coaching available. That's what the likes of The Harps and Rosenallis are doing and their success at underage level is becoming evident.

And that's where the Portlaoise question needs to be looked at. I don't think he was labelled as such but before his career-break, Peter Halley had assumed the role of Portlaoise GDA including the surrounding clubs. He was working alongside Pat Critchely and he will hopefully get back to that role if/when he returns. One of the reports from convention certainly seemed to suggest he would be returning at some point.
We need more players coming from our largest urban centres. The hurling areas are contracting and rural communities are seeing populations decline. We need to expand our playing base and Portlaoise is crucial.
I know talks took place about the school in Knockmay becoming a feeder school to Clonad and that would be a help but unless they actually commit to developing a pitch on-site and training there, I don't see it being enough.

I'd say there's the possibility of doubling participation levels in Portlaoise going by ClonadMad's numbrs. There are 4 big primary schools that between them must have in excess of 1000 boys between the ages of 4 and 12.
Double those numbers, spread them around the clubs if possible and then let other clubs work to maximise their potential. There's no reason we shouldn't be having 200-300 boys looking to progress onto a Laois U14 panel in a few years. That's when we can start to see progress.

[clonadmad]

Id agree with everything that Merman has posted and i hope that Peter comes back to the Gda role for Portlaoise Parish and all the other 4 Gda roles are filled asap.

In relation to Boys in School in Portlaoise Parish across the 8 schools (I'm counting holy family senior and junior schools as separate entities)

They are currently 1784 boys in Primary Education.

In Relation to u14 Hurlers

We currently have 18 teams playing u13 hurling in the 2019 championship,assuming an average of 18 players per squad

We are looking at 320 odd hurlers wouldn't it be great for the county if we could get that up by another 100 at that age grade over a 3 to 5 year time frame

[Pugwash]

Can someone tell me why clubs in Laois are prepared to shell out €10,000 - €15,000 a year for a manager but wouldn't have the foresight to instead pump funds into hiring a Development Officer (even on a part time basis) or even compensate a few coaches within their club to go into the local school/schools in their catchment area?

Setting aside €2000/€3000 (hypothetical figures) per year to pay for every underage coach within the club to partake in coaching courses, have a coach education weekend where a big name coach comes down and all your coaches attend and hopefully pick up new techniques, drills etc.

Soccer clubs even at local level seem to be light years ahead of GAA clubs, despite having far less money and it's baffling.

[Ogie]

This is something I've been looking into, the possibility of hiring a GDA between 3 or 4 hurling clubs in the area,
Blarney & Bishopstown have done it in Cork, albeit much bigger clubs & population I think it would be very feasible & workable for clubs to do it, there would be support there from the Gaa also.

Our GDAs are over stretched at present, is there only two at present ? Connor & Jason? Their only planting seeds & dependent then on club coaches to carry it on, this usually falls to one or two forward thinking coaches in clubs try carry it on & drag daddy's along with them.

The open call for mentors is great, but we don't need Dads going in to look after their own, I know that's not what Henchy wants.
As merman references the 3D example & has often been mentioned here, That's what Cheddars plan encapsulated, the entire plan, players, coaches, financial, schools, media, education everything!
I live in hope it will see daylight.

[clonadmad]

The GAA will fund a GDA to the tune of €18k PA..

It's being done elsewhere where 2 clubs in separate divisional areas  within a county hire in a GDA.

Nevermind Dublin clubs

Nothing to stop 2 clubs here both selling 100 odd county board tickets each and doing similar.

[clonadmad]

Can someone tell me why clubs in Laois are prepared to shell out €10,000 - €15,000 a year for a manager but wouldn't have the foresight to instead pump funds into hiring a Development Officer (even on a part time basis) or even compensate a few coaches within their club to go into the local school/schools in their catchment area?

Setting aside €2000/€3000 (hypothetical figures) per year to pay for every underage coach within the club to partake in coaching courses, have a coach education weekend where a big name coach comes down and all your coaches attend and hopefully pick up new techniques, drills etc.

Soccer clubs even at local level seem to be light years ahead of GAA clubs, despite having far less money and it's baffling.

There's a school club coaching grant available

[finbar o tool]

Just a comment on High Fielders view of, why bother doing anything to help until the County board or whoever get some plans in place... I'm simply talking about more people getting out there, getting involved, getting their own coach education, there's plenty of courses, the ones in Laois usually have to be pulled due to lack of numbers ffs!
If more people do this, we will end up with better coaches, better coaches means better players, and in turn we will have more/better players AND coaches available at development squad level. There's literally nothing stopping you from doing this, try and create a culture within your own club, get involved at the top table in your club and implement structures in the club.
I really don't understand this idea of throwing our hands up and wait for a gaa Bible to appear with all the answers.
Yes 100% the County board need to get better and progressive, but there's lots we can do to improve things while we wait for something or someone to pull it all together.
Something like Ogie mentioned there, clubs sharing the GDA and sharing the cost, great idea, and it's not coming from the county board, it's club driven!
I also think a second club needs to be set up in portlaoise, as was recommended in that waste of time strategic plan. Otherwise its inevitable portlaoise will be become a superpower eventually.
But all of the above have one thing in common, passionate people getting off their holes and getting involved!!

[High Fielder]

And we don't do that already? What an absolute joke. Asking lay volunteers to up the ante and attend a few courses and all of a sudden you're an expert. No kid deserves to be coached by some wannabe who fancies themselves as the next Jim McGuinness or Davy Fitz. Half of these courses time are taken up telling you how not to be a paedo. No thanks. All of that is great when it's backed up by proper coaching structures monitoring each kid and local mentor. Unfortunately, there's far too many of our kids being "coached" by classroom experts.

So many good ex players studied on that course in Carlow under Mick Dempsey. They are the ones who need to be targeted. And yes, it would cost money, and yes, we would have to fundraise. But it sure as hell beats the crap out of know nothings taking a few classes and suddenly knowing it all. Let's be a little bit professional in our approach, please.

[finbar o tool]

And we don't do that already? What an absolute joke. Asking lay volunteers to up the ante and attend a few courses and all of a sudden you're an expert. No kid deserves to be coached by some wannabe who fancies themselves as the next Jim McGuinness or Davy Fitz. Half of these courses time are taken up telling you how not to be a paedo. No thanks. All of that is great when it's backed up by proper coaching structures monitoring each kid and local mentor. Unfortunately, there's far too many of our kids being "coached" by classroom experts.

So many good ex players studied on that course in Carlow under Mick Dempsey. They are the ones who need to be targeted. And yes, it would cost money, and yes, we would have to fundraise. But it sure as hell beats the crap out of know nothings taking a few classes and suddenly knowing it all. Let's be a little bit professional in our approach, please.

Bullshit response high fielder, that "how not to be a paedo" course is the code of ethics course, which is mandatory, you obviously haven't done too many coaching courses yourself!
Where do you think Jim McGuinness and Davy started?! Or are they just born with coaching ability!? How do you think anybody becomes an expert in their chosen field? Just comes to them in a dream!?
And no, clearly we don't do that already! Cause we have f**k all coaches and our standard of hurling generally is poor!!
Also, incase you forgot, this is an amateur, volunteer organisation!!

[High Fielder]

Go sell your amateur horse shit to any county doing anything of note. Maybe we shout say a few novenas while we're at it. Give me a break. You're right about one thing. Not a chance in hell I'll be doing any of those courses. I'm happy enough with my contribution to my club and Laois. I'll leave the coaching to the coaches.

We should do the decent thing and round up those lads who studied under Dempsey. Raise an extra few quid a year and give a few lads some paid work.

My tone was a bit harsh on reflection there Finbarr. Apologies. I just fell the GAA world has moved on. Volunteering on its own isn't enough any more. Just my opinion. Apologies again for the tone. I can see your intentions are honourable