Connacht Centre of Excellence

[Itchy]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

[manfromdelmonte]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

You can play 3 schools games in a day on a 3G pitch
Or colleges games or primary school blitzes.
In any weather
That is why they are useful

Instead of wasting money on Fenway classics and sending Gaelic footballs out to africa we need to invest in facilities for the grassroots.

[Itchy]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

You can play 3 schools games in a day on a 3G pitch
Or colleges games or primary school blitzes.
In any weather
That is why they are useful

Instead of wasting money on Fenway classics and sending Gaelic footballs out to africa we need to invest in facilities for the grassroots.

have you any evidence to back up how many of the above games are being cancelled/not played due to lack of Astro pitches. Not that many I am guessing. They are terrible for injuries in GAA and I think it is bad news having kids playing on them. Invest on properly professionally fiited grass pitches with proper drainage is likely more cost effective and better for injuries.

[rosnarun]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

You can play 3 schools games in a day on a 3G pitch
Or colleges games or primary school blitzes.
In any weather
That is why they are useful

Instead of wasting money on Fenway classics and sending Gaelic footballs out to africa we need to invest in facilities for the grassroots.

Did the fenway classic lose momey  I thought it made a profit?

[JoG2]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

Where would your clubs nursery, U8s and U10s train during the winter months at the moment? Ours train in a floodlit community 3g pitch and we'd be snookered without.
How many games could these well maintained grass pitches you speak of host per day / week from Nov through to March ?
There's not a single club in the country wouldn't take a 3g floodlit setup with both hands to maintain training throughout the year

[Syferus]

Itchy just likes grass because he's a donkey

[mrhardyannual]

Who's going to pay for it?
[/quote
2.1 million from rural regeneration funding. Balance from fundraising which has been ongoing. Say what you like but when most of us thought this was a pie in the sky idea, John Prenty has seen it to fruition. The concept of a fully indoor pitch for that little money is mind boggling. Feck the begrudgers. The best sports administrator in the country by a mile.

[magpie seanie]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

You can play 3 schools games in a day on a 3G pitch
Or colleges games or primary school blitzes.
In any weather
That is why they are useful

Instead of wasting money on Fenway classics and sending Gaelic footballs out to africa we need to invest in facilities for the grassroots.

have you any evidence to back up how many of the above games are being cancelled/not played due to lack of Astro pitches. Not that many I am guessing. They are terrible for injuries in GAA and I think it is bad news having kids playing on them. Invest on properly professionally fiited grass pitches with proper drainage is likely more cost effective and better for injuries.

Is there any proof of what you are saying regarding prevalence of injuries for GAA players on astro turf pitches?

[JoG2]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

You can play 3 schools games in a day on a 3G pitch
Or colleges games or primary school blitzes.
In any weather
That is why they are useful

Instead of wasting money on Fenway classics and sending Gaelic footballs out to africa we need to invest in facilities for the grassroots.

have you any evidence to back up how many of the above games are being cancelled/not played due to lack of Astro pitches. Not that many I am guessing. They are terrible for injuries in GAA and I think it is bad news having kids playing on them. Invest on properly professionally fiited grass pitches with proper drainage is likely more cost effective and better for injuries.

Is there any proof of what you are saying regarding prevalence of injuries for GAA players on astro turf pitches?

Of all the cruciate injuries in recent years in Derry, and we've had our fair share, I can't remember any happening on 3g pitches. I'm sure there has been but none that I'm aware of, certainly no high profile ones.

[Itchy]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

Where would your clubs nursery, U8s and U10s train during the winter months at the moment? Ours train in a floodlit community 3g pitch and we'd be snookered without.
How many games could these well maintained grass pitches you speak of host per day / week from Nov through to March ?
There's not a single club in the country wouldn't take a 3g floodlit setup with both hands to maintain training throughout the year

Well I beg to differ and I am deeply involved in coaching at my club

1- I do not believe in "all year round" nurseries. Kids and coaches need a break. We are predominately a summer sport. My club take this approach and when we come up against the ones go all year around (or at least try to, as most dont even succeed due to other sports with competitive games in winter kicking in) we do very well indeed. I say do less but do it well. You just sicken kids and parents going all year around.
2- An astro pitch, say 80m x 25m with lights and fence will cost around 100k, assuming you have the land to build on and no major ground works to do. Now it depends on the club but if my club had 100k to spend we would buy a neighbouring field and start to develop another grass pitch. If you have 2/3 grass pitches and someone looking after them and managing their use they are far superior to 3G.
3- If you really want Astro for winter work with your nurseries well there are tonnes of them out there. There are at least 5 withina 10 minute drive of our club and we are in the country side.
4- If you are thinking small kids in winter surely it is an indoor hall you are looking for now out door astro. Is it not cold and wet that would be the biggest turn off? Again, there are lots and lots of halls already built in the country.

So I think the notion that every GAA club would spend 100k on an Astro is not correct at all, it would be way down the list of things I would do.

[manfromdelmonte]

I never said every club

One or two in each county available to play club games in any weather would be huge.
You could run primary school blitzes all year round.
Colleges and 3rd level games need neutral venues.

An indoor pitch in the middle of nowhere in Mayo isn't much use to most gaa people in connacht for playing games

[JoG2]

Floodlit all weather pitches are needed in the West and midlands

To play club games and school games all year
Most clubs and counties cannot afford to put in those sort of facilities

Why all weather. If they were grass and done properly they wouldnt need to be Astro. Astro is not good for GAA in my opinion.

No cutting
Less maintenance
No mud

Play basketball then.

Where would your clubs nursery, U8s and U10s train during the winter months at the moment? Ours train in a floodlit community 3g pitch and we'd be snookered without.
How many games could these well maintained grass pitches you speak of host per day / week from Nov through to March ?
There's not a single club in the country wouldn't take a 3g floodlit setup with both hands to maintain training throughout the year

Well I beg to differ and I am deeply involved in coaching at my club

1- I do not believe in "all year round" nurseries. Kids and coaches need a break. We are predominately a summer sport. My club take this approach and when we come up against the ones go all year around (or at least try to, as most dont even succeed due to other sports with competitive games in winter kicking in) we do very well indeed. I say do less but do it well. You just sicken kids and parents going all year around.
2- An astro pitch, say 80m x 25m with lights and fence will cost around 100k, assuming you have the land to build on and no major ground works to do. Now it depends on the club but if my club had 100k to spend we would buy a neighbouring field and start to develop another grass pitch. If you have 2/3 grass pitches and someone looking after them and managing their use they are far superior to 3G.
3- If you really want Astro for winter work with your nurseries well there are tonnes of them out there. There are at least 5 withina 10 minute drive of our club and we are in the country side.
4- If you are thinking small kids in winter surely it is an indoor hall you are looking for now out door astro. Is it not cold and wet that would be the biggest turn off? Again, there are lots and lots of halls already built in the country.

So I think the notion that every GAA club would spend 100k on an Astro is not correct at all, it would be way down the list of things I would do.

Who is saying these bits in bold?

To summarise,  youse have tonnes of indoor halls and 3g pitches available, count yourself very lucky, and the midlands and west don't need more 3g pitches, they need better grass pitches?

[thebackbar1]

I never said every club

One or two in each county available to play club games in any weather would be huge.
You could run primary school blitzes all year round.
Colleges and 3rd level games need neutral venues.

An indoor pitch in the middle of nowhere in Mayo isn't much use to most gaa people in connacht for playing games

100% agree

[Manning18]

It's a bit perplexing how Galway, or more specifically the Galway hurling interests, agreed to this. More funding for a facility rarely if ever used by the main playing base in the province. Granted the hurling don't have as many ties to CC anymore but this will still be considered Connacht GAA funding by the Rural dept. Galway CB continues to be in disarray

[manfromdelmonte]

It's a bit perplexing how Galway, or more specifically the Galway hurling interests, agreed to this. More funding for a facility rarely if ever used by the main playing base in the province. Granted the hurling don't have as many ties to CC anymore but this will still be considered Connacht GAA funding by the Rural dept. Galway CB continues to be in disarray

Look who gave the funding

Parish pump politics