Antrim Football Thread

[johnnycool]

I hope we go back to U18.  99% of the minors I've seen play in the last year are nowhere near ready for senior panel.  Why they ever changed it in the first place is beyond me. There's something completely wrong with how the GAA makes it's decisions.

Our Association was founded on the basis of members calling the shots
All change emanates from the club's and reaching the central body via the provincial route.
Our Association was founded on the basis all change would flow from the bottom to the top but such has long been lost.
And now all comes from in the opposite route, top to bottom with highly paid individuals deciding on direction and all rule change....
All County secretaries are employed by the central body and are required to tow the Croke Park line....

If you are actually a member of a club then you have the right to do that, if you are not a member of a club, any club then you have no say in such matters

If the will is there by the clubs then the delegates from the County will go with a motion to put in for a change

From any conversations I've had with mentors of that level its been an overwhelming majority to go back to what we had before, its not perfect, nothing is or there will always be someone unhappy, they generally are ones only concerned with how it effects their own interests and not the majority.

Not sure, if voted on, how quick it will resume, anyone got timelines on this?

What you had before is not on offer.

It used to be that minor was u18 and the lads at 18 (above u17) could play in adult competitions which worked well for us. A lad would get to play at his core level with his peers and a run out for the reserves mostly and if good enough the odd run at senior. The more timid/less physically developed lads stayed and just played minor.
If there was an overlap in fixtures they played U18 which happened the odd time.

Now if you move to minor at 18 those 18yo's can only play minor.

Timeline wise I can tell you Down clubs need to put in their "preferred" option by tonight as that is when they have to reach a county wide consensus which I'm led to believe is fed back to Croke Park for a national wide decision.

[country bumpkin]

As long as I can remember, and that is  while minor grade in our county was under-18 and I struggle to understand why such was changed....

[Milltown Row2]

I hope we go back to U18.  99% of the minors I've seen play in the last year are nowhere near ready for senior panel.  Why they ever changed it in the first place is beyond me. There's something completely wrong with how the GAA makes it's decisions.

Our Association was founded on the basis of members calling the shots
All change emanates from the club's and reaching the central body via the provincial route.
Our Association was founded on the basis all change would flow from the bottom to the top but such has long been lost.
And now all comes from in the opposite route, top to bottom with highly paid individuals deciding on direction and all rule change....
All County secretaries are employed by the central body and are required to tow the Croke Park line....

If you are actually a member of a club then you have the right to do that, if you are not a member of a club, any club then you have no say in such matters

If the will is there by the clubs then the delegates from the County will go with a motion to put in for a change

From any conversations I've had with mentors of that level its been an overwhelming majority to go back to what we had before, its not perfect, nothing is or there will always be someone unhappy, they generally are ones only concerned with how it effects their own interests and not the majority.

Not sure, if voted on, how quick it will resume, anyone got timelines on this?

What you had before is not on offer.

It used to be that minor was u18 and the lads at 18 (above u17) could play in adult competitions which worked well for us. A lad would get to play at his core level with his peers and a run out for the reserves mostly and if good enough the odd run at senior. The more timid/less physically developed lads stayed and just played minor.
If there was an overlap in fixtures they played U18 which happened the odd time.

Now if you move to minor at 18 those 18yo's can only play minor.

Timeline wise I can tell you Down clubs need to put in their "preferred" option by tonight as that is when they have to reach a county wide consensus which I'm led to believe is fed back to Croke Park for a national wide decision.

But whether its available now or not, the clubs need to put a motion to change that option of not allowing 18 year olds to play senior, its daft and will be a bigger problem for rural clubs like yours, the other thing is developing players onto a senior team nowadays isn't easy, kids are odd ffs, breaking into the senior changing room can take time and the way clubs are losing a lot of kids after minor is causing bigger issues down the road...

Giving younger lads a taste of senior and letting them dip their toes into it will give them confidence going forward, as an amendment to that they should only allow the 18 year old up to 6 or 7 games during the league and play championship if needed...

[podge]

I hope we go back to U18.  99% of the minors I've seen play in the last year are nowhere near ready for senior panel.  Why they ever changed it in the first place is beyond me. There's something completely wrong with how the GAA makes it's decisions.

Our Association was founded on the basis of members calling the shots
All change emanates from the club's and reaching the central body via the provincial route.
Our Association was founded on the basis all change would flow from the bottom to the top but such has long been lost.
And now all comes from in the opposite route, top to bottom with highly paid individuals deciding on direction and all rule change....
All County secretaries are employed by the central body and are required to tow the Croke Park line....

If you are actually a member of a club then you have the right to do that, if you are not a member of a club, any club then you have no say in such matters

If the will is there by the clubs then the delegates from the County will go with a motion to put in for a change

From any conversations I've had with mentors of that level its been an overwhelming majority to go back to what we had before, its not perfect, nothing is or there will always be someone unhappy, they generally are ones only concerned with how it effects their own interests and not the majority.

Not sure, if voted on, how quick it will resume, anyone got timelines on this?

What you had before is not on offer.

It used to be that minor was u18 and the lads at 18 (above u17) could play in adult competitions which worked well for us. A lad would get to play at his core level with his peers and a run out for the reserves mostly and if good enough the odd run at senior. The more timid/less physically developed lads stayed and just played minor.
If there was an overlap in fixtures they played U18 which happened the odd time.

Now if you move to minor at 18 those 18yo's can only play minor.

Timeline wise I can tell you Down clubs need to put in their "preferred" option by tonight as that is when they have to reach a county wide consensus which I'm led to believe is fed back to Croke Park for a national wide decision.

But whether its available now or not, the clubs need to put a motion to change that option of not allowing 18 year olds to play senior, its daft and will be a bigger problem for rural clubs like yours, the other thing is developing players onto a senior team nowadays isn't easy, kids are odd ffs, breaking into the senior changing room can take time and the way clubs are losing a lot of kids after minor is causing bigger issues down the road...

Giving younger lads a taste of senior and letting them dip their toes into it will give them confidence going forward, as an amendment to that they should only allow the 18 year old up to 6 or 7 games during the league and play championship if needed...

Nowhere in any of the material circulated has there been any reference to dwindling numbers and the struggle of smaller clubs to continue to exist.  Pushing the age at which people can play adult to  over 18 exacerbates that problem. 

I am all for the restoration of minor to under 18 (or 18.5) and whilst I understand the theory behind 'decoupling' i think it's not going to help the smaller clubs.  Leave it the clubs to decide if a lad more than 17 is capable of playing senior whilst at the same time making it clear that fixtures wise, minor takes preference ie minor matches should not be moved around to accommodate one or two lads playing senior.

Did they/ anyone consider the merits of aligning of the underage with school years?  Is leaving cert in the south 18.5 year olds the same as it is in the north ?

[Milltown Row2]

I hope we go back to U18.  99% of the minors I've seen play in the last year are nowhere near ready for senior panel.  Why they ever changed it in the first place is beyond me. There's something completely wrong with how the GAA makes it's decisions.

Our Association was founded on the basis of members calling the shots
All change emanates from the club's and reaching the central body via the provincial route.
Our Association was founded on the basis all change would flow from the bottom to the top but such has long been lost.
And now all comes from in the opposite route, top to bottom with highly paid individuals deciding on direction and all rule change....
All County secretaries are employed by the central body and are required to tow the Croke Park line....

If you are actually a member of a club then you have the right to do that, if you are not a member of a club, any club then you have no say in such matters

If the will is there by the clubs then the delegates from the County will go with a motion to put in for a change

From any conversations I've had with mentors of that level its been an overwhelming majority to go back to what we had before, its not perfect, nothing is or there will always be someone unhappy, they generally are ones only concerned with how it effects their own interests and not the majority.

Not sure, if voted on, how quick it will resume, anyone got timelines on this?

What you had before is not on offer.

It used to be that minor was u18 and the lads at 18 (above u17) could play in adult competitions which worked well for us. A lad would get to play at his core level with his peers and a run out for the reserves mostly and if good enough the odd run at senior. The more timid/less physically developed lads stayed and just played minor.
If there was an overlap in fixtures they played U18 which happened the odd time.

Now if you move to minor at 18 those 18yo's can only play minor.

Timeline wise I can tell you Down clubs need to put in their "preferred" option by tonight as that is when they have to reach a county wide consensus which I'm led to believe is fed back to Croke Park for a national wide decision.

But whether its available now or not, the clubs need to put a motion to change that option of not allowing 18 year olds to play senior, its daft and will be a bigger problem for rural clubs like yours, the other thing is developing players onto a senior team nowadays isn't easy, kids are odd ffs, breaking into the senior changing room can take time and the way clubs are losing a lot of kids after minor is causing bigger issues down the road...

Giving younger lads a taste of senior and letting them dip their toes into it will give them confidence going forward, as an amendment to that they should only allow the 18 year old up to 6 or 7 games during the league and play championship if needed...

Nowhere in any of the material circulated has there been any reference to dwindling numbers and the struggle of smaller clubs to continue to exist.  Pushing the age at which people can play adult to  over 18 exacerbates that problem. 

I am all for the restoration of minor to under 18 (or 18.5) and whilst I understand the theory behind 'decoupling' i think it's not going to help the smaller clubs.  Leave it the clubs to decide if a lad more than 17 is capable of playing senior whilst at the same time making it clear that fixtures wise, minor takes preference ie minor matches should not be moved around to accommodate one or two lads playing senior.

Did they/ anyone consider the merits of aligning of the underage with school years?  Is leaving cert in the south 18.5 year olds the same as it is in the north ?

Can't remember where I seen the article (could have been Gaelic life) that kids leaving the games after minor was high, not sure how it exacerbates the problem though

A player playing minor will always play his grade, if there is a senior game on later that day and he's fit to play then that's down to the player and coach, he's 18! and adult.

This isn't the article I was looking for, but highlights the issues facing rural clubs

The survey found that, as of September last, the number of players between nursery and U-18 in the whole of Longford was 2,031. Several clubs wouldn't be able to field minor teams without using U-16 players.

It's also of interest that only 275 boys enrolled in Longford primary schools last September and, since not all of them will play Gaelic football, it becomes apparent just how difficult the county will find it to produce good underage teams in years to come.

[bannside]

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

[Milltown Row2]

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

[Would ye whist]

Being the sports centre will help a lot I would imagine

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

[Milltown Row2]

Being the sports centre will help a lot I would imagine

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

I don't think the students are all doing sports degrees though, and UUJ is now all, bar the pitches, based in Belfast I just think that UUJ has a better attraction with its Sigersons teams

[JimStynes]

Being the sports centre will help a lot I would imagine

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

I don't think the students are all doing sports degrees though, and UUJ is now all, bar the pitches, based in Belfast I just think that UUJ has a better attraction with its Sigersons teams

Nearly too many big name players there and they've very little success to show for it.

[JimStynes]

Also, Free the SV2

[Milltown Row2]

Being the sports centre will help a lot I would imagine

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

I don't think the students are all doing sports degrees though, and UUJ is now all, bar the pitches, based in Belfast I just think that UUJ has a better attraction with its Sigersons teams

Nearly too many big name players there and they've very little success to show for it.

Yeah, they generally get to the latter stages but college football is so fluid every year, a great intake of students (football wise) can lift a mediocre college to potentially winning it ..

And yes free those lads with foot in mouth disease

[DuffleKing]

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

Low entry grades and scholarships surely?

[nearlymad]

 UU is a Magnet alright.Not too many Sigerson lately to show for this class that has been at their disposal.

[Milltown Row2]

It's good to see an increase in the number of Antrim players being selected for UUJ compared to just a few years ago when Saffron representation was noticeably low. Think there's about 9 on the Freshers panel alone this year and four or five on senior panel. Can only be good for Antrim.

Done a few games already at the college, they have some lads coming through, it must be a magnet for GAA..

Low entry grades and scholarships surely?

You saying the students are thick