Connacht Centre of Excellence

[SLIGONIAN]

Ludermor - do you know how the council works?

Sligonian - we'd be playing and training on our Sligo Centre of Excellence if our own didn't nobble it because they didn't like the club whose area it would be located in.

Ya I know, some so called Sligo people have alot to answer for regarding that  . For me its not a dead duck though, it has to happen. Pisses me off, and you so we just need to get it done. First mooted in Owenmore Gaels, than Coolera/Strandhill both sound locations, whats the latest?

The most shocking thing about this is Leitrim, there furthest away and there CENTRE is fully designed and already started and last time I passed in May it was stalled. Surely they wouldnt agree to this more than any other County?.

Link to Connacht Council Commitees, what department is responsible for this decision?.
http://www.connachtgaa.ie/pdf/2008_Connacht_Committees.pdf

[oakleafgael]

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Ya Ulster have one, Tyrone have one planned aswell. So you agree with me Stephenite?
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Where is there the Ulster Centre of Excellence? I have never heard of the place.

[Mayo4Sam]

The galway hurlers were the only ones to complain about the location, too far from south galway. It should be of great use to galway & rosscommon football.

[SLIGONIAN]

Ya Ulster have one, Tyrone have one planned aswell. So you agree with me Stephenite?
[/quote]

Where is there the Ulster Centre of Excellence? I have never heard of the place.
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Some other gael said its in Monaghan, but It could be a wind up.

The galway hurlers were the only ones to complain about the location, too far from south galway. It should be of great use to galway & rosscommon football.

How do you know that? You involved, any chance you could answer what its use will be exactly?

[Mayo4Sam]

I'm not involved but i had a conversation about it on friday with one of the lads in connacht council coaching & games development.

[oakleafgael]

Ya Ulster have one, Tyrone have one planned aswell. So you agree with me Stephenite?

Where is there the Ulster Centre of Excellence? I have never heard of the place.
[/quote]

Some other gael said its in Monaghan, but It could be a wind up.

The galway hurlers were the only ones to complain about the location, too far from south galway. It should be of great use to galway & rosscommon football.

How do you know that? You involved, any chance you could answer what its use will be exactly?
[/quote]

I dont think there is one Sligonian. Most counties in Ulster now have their own or have plans in place for one. Derry have had Owenbeg for 10 years and its still a work in progress. Fermanagh have one outside Enniskillen. Tyrone have plans for a fantastic looking setup outside Ballygawley, the land has been purchased and the work has begun. Antrim are fundraising for one outside Antrim town.

I cant see how a Provincial centre can work. Asking players to travel 90mins for training is madness. They would be wrecked by the time they get there after a days work and then have the same journey home after a hard couple of hours training. The money would have been much better split between the counties or kept in a fund specifically for improvements for county training facilities.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Connacht is the only province to have plans for a provincial centre

[Kerry Mike]

How are they going to manage 5 Counties wanting to use the Centre at the same time if that happens.

Seems a very strange idea, could not see it working in Munster, could you imagine Kerry and Cork training on the one night there would be some skelping there and the Cork Hurlers and justs anyone else who plays hurling in Munster all training away together.

[GalwayBayBoy]

How are they going to manage 5 Counties wanting to use the Centre at the same time if that happens.

Galway won't be using it at all. They already have their own foootball centre built and up and running for the past 18 months or so. The hurlers have their one under development. Maybe club teams would use it but who the feck would want to go all the way to Ballyhaunis to train anyway? It's hardly La Manga.

[stephenite]

who the feck would want to go all the way to Ballyhaunis to train anyway? It's hardly La Manga.

[Kerry Mike]

Galway won't be using it at all. They already have their own foootball centre built and up and running for the past 18 months or so.

I hope they start to see a return on their investment soon, they seem to have gone backwards this year  !!

[weareros]

Did someone mention the feis at Bacon. Had a horrid experience there as a young lad. A decent enough sort but fruitcake of a teacher taught us stepdancing back in the seventies with the promise that it would make us better footballers. Mind you this now before Jigger  became a Ros star. Shipped us off to the Feis in Bacon one day and we were half the day trying to find it. By the time we got there, absolute back of the beyonds, had about thirty seconds to get on stage. Ripped the leg going up the makeshift steps and had to pull the socks up to the knee to cover the gash. Short pants at the time. Got on stage and the feckers started the music before I had a chance to draw the breath. Two girls I was up against went hopping around the stage to the hornpipe and I couldn't remember my steps. Stood there like a feckin eejit doing nothing and my leg killing me and the teacher down below with his hands in his heads having a nervous breakdown. A holy show is the only word. Afterwards one of the mothers felt sorry for me and gave me five pence to buy a bag of Tayto. Found a place there to get a bag of crisps. Saven pay said the women behind the counter. What are you on about says I, a bag of crisps is five pence and five pence is all I have. She pointed to the bag and sure enough it was now seven pence. Wasn't I the misfortunate waistrel that day in Bacon. Split the leg open, forgot my steps on stage and to top it off, it was the day a bag of tayto went from 5p to 7p. Well I hope to God I never ever see that awful boghole again. What are the council thinking off putting a center for excellence there.

[neilthemac]

aren't the Connacht Council lucky that there was such a 'suitable' site availble in Bekan??

I'd say the farmer is laughing at managing to sell his land

[GaillimhIarthair]

How are they going to manage 5 Counties wanting to use the Centre at the same time if that happens.

Galway won't be using it at all. They already have their own foootball centre built and up and running for the past 18 months or so. The hurlers have their one under development. Maybe club teams would use it but who the feck would want to go all the way to Ballyhaunis to train anyway? It's hardly La Manga.

You are on the ball GBB 

Centre of Excellence will be Connacht's 'La Manga'

Edwin McGreal

THE new Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence will be the the province's equivalent of the famous Spanish sport resort, La Manga, according to Connacht GAA Secretary John Prenty.
The Centre, which will be located at Cloonacurry, Bekan (on the Knock-Ballyhaunis road) successfully came through the planning process last week and Prenty has dismissed suggestions that the €10 million proposed development is a luxury.

"Absolutely not. What you need to bear in mind is that there are similar facilities in other provinces in places like DCU, Jordanstown and places like that," he told The Mayo News. "Counties in those provinces use those places all the time but in Connacht there is no such centre.

"You had the Mayo County Board bringing players to UL (University of Limerick) to get lads tested. Now counties in Connacht can come to the centre for that kind of work and it can also be a centre for underage development squads. We would see it as a La Manga type facility for the province with everything on site."
However, it is the provision of facilities for the playing of second-level games that has most driven the need for the Centre.

"Colleges GAA is the main reason we've went for this facility," explained Prenty. "For the last number of seasons we've had major difficulties with pitches. Only a certain number of clubs were willing to allow us to play games on their pitches in winter and that was understandable. We'll have six pitches available now and there's no reason why a game should be called off."

Along with six outdoor pitches, a gym, a video analysis room, and dressing rooms, the Centre will also house a full-size indoor astro-turf facility. The on-site location and height of the roof of the indoor pitch were both changed to accommodate concerns from local residents but it is expected that both hurling and football will be played there. John Prenty is also keen to emphasise that the Centre should be viewed as an additional facility for counties, in combination with their own.

"What it will be is an add-on to what counties have," he said. "Each county needs their own training centre but there are parts of this centre, like the indoor pitch for instance, that make more sense to have in a central provincial location rather than the counties each having them. The counties can use these facilities in addition to their own."
Along with funding from their own resources, the Connacht GAA Council have received funding from Croke Park from revenue generated from rugby and soccer internationals at Croke Park. Advertising for tenders is due to start in the coming weeks with work expected to commence in late Autumn. The Connacht Council offices, currently located in Ballyhaunis, are also due to eventually move to the Centre.

[magpie seanie]

They must have forgotten to mention the lab facilities that are being built for players to get "tested".