Longford Hurlers

[Two Hands FFS]

Couldnt get a team to play Fermanagh in the NHL...worse than the Kilkenny footballers...discuss

[neilthemac]

If only you knew the shenanigans that have gone on in Longford with hurling since 2009.
the county board should hang their head in shame.

[AZOffaly]

Couldnt get a team to play Fermanagh in the NHL...worse than the Kilkenny footballers...discuss

Yes, at least as bad. There's not 15 lads in Longford who would like to play hurling? Of course there are. This is a county board issue, just like Kilkenny.

[johnneycool]

Couldnt get a team to play Fermanagh in the NHL...worse than the Kilkenny footballers...discuss

Yes, at least as bad. There's not 15 lads in Longford who would like to play hurling? Of course there are. This is a county board issue, just like Kilkenny.

They should get every single penny in grants taken back off them and put out of every inter-county competition going. Disgrace 






























I obviously haven't a clue why it happened, who's to blame, etc, etc, but that didn't stop other posters jumping all over Kilkenny for getting hammered in an u-21 championship game and hammered every other week in the league

[Milltown Row2]

No doubt the bogball boys will be on to say that Longford are a disgrace to the GAA

[johnneycool]

No doubt the bogball boys will be on to say that Longford are a disgrace to the GAA

yip,
this thread will be up to 16 pages in no time. There's no double standards on this board.

[Billys Boots]

No Larries seem to be taking up the cudgels to-date, but I'd best step in to say I haven't really a clue what's going on here.  There are three hurling clubs in the county - last I heard they were trying to play in the Westmeath League and Championship, but I've no idea of what progress they've made on that or any other score.  Sad day when they can't field a team for a competitive game; though I'm not sure that the comparisons with Kilkenny football are apposite for a small, relatively poor (financially) county. 

[LaurelEye]

I think Clonguish were sent off to England and told to be the county team for the last hammering in Birmingham.

Essentially there are only three clubs (Clonguish, Edgeworthstown, Slashers), in a county which has no tradition of hurling, who seem to spend a large part of their time engaged in internal squabbles (the championship wasn't finished last year because of a row between the two clubs involved in the final and the County Board).

[mannix]

at least put a club team out to fulfill the fixture. that or else leave the funding where it will be used by a county that fields a team. Nice win for Mayo hurlers, 1.20 or so was the score and the footballers scored 20 against the champions.
waterford,tipp,wexford,limerick and other strong hurling counties seem to put out decent football sides while mayo,kildare,kerry,carlow  etc put out hurling sides that try and compete, proving both games can live in the same county.

[Bord na Mona man]

One of the arguments for opening Croke Park was that the magical money from the FAI and the IRFU would have Longford hurling booming!

Yep, in some ways Longford in hurling are as culpable as Kilkenny in football. Clearly not enough is being done to both promote hurling also maximise the potential of the county team.
Their only excuse is that their population is less than 40,000 and its not as if the county football team is really strong.
In Kilkenny their hurlers are cleaning up, so in theory the "GAA" in Kilkenny should be strong.

[Billys Boots]

In Longford, in relation to hurling, there is: (a) no tradition, (b) no expertise, (c) no interest, and (d) no money.  What's the next step?

[AZOffaly]

In Longford, in relation to hurling, there is: (a) no tradition, (b) no expertise, (c) no interest, and (d) no money.  What's the next step?

It's tricky, but that doesn't mean it's insoluble.
a) You don't need tradition to start, you just need to want to build a tradition.
b) Surely there are people from places like Offaly, Galway, Westmeath etc living in Longford that could be persuaded to help out if the county board and clubs really wanted to.
c) There has to be some interest. Maybe not at county board level, which is the problem, but I'm sure there are people who would love to play hurling for Longford.
d) This is the biggest issue, and this is why the county board and clubs have to support it to get momentum going. Support in terms of access to facilities, running off the championships and entering teams does not need a huge initial investment. Some counties have made great strides starting from a small base. Longford might not win an All Ireland in the next 50 years, but there's no reason why they can't be battling the likes of Carlow, Mayo and others at that level.

[Bingo]

Thats fair enough but is it really an attractive goal to be competing with Carlow, Mayo, etc etc in 50 years? The money and man hours needed to get even to that standard may just not be worth for the likes of Longford.

Is the gap in Hurling just too big to bridge? You need a natural feel for it and that is done for an early age. If you miss that, is it impossible to close the gap. Tactically its very hard to impose a system onto a team that makes a difference.

I can't think of any other sport where the underdog doesn't really have a chance. Kerry get the odd shock in football, Man United in soccer, New Zealand in rugby have underachieved but does it ever happen in Hurling or look likely to? The last big Underdog was Antrim. Even Antrim have proved that they can compete at club level but when its comes to county level, they are as far away as ever.

Dublin are the most apparent example of a team who have raised their own game but Dublin have structures, population, resources that other counties will never come close to.

[AZOffaly]

Thats fair enough but is it really an attractive goal to be competing with Carlow, Mayo, etc etc in 50 years? The money and man hours needed to get even to that standard may just not be worth for the likes of Longford.

Is the gap in Hurling just too big to bridge? You need a natural feel for it and that is done for an early age. If you miss that, is it impossible to close the gap. Tactically its very hard to impose a system onto a team that makes a difference.

I can't think of any other sport where the underdog doesn't really have a chance. Kerry get the odd shock in football, Man United in soccer, New Zealand in rugby have underachieved but does it ever happen in Hurling or look likely to? The last big Underdog was Antrim. Even Antrim have proved that they can compete at club level but when its comes to county level, they are as far away as ever.

Dublin are the most apparent example of a team who have raised their own game but Dublin have structures, population, resources that other counties will never come close to.

The name of the game is participation, and from a county board perspective giving the people in Longford who want to play hurling the support and structures that allow them to play it to the best of their abilities. Whether or not that's a high standard in other people's eyes is a moot thing.

Having said all that, there's not too many would have said Offaly would win 4 Senior Hurling All Irelands between 1981 and 1998, if you were to ask them that question in 1961 for example. Offaly is not a much bigger county than Longford.

[Bingo]

Of course AZ and I'd agree Participation is everything at all levels and if we'd threw the towel in everytime an age group or a team got a beating, we'd never get anywhere.

When you have 3 clubs in the county its a massive problem though and one that carries more problems that it does answers. Everything is against them. For instance if one of the clubs had a function or trip away on Saturday night and the players choose that, the whole county team will suffer greatly.

I don't know the answer but from both sides of the coin, i can see issues. I said at the time of the KK footballers that their is no level for them to compete at and improve. It is the same for some hurling counties.