Messages

[To foster, develop and create sustainable structures within the entire Antrim GAA family to compete at the very highest level both Domestically and Nationally consistently and competitively for the next 100 years.]

Queenie, a long term strategc development plan has to be guided by a goal or an aim.

For example in terms of hurling development it might be: To foster, develop and create sustainable structures within the entire Antrim GAA family to compete at the very highest level both Domestically and Nationally consistently and competitively for the next 100 years.

The work is in the how do we do that and this would cover absolutely everything from coaching, to club structures, to funding, to kits, to equipment, to mental development, skills development, medical research even.  Absolutely everything.  After everything has been explored in all facets of the plan using good examples from other counties and all that, they are actioned!!  So you may have 15 different strands to the strategic plan, all with their own actions and timescales.  For example if one of them is club coaching, then first stage is to call a club meeting (by a certain time), recruit at least 20 volunteers (by march 2010), Have at least 15 out of 20 qualified up to Level one (by Macrh 2011), hold internal club coaching days an development - sharing of theories and drills etc (2 x per year), have 4 mentors per team (March 2011), hold training sessions 2 x per week (March 2011).  Same in terms of recruitment if your club is struggling for numbers: Aim - to get more kids.  How we gonna do it: Leaflets (March 2010), community/parish fun day or registration days etc etc etc.

If and its a big if, all clubs were guided by professional and competent people directing this huge operation and in particular if clubs stuck to it, then that would be the Long Term Strategic Development and Action plan in place.  You review it after a year or 6 months and alter it if need be.  But this plan would cover abolutely EVERYTHING from clubs organising equipment and fundraising to the County Board making its necessary changes to become more effective and to learn how to help manage such a plan and guess what,t hey would aso havn action plan to do that too although they would have to tell themselves that because they couldn't take anyone else telling them what to do and what not to.

I normally charge for this sortt of education by the way

I dont need a lesson from you about 'Strategic Plans' either.  Sure did'nt I write the strategic plan for GNM when they needed the 50K to buy the land their club sits on!

You can talk about all the Strategic Plans/Actions Plans you want.  In my vast expereince, they generally sit on shelves and gather dust.  (They cost a lot of money also).

Strategic/Action Plans need to be implemented, reviewed, frequently reviewed and modified against timesales.  More importantly, do you see the bollocks who is supposed to be implementing it and overseeing it, if things are shaping up against the deadlines, you shaft the useless fecker!

Now where in the hell are you going to find 'Professional and Competent' people with such attruibutes in GNM! I dont think so.  And if you do by some stretch of the imagination, you implement your plan and see where that takes you!

My Plan is this.  Lets send a team of professional consultants about 180 miles down the road to a county within Leinster (get me drift, Meeoowwww!)  Let them study how things are done in that county. Then get them to find us abou 35 players of the calibre of Tommy Walsh, King Henry, Cha Fitz and lend them to Antrim.  Send them out to play hurling for Antrim, win a Liam, and then everyone here will be happy. Full stop!   

[To foster, develop and create sustainable structures within the entire Antrim GAA family to compete at the very highest level both Domestically and Nationally consistently and competitively for the next 100 years.]

Queenie, a long term strategc development plan has to be guided by a goal or an aim.

For example in terms of hurling development it might be: To foster, develop and create sustainable structures within the entire Antrim GAA family to compete at the very highest level both Domestically and Nationally consistently and competitively for the next 100 years.

The work is in the how do we do that and this would cover absolutely everything from coaching, to club structures, to funding, to kits, to equipment, to mental development, skills development, medical research even.  Absolutely everything.  After everything has been explored in all facets of the plan using good examples from other counties and all that, they are actioned!!  So you may have 15 different strands to the strategic plan, all with their own actions and timescales.  For example if one of them is club coaching, then first stage is to call a club meeting (by a certain time), recruit at least 20 volunteers (by march 2010), Have at least 15 out of 20 qualified up to Level one (by Macrh 2011), hold internal club coaching days an development - sharing of theories and drills etc (2 x per year), have 4 mentors per team (March 2011), hold training sessions 2 x per week (March 2011).  Same in terms of recruitment if your club is struggling for numbers: Aim - to get more kids.  How we gonna do it: Leaflets (March 2010), community/parish fun day or registration days etc etc etc.

If and its a big if, all clubs were guided by professional and competent people directing this huge operation and in particular if clubs stuck to it, then that would be the Long Term Strategic Development and Action plan in place.  You review it after a year or 6 months and alter it if need be.  But this plan would cover abolutely EVERYTHING from clubs organising equipment and fundraising to the County Board making its necessary changes to become more effective and to learn how to help manage such a plan and guess what,t hey would aso havn action plan to do that too although they would have to tell themselves that because they couldn't take anyone else telling them what to do and what not to.

I normally charge for this sortt of education by the way

I dont need a lesson from you about 'Strategic Plans' either.  Sure did'nt I write the strategic plan for GNM when they needed the 50K to buy the land their club sits on!

You can talk about all the Strategic Plans/Actions Plans you want.  In my vast expereince, they generally sit on shelves and gather dust.  (They cost a lot of money also).

Strategic/Action Plans need to be implemented, reviewed, frequently reviewed and modified against timesales.  More importantly, do you see the bollocks who is supposed to be implementing it and overseeing it, if things are shaping up against the deadlines, you shaft the useless fecker!

By the way, my spell checker is working again, so no need for the 'Dictionary' smart ass!

[You can talk about the County board present incumbents all you want. We have done that for years. You can criticise, moan, begrudge and engage in major character assassinations - sure haven't we seen and heard that all before! In '89, we had our day in the sun and it looks like we are content with that! Your club, my club and everybody else's club is really all that matters when it comes down to it!]

I should really ignore you Queenie but just this once? I am involved in juvenile development and I have attended county meetings to say my piece but the status quo will not be upset by one man, "Last Man" or whoever,democracy prevails in our beloved GAA as well you know. I am assuming some intelligence or knowledge of the current system on your part of course, over generous on my part possibly. Why don't you write down some of your good ideas on the back a postage stamp and send them on to me. I look forward to your constructive input and opinion.

Hold on a second.  You are the one who is blowing your mouth off about how bad we are, what needs to be done etc.  Your suggestion about me putting my ideas on the back of a postage stamp, I feel is typical of you apathy and a little uncalled for.  In many ways I agree with what you have said having witnessed the intensity, skill levels and pace of yesterdays game.  However, I don't believe that your rantings here outlining all that is wrong with the powers that be a HQ in Casement is going to change anyting.  Begrudgers they maybe, but all this talk about 'Long term development/strategy plans' is equally meaningless unless the quality of coaching within this county improves tenfold.  You can coach juveniles all you want, day in - day out, it will make now difference.  Until there is support from families, clubs, communities, parishes, divisional boards, county boards and provincial boards I may add, our wonderful 'sliotar agus caman' game is doomed.  The quality and intensity of our coaching/coaches needs to improve vastly.

Lets be real honest here, it needs major investment, it requires coaches of a high standard who bring no baggage with them.  It requires schools, clubs, parishes, communites etc, etc, to really commit to hurling to ensure it's long term survival in this part of the world.

In Antrim, 'CLUB' is everything, the only thing! 'County', where hurling in particular is concerned, is secondary and in many respects a costly inconvenience!  The entire 'mind set' regarding hurling and how we improve it in this county has to change.  Individuals at Club and County Board level need to look beyond self preservation and embrace a major willingness to change.  I am not sure there are that many individuals in our county prepared to grasp such a nettle.   You can talk about the County board present incumbents all you want.  We have done that for years.  You can criticise, moan, begrudge and engage in major character assassinations - sure haven't we seen  and heard that all before!  In '89, we had our day in the sun and it looks like we are content with that!  Your club, my club and everybody else's club is really all that matters when it comes down to it!

My issue is not with the board incumbents but instead with the delegates who represent our clubs as they ultimately can influence change. Small minded clubs who can't see past their own gate and everybody look after their own is the road to nowhere. Clubs instead need to start working in partnership, get out there and evangelise about the game, stop intimidating people with their petty rivalries.
Rivalries should be saved until the ball is thrown in and put away afterwards.
What would that cost?

Fair enough! But do you or anyone else for that matter see the likes of St. Johns (my club) working closely with the likes of Rossa? Or can you imagine the likes of Loughgeil working in tandem/harmony with Dunloy as part of an overall aim/objective with a greater 'strategic Plan' I honestly don't think so.  Hate to sound if I am being apathetic, but being a little bit longer in the tooth than most of you fellas and also having been around a few hurling corners, I cant honestly see or envisage the necessary change required to improve our hurling lot in the near future.

For the great and necessary change to evolve, to me there would have to be serious casualties among the present personnel within the county admin and at club level also.  A fair amount of gutting out would have to take place. That may sound very radical, but believe me it would be a major prerequisite.

Sambo's piece in the Irish Independent from Sat- Dunno why he's on about James, been involved with us for last number of years

They endeared themselves with their nicknames and the novelty they brought for those few years.

But, on the 20th anniversary of only their second All-Ireland final appearance, Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton surveys the landscape of Antrim hurling and admits that they haven't spawned much of a legacy.

The 1989 All-Ireland hurling final will be remembered as much for the vanquished as the victors.

Tipperary made short work of ending an 18-year famine, Antrim were just dazed by it all.

"We were naive. We let the occasion get to us. I always felt if we had reached a final before that, in '87 or '88, when we might have, we would have been better prepared. Kilkenny beat us in Dundalk in '87 when we might have turned them over.

"But by '89 the team had reached the crest and was beginning the descent. We were lambs to the slaughter and got carried away with the hype as bad as any team. We forgot the match. The County Board were fitting us with jackets when up to that we had trouble getting jerseys," he recalled.

Antrim had taken out Offaly in the semi-final having beaten them twice in the league earlier that year. On their way off the field the Offaly players formed a guard of honour and applauded them into their dressing-room to one corner of the Hogan Stand.

Tipperary were much more ruthless however and Nicky English inspired them to a 4-24 to 3-9 victory to crown the county's renaissance under Babs Keating.

For Antrim it was a critical fork in the road too and for a while it looked like they had taken the correct route.

But somewhere over the last 20 years, Antrim hurling has lost its way according to Sambo, who stepped down as joint manager of the county team in recent weeks.

excuses

"I know I'm critical but when you look back at '89 we were a lot closer to the top than we are now. That goes without saying. For eight years we remained in Division 1 proper," he reflects.

"We can't throw out the old excuse about how removed we were from it all. I can be home to the Glens of Antrim from Croke Park in two and a half hours now. Belfast is an hour and a half. We don't have the old excuses."

The Antrim Board are planning a reunion later in the year of the '89 team, bringing together a group that has largely drifted from the game.

"There's Olcan McFetridge (1989 All Star) now, he wouldn't go to a game. I had trouble persuading big Niall (Patterson the team's goalkeeper) to come in and work with the 'keepers this year. Donal Armstrong and Terence Donnelly are not involved, Leonard McKeegan and James McNaughton are not involved. Dessie Donnelly is chairman of his club and Aidan McCarry is back with his club this year.

"But by and large the players on that team have taken a path away from Antrim hurling and that is sad, sad for Antrim hurling.

"I always maintain that the reason that team was so competitive was because we had our grounding as minors in Leinster," says Sambo.

"I would have played in Leinster for four years. We put Kilkenny out one of the years. In '83 Niall Quinn's Dublin beat us and contested an All-Ireland final."

McNaughton feels the standard of club hurling in the county is as bad this year as he can remember it.

"There's a worrying statistic in the Antrim league. St John's are the only Belfast club in Division 1. They're on four points, close to relegation, and if they go down there will be no south Antrim club in that division for the first time ever."

For such a passionate Antrim hurling man there are more pressing concerns for the county than a 20th anniversary of something special, something unique.

It was nice while it lasted. But it didn't last long.

Thats just Sambo turning SCORPION!

I should really ignore you Queenie but just this once? I am involved in juvenile development and I have attended county meetings to say my piece but the status quo will not be upset by one man, "Last Man" or whoever,democracy prevails in our beloved GAA as well you know. I am assuming some intelligence or knowledge of the current system on your part of course, over generous on my part possibly. Why don't you write down some of your good ideas on the back a postage stamp and send them on to me. I look forward to your constructive input and opinion.

Hold on a second.  You are the one who is blowing your mouth off about how bad we are, what needs to be done etc.  Your suggestion about me putting my ideas on the back of a postage stamp, I feel is typical of you apathy and a little uncallled for.  In many ways I agree with what you have said having witnessed the intensity, skill levels and pace of yesterdays game.  However, I dont believe that your rantings here outlining all that is wrong with the powers that be a HQ in Casement is going to change anyting.  Begrudgers they maybe, but all this talk about 'Long term development/strategy plans' is equally meaningless unless the quality of coaching within this county improves tenfold.  You can coach juveniles all you want, day in - day out, it will make now difference.  Until there is support from families, clubs, communities, parishes, divisional boards, county baords and provincial boards I may add, our wonderful 'sliotar agus caman' game is doomed.  The qulaity and intensity of our coaching/coaches needs to improve vastly.

Lets be real honest here, it needs major investment, it requires coaches of a high standard who bring no baggage with them.  It requires schools, clubs, parishes, communites etc, etc, to really commit to hurling to ensure it's long term survival in this part of the world.

In Antrim, 'CLUB' is everything, the only thing! 'County', where hurling in particular is concerned, is secondary and in many respects a costly inconvenience!  The entire 'mind set' regarding hurling and how we improve it in this county has to change.  Individuals at Club and County Board level need to look beyond self preservation and embrace a major willingness to change.  I am not sure there are that many indiviuduals in our county prepared to grasp such a nettle.   You can talk about the County board present imcumbents all you want.  We have done that for years.  You can criticise, moan, begrudge and engage in major character assassinations - sure have'nt we seen  and heard that all before!  In '89, we had our day in the sun and it looks like we are content with that!  Your club, my club and everybody eleses club is really all that matters when it comes down to it!

After yesterdays game I am left with a sense of euphoric amazement mixed with dread when I compare where we are as a county.
My own feeling is that we are at the edge of the abyss or certainly very close to it as far as Hurling in Antrim is concerned.
Everybody in Antrim is looking for the short term gain, long term development strategy plans are met with lip sevice. Clubs spend their time looking over their shoulder self serving as ever and failling to realise our future is shared. I.E. If it goes tits up we are all F*#Ked.
The county is pennyless, with all the money been spent on Dunsilly and the senior teams it appears there is nothing left to fund proper juvenile hurling development on anything like the scale of Kilkenny or Tipp. Which is why I would'nt have much time for people moaning about entance prices for games but to the same extent I would like to see investment targeted at juvenile development as an absolute priority.
The time has passed lads for us to blame this that or the other but instead for good hurling people like ourselves to stand up, oust the begrudgers who claim to represent us at county meetings and turn this around.

So Last Man, are you going to be the first or the 'last man' to stand up and do something, I wonder.  Talk really is cheap!  Come on Last Man, you be the first to turn it all around.  By the way, are you and everyone else going to dig deep also?

And you think people are interested in your "information"

Well, it is more interesting than some of the tripe you post.  Hugo Duncan, jeasus, get a life man!

Queenie......who do you think is interested?

No sweat Skull, just keeping people informed.

St. Galls 4-11   Glenarm 2-6.

Jeasus MR, your boys missed so many chances.  They were very slow to the ball, were not catching the ball cleanly and doing an awful lot of faffing about .  Your fellas would need to tidy the act up for the final.

What about that CJ fella in his black tights, whats that all about!  Mackers was'nt a happy when you took him off.  Glad to see you took CJ off so that his ma could wash his tights for him.  Did I sense a bit of nepotism creeping in also, tut, tut.  Gallagher scored a fine goal all the same amnd your keeper proved his worth.

As for the fella in the middle, the Terry(ible) Reilly one, who I have never seen referee before.  I can understand now why he is called the "Terrible one".  Never up with play, blowing the whistle for the silliest of technical fouls only moved between the two forty fives.  Amazingly he over ruled his umpires from 50 yards away when his umpires cleary seen that the ball was wide. The umpires were right beside it, yet he gave a 65, amazing, he was no where near the thing. I was getting worried about him for a while, he blew up that many times I thought he was going to need an oxygen tent. Absolutely killed the game!

Our lads in the minor football were terrible also by the way.  Creggan deserved their win in the end.

I also hear theres a bit of a fall out among the powers that be at Casement, McCrory and Murray.  Dont see McCrorry about the place very much these days nor the good Dr. for that matter.  I hear the Doc. is also getting married soon, she must be a lovely sheep!

Those boyos on the county website are getting a tad angry.  Think we hit a nerve, dont you think?

As I read it. His first senior championship match with St. Gall's was 21 years ago. His first year with St. Gall's (and him a wee lad) was 1982.

Seems plausible.

Does'nt add up in my book!  21 years ago was his first year with St. Galls. 21 years ago was 1988.  St Galls played their first Ulster Championship in 1982 against Roslea. So where was he prior to 1988?

Ok make it simpler.  Where was the Ulster Final played and where was the All Ireland semi-final played?  What was the signifiicance about their first All Ireland semi-final?  Who was Chairman of St. Gall's at that time?

1988 i played my first Senior Championship hurling game v Sarsfields, it is now 2009 and that makes it 21 years having hurled at senior level. i was 16. i've been playing for St Galls since i was 11 and continue to do so. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz  history lesson over.

oh Clan Na gael from Rosscomon beat us in the winter of 83
what position and club did you play for?

St. John's and middle of the park!

You did not answer the rest of the questions?

As I read it. His first senior championship match with St. Gall's was 21 years ago. His first year with St. Gall's (and him a wee lad) was 1982.

Seems plausible.

Does'nt add up in my book!  21 years ago was his first year with St. Galls. 21 years ago was 1988.  St Galls played their first Ulster Championship in 1982 against Roslea. So where was he prior to 1988?

Ok make it simpler.  Where was the Ulster Final played and where was the All Ireland semi-final played?  What was the signifiicance about their first All Ireland semi-final?  Who was Chairman of St. Gall's at that time?

If Glenarm did beat St Galls serious questions would have to be asked about the current manager, whoever he is.

As long as MR is not playing, on the line or with any degree of influence, St. Galls should come through.

my senior playing days are over my first year in 21 years that i didn't get my championship shirt. playing at junior level now were the craic is mighty.

Queenie, what position did you play in your prime?

You certainly were not playing for Naomh Gall for the 21 years.  I understand you came to St. Gall's when they were expereincing the good times.

thats right my first year the seniors won the Ulster football final, beat Roslea.

late goal in the all Ireland semi final was our undoing

good times have always been about

I dont think so.  You say your with St. Gall's 21 years and you were involved with them when the won their first Ulster title and then beaten in All ireland Semi-final.  Well MR, that year was 1982, this is 2009, so without any further embarrassment and you a teacher, that is certainly more that 21 years!  So which club were you with then?

If Glenarm did beat St Galls serious questions would have to be asked about the current manager, whoever he is.

As long as MR is not playing, on the line or with any degree of influence, St. Galls should come through.

my senior playing days are over my first year in 21 years that i didn't get my championship shirt. playing at junior level now were the craic is mighty.

Queenie, what position did you play in your prime?

You certainly were not playing for Naomh Gall for the 21 years.  I understand you came to St. Gall's when they were expereincing the good times.