Connacht Gaa Centre

[rodney trotter]

Cavan were actually the First county in Ireland to have a 3G pitch, but its hardly a Centre of Excellence when most Counties have 4/5 training pitches.

Cavans 3g pitch is no different than what's in ballyhaunis. Its just a pitch and plenty of games have been on the 3g in breffni so its not just a training pitch.

Of course yeah, they didn't build it for the craic. It had actually causesd a lot on Injuries to players, u21 games two weeks ago, The Assan Gaels centre back landed on the hard surface and injured his shoulder. Advantage that it cane be used all year round but big risk of injuries too.

[magpie seanie]

Great news for Mayo GAA.

[spuds]

Great news for Mayo GAA.

+1

[Hardy]

It . All the connacht counties should of got 2 million each

FFS this is reacing epidemic proportions - now even got as far as Sligo

It's worse than I thought. I did a search of gaaboard for "had of". It returns 15 pages of hits! "Could of" and "should of" give 9 pages and "would of" 17 pages! That's 483 times somebody typed "would of". I wouldn't HAVE dreamed that was possible.

Forget the apostrophe campaign. This is totally out of control. There's only one thing for it. A league table of offenders is coming.

[seafoid]

I taught it would of been better than that Hardy.

[Farrandeelin]

It . All the connacht counties should of got 2 million each

FFS this is reacing epidemic proportions - now even got as far as Sligo

It's worse than I thought. I did a search of gaaboard for "had of". It returns 15 pages of hits! "Could of" and "should of" give 9 pages and "would of" 17 pages! That's 483 times somebody typed "would of". I wouldn't HAVE dreamed that was possible.

Forget the apostrophe campaign. This is totally out of control. There's only one thing for it. A league table of offenders is coming.

Good man Hardy.

[Itchy]

It . All the connacht counties should of got 2 million each

FFS this is reacing epidemic proportions - now even got as far as Sligo

It's worse than I thought. I did a search of gaaboard for "had of". It returns 15 pages of hits! "Could of" and "should of" give 9 pages and "would of" 17 pages! That's 483 times somebody typed "would of". I wouldn't HAVE dreamed that was possible.

Forget the apostrophe campaign. This is totally out of control. There's only one thing for it. A league table of offenders is coming.

What are you on about, most people from Meath can't spell their name.

[Lar Naparka]

This thing won''t be of much use to an awful lot of Galway, Sligo, Laythrum, Roscommon or indeed many parts of Mayo.
If each County had been given 20% of what was spent on this to develop their own then they'd all be happy.

It's on the feckin' Roscommon border. It's of plenty of use to Roscommon inter-county teams and plenty of the clubs in the county, especially after we apparently showed no interest in buying some time at Athlone IT's facilities and Westmeath swooped in and close that door shut.

It was obviously a money sink but we of all counties stand to benefit more than any outside of Mayo from it. Sligo made plenty of use of it too in the run-up to the championship. Bekan is as central a spot as you can get for something that is intended to serve most of Connacht and you were never going to make everyone happy with the location. What's been built is impressive.

Think before you spray your bullets all round the shop next time, desperado.

Spot on Syferus., yer dead right on all counts. The centre is indeed an impressive setup and I wish those behind it every success.
I listened to an RTE interview last week where John Tobin was questioned about the role of the centre in developing football standards wet of the Shannon.Now, as a former Galway player and Rossie manager, not even the most blinkered conspiracist on here, or anywhere else for that matter, could claim John was a dyed-in-the-wool Mayo supporter.(There are at least four other counties in the bloody province and all supported the setting up of this "white elephant." Headquarters parted with almost five million smackers to help make the project a reality.
Here's the link for anyone interested.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/player/809/357508/
I think John presented the case for the establishment of the new complex very well indeed.

Other than to say that Connacht has nothing to compare with the likes of Jordanstown, DCU and Ul, I don't think I can add much to what Tobin, the Connacht coach, has to say.
(I have also heard that Sligo are making great use of the facilities.)

[brianboru00]

I think John presented the case for the establishment of the new complex very well indeed. 

Not really. His main point is that its within 40 miles of 91 GAA clubs.
Whats the point of that? Ill re iterate the point that clubs struggle to get number at training at the best of times, they're not going to get numbers down if the move training 20 miles down the road.

The facility itself, I've no doubt is impressive, but it remains a waste of money that could have been spent on individual counties.

A centre of excellence for Connacht Rugby or Connacht Athletics may have been beneficial but clubs have their own facilities
If your a good player you ll probably make and underage county team and train with them at the county facilities.
Athletics and rugby have far fewer teams and could do with a central location.

Most "Gaels" when asked where they're from will say they're county and if pushed their parish/club. They will not say "I'm a Connacht man" The railway cup is hardly an event that draws the masses.

And of course John Tobin is praising it - Connacht GAA are paying his wages....

[Syferus]

This has nothing to do with allegiances, though, it's about training and player development. All it being a Connacht GAA facility means is that Connacht counties and clubs will be able to avail of preferential treatment and costs. Alot of clubs have very poor facilities and access to something like this can be a godsend for an ambitious panel or manager.

I imagine a huge amount of clubs and county teams will be using it for special training sessions in the years to come, I can't see that it was intended as a full-time base for anyone. A few extra minutes on the road really matters for very little in those situations, it's not like most clubs will be making four weekly pilgrimages to Bekan. It's akin to those overseas training trips without the insane costs associated.

I agree it cost too much, that the money maybe would have been better spent building five separate facilities in each of the counties, but honestly all of that is moot now - it's here and it has plenty of value no matter how many nay-sayers want to say otherwise.

Costly but far from the worst thing the money could have been spent on.

[Lar Naparka]

I think John presented the case for the establishment of the new complex very well indeed. 

Not really. His main point is that its within 40 miles of 91 GAA clubs.
Whats the point of that? Ill re iterate the point that clubs struggle to get number at training at the best of times, they're not going to get numbers down if the move training 20 miles down the road.

The facility itself, I've no doubt is impressive, but it remains a waste of money that could have been spent on individual counties.

A centre of excellence for Connacht Rugby or Connacht Athletics may have been beneficial but clubs have their own facilities
If your a good player you ll probably make and underage county team and train with them at the county facilities.
Athletics and rugby have far fewer teams and could do with a central location.

Most "Gaels" when asked where they're from will say they're county and if pushed their parish/club. They will not say "I'm a Connacht man" The railway cup is hardly an event that draws the masses.

And of course John Tobin is praising it - Connacht GAA are paying his wages....

When I first heard of the plans, I too thought it was crazy to even consider them seriously.
Then I examined the proposal;s, took a good look at the situation on the ground, as it were and came to the conclusion that it was a case of wanting but needing a centre of excellence for the entire province and the sooner the better.
Without a doubt, the overall standard of football in Connacht lags behind that of the other provinces and the gap is widening.
How many senior All Irelands have come west in the last ten years? Not one.
Connacht fared a bit better in the u21 championships with Galway winning two and Mayo one.
At minor level the Rossies won one in 2006 and that was that. Not a Junior title in that period either.
What about All-Star awards?
In this period (2012- 2003) Mayo won a total of 9, with 4 of them coming this year and Sligo  got one in 2010. That's out of as total of 150!

(BTW, these stats have come from GAA.ie and I am assuming they are correct.)
Now, if we accept that all players would strive to at least play for their county, you'd have to say that the intercounty standard in Connacht isn't too hot.
Should each county go it alone as they have been doing since the founding of the GAA?
A look at the figures above would suggest otherwise.
IMO. there isn't a hope in hell that each county could go it alone and establish its own centre of  excellence. It's going to be hard enough for the five of them to come up with its share of the bill as it is.
Besides, none of them could hope to come up with similar facilities to those at Jordanstown, DCU or the University of Limerick. That's the standard to aim at- anything else is a waste of money. Now it is said that it would be a better idea to divide the money involved between the counties and let them do their own thing with it.
I really can't take that seriously. Who would provide the money in the first place?
ASAIK, the GAA provided less than half the funds required. Where would the other million or so come from?
As I see it, the five county boards decided on a common plan of action, approached HQ and got not only backing but funding also from there.
Now, if all the CBs think it's a good idea and the Central Council has  backed it, that's good enough for me.
With regard to what John Tobin has to say, it could be a case of him singing for his dinner or his wages or it could be that he is stating facts. Somehow, I'm inclined to go with the latter.

[Croí na hÉireann]

It . All the connacht counties should of got 2 million each

FFS this is reacing epidemic proportions - now even got as far as Sligo

It's worse than I thought. I did a search of gaaboard for "had of". It returns 15 pages of hits! "Could of" and "should of" give 9 pages and "would of" 17 pages! That's 483 times somebody typed "would of". I wouldn't HAVE dreamed that was possible.

Forget the apostrophe campaign. This is totally out of control. There's only one thing for it. A league table of offenders is coming.

Will make a change from the usual Christmas top ten tables. Should of cleared it with Billy though.

[magpie seanie]

I think John presented the case for the establishment of the new complex very well indeed. 

Not really. His main point is that its within 40 miles of 91 GAA clubs.
Whats the point of that? Ill re iterate the point that clubs struggle to get number at training at the best of times, they're not going to get numbers down if the move training 20 miles down the road.

The facility itself, I've no doubt is impressive, but it remains a waste of money that could have been spent on individual counties.

A centre of excellence for Connacht Rugby or Connacht Athletics may have been beneficial but clubs have their own facilities
If your a good player you ll probably make and underage county team and train with them at the county facilities.
Athletics and rugby have far fewer teams and could do with a central location.

Most "Gaels" when asked where they're from will say they're county and if pushed their parish/club. They will not say "I'm a Connacht man" The railway cup is hardly an event that draws the masses.

And of course John Tobin is praising it - Connacht GAA are paying his wages....

When I first heard of the plans, I too thought it was crazy to even consider them seriously.
Then I examined the proposal;s, took a good look at the situation on the ground, as it were and came to the conclusion that it was a case of wanting but needing a centre of excellence for the entire province and the sooner the better.
Without a doubt, the overall standard of football in Connacht lags behind that of the other provinces and the gap is widening.
How many senior All Irelands have come west in the last ten years? Not one.
Connacht fared a bit better in the u21 championships with Galway winning two and Mayo one.
At minor level the Rossies won one in 2006 and that was that. Not a Junior title in that period either.What about All-Star awards?
In this period (2012- 2003) Mayo won a total of 9, with 4 of them coming this year and Sligo  got one in 2010. That's out of as total of 150!

(BTW, these stats have come from GAA.ie and I am assuming they are correct.)
Now, if we accept that all players would strive to at least play for their county, you'd have to say that the intercounty standard in Connacht isn't too hot.
Should each county go it alone as they have been doing since the founding of the GAA?
A look at the figures above would suggest otherwise.
IMO. there isn't a hope in hell that each county could go it alone and establish its own centre of  excellence. It's going to be hard enough for the five of them to come up with its share of the bill as it is.
Besides, none of them could hope to come up with similar facilities to those at Jordanstown, DCU or the University of Limerick. That's the standard to aim at- anything else is a waste of money. Now it is said that it would be a better idea to divide the money involved between the counties and let them do their own thing with it.
I really can't take that seriously. Who would provide the money in the first place?
ASAIK, the GAA provided less than half the funds required. Where would the other million or so come from?
As I see it, the five county boards decided on a common plan of action, approached HQ and got not only backing but funding also from there.
Now, if all the CBs think it's a good idea and the Central Council has  backed it, that's good enough for me.
With regard to what John Tobin has to say, it could be a case of him singing for his dinner or his wages or it could be that he is stating facts. Somehow, I'm inclined to go with the latter.

We won the Junior AI in 2010.

[brianboru00]

I think John presented the case for the establishment of the new complex very well indeed. 

Not really. His main point is that its within 40 miles of 91 GAA clubs.
Whats the point of that? Ill re iterate the point that clubs struggle to get number at training at the best of times, they're not going to get numbers down if the move training 20 miles down the road.

The facility itself, I've no doubt is impressive, but it remains a waste of money that could have been spent on individual counties.

A centre of excellence for Connacht Rugby or Connacht Athletics may have been beneficial but clubs have their own facilities
If your a good player you ll probably make and underage county team and train with them at the county facilities.
Athletics and rugby have far fewer teams and could do with a central location.

Most "Gaels" when asked where they're from will say they're county and if pushed their parish/club. They will not say "I'm a Connacht man" The railway cup is hardly an event that draws the masses.

And of course John Tobin is praising it - Connacht GAA are paying his wages....

When I first heard of the plans, I too thought it was crazy to even consider them seriously.
Then I examined the proposal;s, took a good look at the situation on the ground, as it were and came to the conclusion that it was a case of wanting but needing a centre of excellence for the entire province and the sooner the better.
Without a doubt, the overall standard of football in Connacht lags behind that of the other provinces and the gap is widening.
How many senior All Irelands have come west in the last ten years? Not one.
Connacht fared a bit better in the u21 championships with Galway winning two and Mayo one.
At minor level the Rossies won one in 2006 and that was that. Not a Junior title in that period either.
What about All-Star awards?
In this period (2012- 2003) Mayo won a total of 9, with 4 of them coming this year and Sligo  got one in 2010. That's out of as total of 150!

(BTW, these stats have come from GAA.ie and I am assuming they are correct.)
Now, if we accept that all players would strive to at least play for their county, you'd have to say that the intercounty standard in Connacht isn't too hot.
Should each county go it alone as they have been doing since the founding of the GAA?
A look at the figures above would suggest otherwise.
IMO. there isn't a hope in hell that each county could go it alone and establish its own centre of  excellence. It's going to be hard enough for the five of them to come up with its share of the bill as it is.
Besides, none of them could hope to come up with similar facilities to those at Jordanstown, DCU or the University of Limerick. That's the standard to aim at- anything else is a waste of money. Now it is said that it would be a better idea to divide the money involved between the counties and let them do their own thing with it.
I really can't take that seriously. Who would provide the money in the first place?
ASAIK, the GAA provided less than half the funds required. Where would the other million or so come from?
As I see it, the five county boards decided on a common plan of action, approached HQ and got not only backing but funding also from there.
Now, if all the CBs think it's a good idea and the Central Council has  backed it, that's good enough for me.
With regard to what John Tobin has to say, it could be a case of him singing for his dinner or his wages or it could be that he is stating facts. Somehow, I'm inclined to go with the latter.

1. We can manipulate the statistics to suit any argument.
(A) Leinster have only won one All Ireland in the last 10 years.
(B) Over the last 15 years Connacht have won 2 All Irelands, the same as Leinster .
U21 is an even spread through the provinces. Ulster dominated the Minor grade with the other three provinces winning twice each.

2. John Tobin - stating facts.

I never said otherwise. The facts he stated were about this place being open to everyone and being a top class facility. He stated that 91 clubs were within a 40 mile radius - Where have I disputed this?  The fact is he is not impartial in this.

3. Should each county go it alone?
Of course they should - As I stated you play for you club or your county or both it makes no sense organising on a provincial level.

How exactly will this improve the standard in Connacht?
Will the top U16 players int he province be brought to the centre on a regular basis? If so, when - Presumably these players will also be on their county development panels So your adding an extra representative level at a time when we're doing so much to curb over training.


4. Finance
Who is "The GAA" ? The GAA financed all of this project. Central Council financed 4 million , Connacht Council finance the rest. This is all GAA money. So the answer your question, instead of earmarking 4 million for this, they give each of the five counties 800 000 . Connacht Council give each county 400 000 .

5. Standard of Facility
The biggest benefit is to have a permanent place to train besides looking for club grounds constantly.
1 million would go a hell of a long way . Look at the prices of property - 10 000 per acre is the highest price you ll pay for land. 30 acres therefore is about 300 000. 300 000 will also build a superb gymnasium / meeting rooms / lecture halls.
Car parking & Floodlighting add another 250 000. two pitches at 25 000 each is 50 000.
That leaves  300 000 to install a prunty pitch ... and Im being generous in these amounts - It could be done for far less.
Pitches - budget 100 000 ea

[mouview]

This has nothing to do with allegiances, though, it's about training and player development. All it being a Connacht GAA facility means is that Connacht counties and clubs will be able to avail of preferential treatment and costs. Alot of clubs have very poor facilities and access to something like this can be a godsend for an ambitious panel or manager.

I imagine a huge amount of clubs and county teams will be using it for special training sessions in the years to come, I can't see that it was intended as a full-time base for anyone. A few extra minutes on the road really matters for very little in those situations, it's not like most clubs will be making four weekly pilgrimages to Bekan. It's akin to those overseas training trips without the insane costs associated.

With respect Syferus, you don't seem to have your finger on the pulse at grassroots level the way Brian Boru has. Many clubs these days have at least feasible or adequate facilities to train on. The greater challenge for the clubs is to get all their players together training on week nights and at weekends. This can be hard enough at the best of times training at home. It would be folly for clubs to go to the expense of hiring a bus, the risk of not been able to get the whole squad together, and the time taken to drive a good hour, if not more, to a training centre that may be many miles from your own base, train for an hour plus, tog in and drive another hour or more home. What possible advantage could such a move have? Ok, if the club was involved in the later stages of their championship, a night or two, might make a change. But the reality is that the time factor alone would make any benefits largely redundant.

Good / great players are usually born. It's more the quality of coaching (and in a lot of cases the absence of too much coaching) that improve them. Facilities, good and all as they are, wouldn't make the world of difference.