Watched it for the first time just now - what a poor effort. Typically cheesy RTE! Why don't the producers watch some decent american sports programming and take similar themse.
Absolute shite!
Absolute shite!
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#2
GAA Discussion / Ulster Club League 2011
November 23, 2010, 11:18:50 PM
Anyone know when it starts next year?
#3
General discussion / The Merchant, Belfast
April 13, 2010, 07:13:41 PM
Any one you folks ever stayed there?
Would like to know the craic
Would like to know the craic
#4
GAA Discussion / Westmeath v Down (Mullingar) – Referee: Gearoid Ó Conamha
March 23, 2010, 11:30:58 PM
Let's get away from the banal Down v Armagh arguments and look forward.
Surely Down can pick up a point in Mullingar to get promotion?
Will 1 point be enough?
Westmeath showed signs of life last weekend and will not be a pushover?
Will James make changes + give some fringe players a run?
Surely Down can pick up a point in Mullingar to get promotion?
Will 1 point be enough?
Westmeath showed signs of life last weekend and will not be a pushover?
Will James make changes + give some fringe players a run?
#5
GAA Discussion / club transfers
February 25, 2009, 11:10:54 PM
Lads am hoping someone can advise me on inter club transfers
What's the ruling on transferring an u16 from one club to a neighbouring club?
Does the lad have to automatically stay out of football for 12 months?
If club he is leaving consents is it automatically granted if his address is near enough to new club?
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated
What's the ruling on transferring an u16 from one club to a neighbouring club?
Does the lad have to automatically stay out of football for 12 months?
If club he is leaving consents is it automatically granted if his address is near enough to new club?
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated
#6
GAA Discussion / paid managers; do they work?
January 13, 2009, 07:29:01 PM
how many clubs have had a paid manager, or currently have? has it worked, is it working?? I would be really interested to hear of those that have vowed never to go back to the paid manager! I think it depends on a number of things, ie ambition and resources of a club, quality of personnel already in the club (ie peter canavan / joe kernan as example) but it does kill me to hear about smaller clubs that pay a fortune to guys and expecting miracles!
No need for paid bosses to remain GAA taboo Against the BreezeBy Paddy Heaney13/01/09
HERE'S a question to get you thinking on this fine Tuesday. Why is it wrong to pay a manager in the GAA?If you're like me, then your gut response will be: 'It just is.' Then, after further consideration, you will note that the GAA is an amateur organisation and that it is supposed to be organised, governed, and played by volunteers.Ever since it came into vogue, the business of paying managers has always been considered a subversive and shady enterprise.
The first chequebook clubs were widely ridiculed and criticised by neighbours that were quick to seize the moral high ground. But then, as one-by-one the majority joined the minority, the cat-calling became more and more muted.Nowadays, there's a deafening silence. The attitude towards paying managers is similar to the views on infidelity. People know it's not right, but they accept it as the norm. In this respect, yours truly is no different to the broad church of GAA supporters, and this column has frequently taken cheap pot-shots at recipients of the brown envelopes.However, those days are over. Because after examining the whole issue of professional managers, I can no longer understand why it really is such a problem, or indeed, why it even contravenes the GAA's rules.
My 'Road To Damascus' conversion on this issue started when I travelled to Croke Park at the end of last year for the launch of the GAA's strategic plan.Following an intensive consultation exercise, the six-year plan was compiled by Hutton/Kelly Consultants, a professional company, who were legitimately reimbursed for their efforts.Paraic Duffy, the GAA's highly-respected director-general, has taken ownership of the project and stated that he is willing to be judged on the results. Duffy is another salaried professional.And, while speaking at the official launch, Duffy willingly acknowledged that the success and failure of the strategic plan hinges largely on the GAA's network of full-time administrators who will try and roll it out to the county boards.These full-time county secretaries and provincial council employees will be responsible for motivating, encouraging and showing the volunteer members of county boards how to meet the targets set out in the strategic plan.Therefore the basic scenario we are faced with is this: it's okay to employ full-time administrators to raise the standards of volunteer administrators. However, it's not okay to employ full-time managers to raise the standards of volunteer footballers.Can someone explain what is the major difference?
The amateur ethos argument doesn't wash. If the GAA was strictly amateur, no one would get paid a shilling.Furthermore, consider the reasons which are used to justify employing full-time administrators: it's too heavy a workload for a volunteer; no-one is willing do it for nothing; and the GAA benefits from the expertise of a professional.The same arguments also apply to football and hurling managers. In some clubs and counties, it's simply impossible to find an individual who will dedicate 20 to 40 hours a week free of charge.In other cases, clubs and counties realise that their players and teams will benefit from the input of a qualified and respected coach, who requires payment.In many instances, it has proved to be money well spent.Think of the example where a club has gone through its quota of managers who are members of that club. They are good, well-intentioned men, who nevertheless lack the know-how of a trained coach.Under a proper coach, a fresh voice who costs a few quid, training sessions are properly structured. Players are stimulated by learning new techniques and derive greater enjoyment from playing in a team that has been trained properly.
If a paid manager can keep players involved in the game, if he can improve the standards of play, if he can provide an example of best practice for others at the club to follow, then why is it a considered a breach of the rules to employ someone who can produce such benefits?Of course, for every top-class paid manager, there are half-a-dozen charlatans who are merely in it for the easy cash.Again, the exact same argument can be levelled at the GAA's full-time administrators and coaching officers – a professional body that has its fair share of premium class phoneys and bluffers.Apart from being wholly inconsistent with its own rules, there are other reasons why the GAA should legitimise the payment of managers.For starters, all the attempts to police or monitor the illicit payment of managers have proved utterly futile. And because the behaviour is considered a breach of the rules, it has led to solid GAA members engaging in all manner of dodgy book-keeping and other forms of shifty dealing in order to mask these tax-free hand-outs.
This is an unnecessary imposition on men who would otherwise be fairly law-abiding individuals.The ban on paying managers has also cast an unnecessary cloud over hundreds of fine and upstanding members of the GAA.Yes, we can all think of the shameless mercenaries. But there are also countless examples of quality gaels who are somehow deemed to have compromised their integrity by accepting payment for their sought-after services.Again, this shouldn't be the case, particularly when you can think of individuals who have devoted their lives to coaching children and adults free of charge. Why shouldn't they be allowed to profit from their professional expertise?The GAA has accepted that is requires the employment of full-time administrators and coaches in order to meet the challenges that it faces in promoting the game and dealing with the competition from rival codes.It's high time that the Association recognised the necessity of paid managers, who, like full-time administrators, are merely trying to raise the standards of the volunteers around them.The bucks, however, must stop there
No need for paid bosses to remain GAA taboo Against the BreezeBy Paddy Heaney13/01/09
HERE'S a question to get you thinking on this fine Tuesday. Why is it wrong to pay a manager in the GAA?If you're like me, then your gut response will be: 'It just is.' Then, after further consideration, you will note that the GAA is an amateur organisation and that it is supposed to be organised, governed, and played by volunteers.Ever since it came into vogue, the business of paying managers has always been considered a subversive and shady enterprise.
The first chequebook clubs were widely ridiculed and criticised by neighbours that were quick to seize the moral high ground. But then, as one-by-one the majority joined the minority, the cat-calling became more and more muted.Nowadays, there's a deafening silence. The attitude towards paying managers is similar to the views on infidelity. People know it's not right, but they accept it as the norm. In this respect, yours truly is no different to the broad church of GAA supporters, and this column has frequently taken cheap pot-shots at recipients of the brown envelopes.However, those days are over. Because after examining the whole issue of professional managers, I can no longer understand why it really is such a problem, or indeed, why it even contravenes the GAA's rules.
My 'Road To Damascus' conversion on this issue started when I travelled to Croke Park at the end of last year for the launch of the GAA's strategic plan.Following an intensive consultation exercise, the six-year plan was compiled by Hutton/Kelly Consultants, a professional company, who were legitimately reimbursed for their efforts.Paraic Duffy, the GAA's highly-respected director-general, has taken ownership of the project and stated that he is willing to be judged on the results. Duffy is another salaried professional.And, while speaking at the official launch, Duffy willingly acknowledged that the success and failure of the strategic plan hinges largely on the GAA's network of full-time administrators who will try and roll it out to the county boards.These full-time county secretaries and provincial council employees will be responsible for motivating, encouraging and showing the volunteer members of county boards how to meet the targets set out in the strategic plan.Therefore the basic scenario we are faced with is this: it's okay to employ full-time administrators to raise the standards of volunteer administrators. However, it's not okay to employ full-time managers to raise the standards of volunteer footballers.Can someone explain what is the major difference?
The amateur ethos argument doesn't wash. If the GAA was strictly amateur, no one would get paid a shilling.Furthermore, consider the reasons which are used to justify employing full-time administrators: it's too heavy a workload for a volunteer; no-one is willing do it for nothing; and the GAA benefits from the expertise of a professional.The same arguments also apply to football and hurling managers. In some clubs and counties, it's simply impossible to find an individual who will dedicate 20 to 40 hours a week free of charge.In other cases, clubs and counties realise that their players and teams will benefit from the input of a qualified and respected coach, who requires payment.In many instances, it has proved to be money well spent.Think of the example where a club has gone through its quota of managers who are members of that club. They are good, well-intentioned men, who nevertheless lack the know-how of a trained coach.Under a proper coach, a fresh voice who costs a few quid, training sessions are properly structured. Players are stimulated by learning new techniques and derive greater enjoyment from playing in a team that has been trained properly.
If a paid manager can keep players involved in the game, if he can improve the standards of play, if he can provide an example of best practice for others at the club to follow, then why is it a considered a breach of the rules to employ someone who can produce such benefits?Of course, for every top-class paid manager, there are half-a-dozen charlatans who are merely in it for the easy cash.Again, the exact same argument can be levelled at the GAA's full-time administrators and coaching officers – a professional body that has its fair share of premium class phoneys and bluffers.Apart from being wholly inconsistent with its own rules, there are other reasons why the GAA should legitimise the payment of managers.For starters, all the attempts to police or monitor the illicit payment of managers have proved utterly futile. And because the behaviour is considered a breach of the rules, it has led to solid GAA members engaging in all manner of dodgy book-keeping and other forms of shifty dealing in order to mask these tax-free hand-outs.
This is an unnecessary imposition on men who would otherwise be fairly law-abiding individuals.The ban on paying managers has also cast an unnecessary cloud over hundreds of fine and upstanding members of the GAA.Yes, we can all think of the shameless mercenaries. But there are also countless examples of quality gaels who are somehow deemed to have compromised their integrity by accepting payment for their sought-after services.Again, this shouldn't be the case, particularly when you can think of individuals who have devoted their lives to coaching children and adults free of charge. Why shouldn't they be allowed to profit from their professional expertise?The GAA has accepted that is requires the employment of full-time administrators and coaches in order to meet the challenges that it faces in promoting the game and dealing with the competition from rival codes.It's high time that the Association recognised the necessity of paid managers, who, like full-time administrators, are merely trying to raise the standards of the volunteers around them.The bucks, however, must stop there
#7
GAA Discussion / sport tracker
December 04, 2008, 04:54:11 PM
folks, anyone heading to cookstown this weekend for the sport tracker coaching conf?? am really looking forward to it to hear m harte in particular.
http://www.sporttracker.ie/cms/coaching_seminar/coaching_seminar.php
http://www.sporttracker.ie/cms/coaching_seminar/coaching_seminar.php
#8
GAA Discussion / john mccloskey
September 20, 2007, 12:49:12 PM
Management could interest McCloskey
Gaelic Games
By Paddy Heaney
Armagh trainer John McCloskey has admitted that he is considering a move into management. The highly respected Antrim native is mulling over his options after his six-year association with Armagh came to close following Joe Kernan's resignation.
McCloskey first teamed up with Kernan at Crossmaglen in 1999. The following year, Cross lifted their third All-Ireland club title. McCloskey also worked with Dessie Ryan, the Queen's manager in 2000, and the pair helped the Belfast university lift the Sigerson title in the same season.
McCloskey is most renowned for his work with an Armagh squad that won four Ulster titles, a National League and an All-Ireland crown.
Having earned his reputation as a first class coach, McCloskey admitted that he hasn't ruled out the option of moving into management.
"I suppose it's something that I'd consider now,'' he said. "Over a period of time, you start to feel that with the experience you have garnered, you could offer something. Over the past few years I've been with great people like Dessie Ryan and Joe Kernan.''
While McCloskey toys with the idea of management, it would be no surprise if he is snapped up by a county manager seeking a quality trainer. McCloskey said he would look at all offers.
"I might look somewhere else to challenge myself. But I quite enjoyed working at county level and if a suitable position came up, I would certainly consider it,'' he said.
Since Armagh were knocked out of the All-Ireland Qualifiers by Derry on July 7, McCloskey has received several requests from clubs to take some training sessions and provide advice to their players. He has turned down all offers.
"It's the first summer I've had off in six or seven years I was exhausted when it was all over and I thought I am not going to do anything until I feel that I am fit to do it.
"Obviously, some people phone you up, and different clubs have asked me to come down and talk to them, but I have just said 'no' to all of them.
"I just wanted my own time to sit back and enjoy myself and actually go and watch matches and enjoy my day out,'' he said.
After initially specialising in athletics, McCloskey moved into Gaelic football and then rugby. During a three-year career break from his job as a primary school teacher at St Brid's in Belfast, he took up a post as the strength and conditioning coach with the Ulster rugby squad.
McCloskey has studied the coaching techniques used in other sports such as Aussie Rules and soccer to discover if they can be applied in Gaelic football. Despite his extensive knowledge of sports science, McCloskey insisted that a good trainer will make little difference unless his players are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.
"Some people ask you to come in and work with their team and they think you are going to replicate what you had at Armagh. But that can't be done because you are dealing with a different group of personalities.
"We had a winning mentality within that group. A lot of other groups of players don't have that mentality or at least they are not prepared to work for it.
"A lot of people like the idea of having coaches and trainers and nutritionists and psychologists. A lot of people make a lot of demands on management teams but that is not reciprocated in terms of time and dedication from the players.
"I have no problem if a player has expectations from a management team, but that has to be reciprocated in terms of their effort, and their dedication and their commitment.''
Gaelic Games
By Paddy Heaney
Armagh trainer John McCloskey has admitted that he is considering a move into management. The highly respected Antrim native is mulling over his options after his six-year association with Armagh came to close following Joe Kernan's resignation.
McCloskey first teamed up with Kernan at Crossmaglen in 1999. The following year, Cross lifted their third All-Ireland club title. McCloskey also worked with Dessie Ryan, the Queen's manager in 2000, and the pair helped the Belfast university lift the Sigerson title in the same season.
McCloskey is most renowned for his work with an Armagh squad that won four Ulster titles, a National League and an All-Ireland crown.
Having earned his reputation as a first class coach, McCloskey admitted that he hasn't ruled out the option of moving into management.
"I suppose it's something that I'd consider now,'' he said. "Over a period of time, you start to feel that with the experience you have garnered, you could offer something. Over the past few years I've been with great people like Dessie Ryan and Joe Kernan.''
While McCloskey toys with the idea of management, it would be no surprise if he is snapped up by a county manager seeking a quality trainer. McCloskey said he would look at all offers.
"I might look somewhere else to challenge myself. But I quite enjoyed working at county level and if a suitable position came up, I would certainly consider it,'' he said.
Since Armagh were knocked out of the All-Ireland Qualifiers by Derry on July 7, McCloskey has received several requests from clubs to take some training sessions and provide advice to their players. He has turned down all offers.
"It's the first summer I've had off in six or seven years I was exhausted when it was all over and I thought I am not going to do anything until I feel that I am fit to do it.
"Obviously, some people phone you up, and different clubs have asked me to come down and talk to them, but I have just said 'no' to all of them.
"I just wanted my own time to sit back and enjoy myself and actually go and watch matches and enjoy my day out,'' he said.
After initially specialising in athletics, McCloskey moved into Gaelic football and then rugby. During a three-year career break from his job as a primary school teacher at St Brid's in Belfast, he took up a post as the strength and conditioning coach with the Ulster rugby squad.
McCloskey has studied the coaching techniques used in other sports such as Aussie Rules and soccer to discover if they can be applied in Gaelic football. Despite his extensive knowledge of sports science, McCloskey insisted that a good trainer will make little difference unless his players are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.
"Some people ask you to come in and work with their team and they think you are going to replicate what you had at Armagh. But that can't be done because you are dealing with a different group of personalities.
"We had a winning mentality within that group. A lot of other groups of players don't have that mentality or at least they are not prepared to work for it.
"A lot of people like the idea of having coaches and trainers and nutritionists and psychologists. A lot of people make a lot of demands on management teams but that is not reciprocated in terms of time and dedication from the players.
"I have no problem if a player has expectations from a management team, but that has to be reciprocated in terms of their effort, and their dedication and their commitment.''
#9
GAA Discussion / against the breeze - paddy heaney
September 07, 2007, 10:03:51 AM
Playing is paramount to GAA
AGAINST THE BREEZE
by Paddy Heaney
Last Friday evening when the referee blew the long whistle our senior team walked off the pitch having played its 22nd league game of the season.
The league started on Friday April 13, and with the exception of a fortnight's break in July, we have averaged approximately a game per week. We've also played two championship games.
Many club players reading this will be green with envy. The Down County Board deserves due praise for this excellent programme of fixtures. It's easier to keep players interested when there is a game to look forward to every weekend.
This partly explains why the average age of our team is about 59. Why retire when it's so much fun?
It also helps to explain why we have lost just one player to soccer this season. The individual in question preferred semi-professional soccer – where he would get paid – to an amateur game. Fair enough.
After our league game was over on Friday, I attended a panel-discussion event that was organised by the club in the Wellington Park Hotel. Meath's Graham Geraghty was the star attraction among the guests who were brave enough to face an audience that had more opinions than the men at the top table.
A wide range of topics was discussed, and perhaps chief among them was the state of club football and hurling.
A club footballer from Armagh revealed that he had gone six weeks without a single game. An Antrim club footballer complained that he had played 10 league games since the season started in March – that's one game every fortnight.
Not surprisingly, neither individual was satisfied with this situation. Neither was the Down man who voiced discontent with the state of the county's underage fixtures.
A separate argument concerning the conflict between hurling and football veered into the same arena.
While opinions varied, there was universal agreement that the best way to promote Gaelic Games is to actually play Gaelic Games.
This may seem blindingly obvious, but the complexities of dual-counties, the demands of inter-county managers, and the silly conventions of the GAA, are making it incredibly difficult for county boards to fulfil their primary purpose, which is to PROMOTE the games.
While it's normally the remit of this column to just whinge and moan, for today, and today only, Against The Breeze is going to provide a list of suggestions the GAA must take on board if it is serious about looking after the humble club player.
First and foremost, the GAA must scrap replays. Greed is the only possible reason why they continue to exist – and this is unacceptable when the Association has over E30m in the bank.
Eight senior club games in Laois were postponed last week because the county's minors drew with Derry in the All-Ireland minor semi-final. An equally unpalatable situation arose in Derry when James Kielt played for his club just three days before the minor replay.
Fortunately, Kielt came through unscathed and was selected as the official 'man of the match'
in Saturday's replay. Had the
Derry minor captain been injured, the result of the game could have different.
Kielt wouldn't have been put in the predicament of playing three games in six days, and hundreds of club footballers in Laois could have gone ahead with their championship games, if the first game in Croke Park had been played to a finish.
Year after year we hear presidents and county board delegates bleating on about clubs being the 'lifeblood of the Association' – blah blah blah. Their words will continue to ring hollow for as long as replays are played at inter-county level.
The next suggestion will cause some controversy and unrest, but it's a reality that has already been grasped at inter-county level: the day of the dual-player is dead.
The county board that tries to satisfy the dual player ultimately satisfies no-one.
The time has come for players to choose their code or just play either hurling or football whenever it suits. The notion that both codes can
survive in tandem to everyone's satisfaction is ridiculous.
County hurling boards and football boards must run their fixtures independently of each other. By doing this, club footballers and hurlers should be guaranteed a game every week.
In trying to accommodate dual players, county boards are alienating the overwhelming majority of players who concentrate on one code. This is a risky strategy.
Amateur soccer leagues provide their players with a game every Saturday.
Sure, soccer may not offer much competition in places like Crossmaglen and Cushendall – but there is a soccer club on the doorstep of every GAA club in Belfast, Derry city, Newry and beyond.
Providing footballers or hurlers with an unreliable fixtures list isn't exactly the best way to promote either code in the face of such
competition.
Even with the current inter-county League and Championship format, it's still possible for county boards to provide club players with a high volume of games. Down are evidence of this fact.
The final thing the GAA must do is wake up and acknowledge the REAL threat it is facing, rather than a largely imaginary one.
Consider the column inches and opinion that a few underage players going to Australia have generated. Yet, Kevin Dyas and Martin Clarke are just two players. The AFL is not the problem.
Every week, clubs across the country are losing players to amateur soccer leagues. Collingwood are not a threat. The serious problem is allowing a player to go six weeks without a game, in which time he may turn to soccer, or rugby, or drink, or even women.
Graham Geraghty, the guest at Friday's event, received a trial at Arsenal, based on his raw talent. Anthony Tohill spent a week at Manchester United. Neither player had any real experience of playing soccer. If they had spent some time playing in an amateur soccer league, their futures could have been considerably different.
It's time the GAA got wise to the times we live in and started promoted the games in a manner which will allow clubs to cope with the challenges which face them.
AGAINST THE BREEZE
by Paddy Heaney
Last Friday evening when the referee blew the long whistle our senior team walked off the pitch having played its 22nd league game of the season.
The league started on Friday April 13, and with the exception of a fortnight's break in July, we have averaged approximately a game per week. We've also played two championship games.
Many club players reading this will be green with envy. The Down County Board deserves due praise for this excellent programme of fixtures. It's easier to keep players interested when there is a game to look forward to every weekend.
This partly explains why the average age of our team is about 59. Why retire when it's so much fun?
It also helps to explain why we have lost just one player to soccer this season. The individual in question preferred semi-professional soccer – where he would get paid – to an amateur game. Fair enough.
After our league game was over on Friday, I attended a panel-discussion event that was organised by the club in the Wellington Park Hotel. Meath's Graham Geraghty was the star attraction among the guests who were brave enough to face an audience that had more opinions than the men at the top table.
A wide range of topics was discussed, and perhaps chief among them was the state of club football and hurling.
A club footballer from Armagh revealed that he had gone six weeks without a single game. An Antrim club footballer complained that he had played 10 league games since the season started in March – that's one game every fortnight.
Not surprisingly, neither individual was satisfied with this situation. Neither was the Down man who voiced discontent with the state of the county's underage fixtures.
A separate argument concerning the conflict between hurling and football veered into the same arena.
While opinions varied, there was universal agreement that the best way to promote Gaelic Games is to actually play Gaelic Games.
This may seem blindingly obvious, but the complexities of dual-counties, the demands of inter-county managers, and the silly conventions of the GAA, are making it incredibly difficult for county boards to fulfil their primary purpose, which is to PROMOTE the games.
While it's normally the remit of this column to just whinge and moan, for today, and today only, Against The Breeze is going to provide a list of suggestions the GAA must take on board if it is serious about looking after the humble club player.
First and foremost, the GAA must scrap replays. Greed is the only possible reason why they continue to exist – and this is unacceptable when the Association has over E30m in the bank.
Eight senior club games in Laois were postponed last week because the county's minors drew with Derry in the All-Ireland minor semi-final. An equally unpalatable situation arose in Derry when James Kielt played for his club just three days before the minor replay.
Fortunately, Kielt came through unscathed and was selected as the official 'man of the match'
in Saturday's replay. Had the
Derry minor captain been injured, the result of the game could have different.
Kielt wouldn't have been put in the predicament of playing three games in six days, and hundreds of club footballers in Laois could have gone ahead with their championship games, if the first game in Croke Park had been played to a finish.
Year after year we hear presidents and county board delegates bleating on about clubs being the 'lifeblood of the Association' – blah blah blah. Their words will continue to ring hollow for as long as replays are played at inter-county level.
The next suggestion will cause some controversy and unrest, but it's a reality that has already been grasped at inter-county level: the day of the dual-player is dead.
The county board that tries to satisfy the dual player ultimately satisfies no-one.
The time has come for players to choose their code or just play either hurling or football whenever it suits. The notion that both codes can
survive in tandem to everyone's satisfaction is ridiculous.
County hurling boards and football boards must run their fixtures independently of each other. By doing this, club footballers and hurlers should be guaranteed a game every week.
In trying to accommodate dual players, county boards are alienating the overwhelming majority of players who concentrate on one code. This is a risky strategy.
Amateur soccer leagues provide their players with a game every Saturday.
Sure, soccer may not offer much competition in places like Crossmaglen and Cushendall – but there is a soccer club on the doorstep of every GAA club in Belfast, Derry city, Newry and beyond.
Providing footballers or hurlers with an unreliable fixtures list isn't exactly the best way to promote either code in the face of such
competition.
Even with the current inter-county League and Championship format, it's still possible for county boards to provide club players with a high volume of games. Down are evidence of this fact.
The final thing the GAA must do is wake up and acknowledge the REAL threat it is facing, rather than a largely imaginary one.
Consider the column inches and opinion that a few underage players going to Australia have generated. Yet, Kevin Dyas and Martin Clarke are just two players. The AFL is not the problem.
Every week, clubs across the country are losing players to amateur soccer leagues. Collingwood are not a threat. The serious problem is allowing a player to go six weeks without a game, in which time he may turn to soccer, or rugby, or drink, or even women.
Graham Geraghty, the guest at Friday's event, received a trial at Arsenal, based on his raw talent. Anthony Tohill spent a week at Manchester United. Neither player had any real experience of playing soccer. If they had spent some time playing in an amateur soccer league, their futures could have been considerably different.
It's time the GAA got wise to the times we live in and started promoted the games in a manner which will allow clubs to cope with the challenges which face them.
#10
GAA Discussion / Aghyaran - are they any good?
February 16, 2007, 11:26:42 AM
Can anyone tell me what sort of outfit they are? any recent success, what level are they at in Tyrone? any county players etc Playing them in Ulster League
#11
GAA Discussion / Gym Monkeys
November 27, 2006, 05:13:23 PM
I was wondering whether many of you agreed with the article below, and particularly how the message resonates within our own game. I fundamentally believe that we have far too much emphasis on strength/size v skills....
Austin Healey & Gym Monkeys
Austin Healey believes English rugby's downward spiral is partly down to its obsession with physical strength at the expense of basic skills.
Healey says young players are becoming "gym monkeys" who are more worried by bench-press figures than rugby skills.
"The strongest athletes are gymnasts who never go in a gym in their lives," the former England star told BBC Sport.
"It should all be own bodyweight stuff. A lot of our players are too big for their own frames."
Healey believes the gym culture is just one of many problems with the game.
"We need to look at the game differently. Our whole ethos is that rugby's a big-man's sport and that arrogant attitude isn't getting us anywhere," he said.
The Leicester great wants to see an end to the RFU's academy system in order to encourage more free-thinking players.
"We don't need academies - players find their natural level," said Healey.
"You start off at your local club, they realise you're too good for them and recommend you up the chain to someone slightly better, and so on - that's what all of the players of my generation did.
A lot of forwards come to the end of their career, and think 'what am I going to do now?' and so they go into coaching
Former England star Austin Healey
"Keeping young guys with their peers training in the gym turns them into 'gym monkeys'.
"It doesn't allow them to progress and see what they can learn from other people. It really is killing our sport."
Healey, who has demanded the resignation of under-fire England head coach Andy Robinson, thinks the standard of coaching is a major factor in England's demise.
"Robinson is a good tracksuit coach promoted above his abilities and he's the sort of guy who unfortunately is taking up all the coaching roles in this country.," he said.
"A lot of forwards come to the end of their career, and think 'oh my God, what am I going to do now?' and so they go into coaching.
"Those guys know a lot about the game as it is now, but they don't have any idea of what the game's going to be like in the future. They don't have any invention.
"People like Sir Clive Woodward and Brian Ashton - backs basically - are better coaches and more inventive.
"We need to really look at the way we're training - there needs to be a lot more ball-in-hand stuff."
Austin Healey & Gym Monkeys
Austin Healey believes English rugby's downward spiral is partly down to its obsession with physical strength at the expense of basic skills.
Healey says young players are becoming "gym monkeys" who are more worried by bench-press figures than rugby skills.
"The strongest athletes are gymnasts who never go in a gym in their lives," the former England star told BBC Sport.
"It should all be own bodyweight stuff. A lot of our players are too big for their own frames."
Healey believes the gym culture is just one of many problems with the game.
"We need to look at the game differently. Our whole ethos is that rugby's a big-man's sport and that arrogant attitude isn't getting us anywhere," he said.
The Leicester great wants to see an end to the RFU's academy system in order to encourage more free-thinking players.
"We don't need academies - players find their natural level," said Healey.
"You start off at your local club, they realise you're too good for them and recommend you up the chain to someone slightly better, and so on - that's what all of the players of my generation did.
A lot of forwards come to the end of their career, and think 'what am I going to do now?' and so they go into coaching
Former England star Austin Healey
"Keeping young guys with their peers training in the gym turns them into 'gym monkeys'.
"It doesn't allow them to progress and see what they can learn from other people. It really is killing our sport."
Healey, who has demanded the resignation of under-fire England head coach Andy Robinson, thinks the standard of coaching is a major factor in England's demise.
"Robinson is a good tracksuit coach promoted above his abilities and he's the sort of guy who unfortunately is taking up all the coaching roles in this country.," he said.
"A lot of forwards come to the end of their career, and think 'oh my God, what am I going to do now?' and so they go into coaching.
"Those guys know a lot about the game as it is now, but they don't have any idea of what the game's going to be like in the future. They don't have any invention.
"People like Sir Clive Woodward and Brian Ashton - backs basically - are better coaches and more inventive.
"We need to really look at the way we're training - there needs to be a lot more ball-in-hand stuff."
#12
GAA Discussion / history of ulster championship - game by game - HELP
November 20, 2006, 03:03:02 PM
folks, i am looking for a link to a list of every ulster champ county game since 1980, detailing final scores, scorers, and teams. Searched google but cant get close to what i am looking for...
can anyone help? thanx in advance,...
can anyone help? thanx in advance,...
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