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the idea of paying collectively for a coach to be sent in has been talked about by a number of well known gaa figures in the area. everyone knows that something needs to be done. the bottom line remains, however, that the school doesnt take much of an interest at all. the board of governors idea is a good one passedit, but again its the same old story of getting someone to do it. its hard enough to get people to take teams and sit on committees these days without asking them to go into a school to do it.

anyone got any other ideas on how we could improve things? it is my opinion that the county board should look at investing some time and money into both our area and also north down, i.e.bredagh, st pauls and carryduff. population is growing in these areas, if talent is nurtured properly it will certainly help county teams of the future.

by the way, has anyone heard of any players who have moved to the area?

i know what you are saying passedit but we cannot just order st pats to deliver a high level of gaa coaching. it is necesary to have a teacher with an interest in coaching gaa, at the minute this is not the case. it would definitely be a help to have coaching in the school, but at the minute it is hard to achieve. it has been tried.

and yes banbridge have a big population, but there is little interest in gaa (townies and other sports) - it is exactly this that we are trying to promote, more interest in gaa clubs in the area, ie now that the population is rapidly expanding and people with a background in gaa are coming to live in the area. some clubs have also suffered from transfer sagas which has left squads depleted. all these problems  need to be overcome.

if thats the desire of the county board then they are very wrong. talk about shooting yourself in the foot. gaa is a parish based organisation, ever parish should have a club, its all about identity. i know that amalgamations may have worked in the past, ie st johns in co down, but no club should be requested to give up it identity. it goes against what the gaa is about.
the more clubs we have the stronger the association will be.

you are definitely right lecale2. im not sure what the best way is to target them, ie attendance at mass isnt the best. but im sure its worth a shot. also, it is unlikely that people new to the area would even buy the local press. i thought this board was as good a starting point as any. the few that i have made contact with so far have all been due to the fact that i work in a sports shop.

dromara is near the area, but they play in the east down league. they are having difficulty with numbers at present, i hpe the county board does all it can to help them as dromara is another area where the gaa is not that well supported but has potential. fair play to the for battling on.

exactly right wobbler. the children getting involved in the local clubs is hopefully something the area's clubs will benefit from.

coaching is also something which could definitely benefit.
the object of this is basically to get people involved in gaelic games in the area. it is only now that some of these clubs have come to be more acceptable to the wider poulation, i.e. evidence that some children from other backgrounds are beginning to get involved. this needs to be worked on. we are just trying to spread our wings a bit.

i know that most people settling are in their late 20's, but i have come across a few recently who have not been willing to travel the lenght of the country and have expressed an interest in playing in this area. just wondering if there are many more.

define west Down for me please.

no problem wobbler. we are talking north of newry i.e. past glen. clubs in question include:

football:
aghaderg (loughbrickland)
tullylish (laurencetown)
st michael's (magheralin)
clann na banna (banbridge)
annaclone

hurling:
ballela
ballyvarley

same applies to ladies football and camogie in the area.
there is alot of work going into gaa in this area. welcoming new faces into clubs is just one way of making it stronger.

it has been drawn to my attention that there has been a huge influx of players into the west down area over the past couple of years, both from other parts of county down and from other counties. it seems that this area has become an ideal place to set up home for those who commute to and from belfast each day.
however, it appears that most of these players (particularly those from the south) seem reluctant to join one of the local clubs, perhaps because of the way in which the area is generally perceived, i.e. it is perceived by most onlookers as a unionist area with little gaa support. i suppose we cant really blame them for that as clubs in this area are not well publicised. i also realise that perhaps the clubs in this area do not compete at the highest standard

does anyone know of any players living in and around the area?
how would we go about attracting people to play gaelic games in this area.

leeds united sice birth, always have been always will be, even though they are going through very hard times at present. they will probably be relegated this year, but sure, we still have to keep the faith. i don't believe in changing the team you support, but maybe thats just the gaa upbringing coming out in me!

dunno what way the county is heading now, the top definitely needs a good clear out but then again we are back to the same old question: who else wants to do it? theres hardly a queue. but look on the bright side, at least we wont have to listen to gerry on the microphone at the club championship games, or at least we hope not!! (how are we going to know that the burger stand and tuck shop open now)

oakleaf, are u saying that if a player bounces the ball then drop kicks it thats a foul? thats what it appears you are saying.

i see that there is always alot said about the standard of club football in down, well in order for it to improve i think that first of all the standard of refereeing must be improved. this is a real down gaa issue which needs to be addressed. i have come across many complaints but here is one which i witnessed at the weekend.

in the first 5 minutes of the darragh cross v clann na banna div 3 final the darragh full back blatantly elbowed then punched the clann na banna full forward. clann player had to be taken off because he lost vision in his eye. the ref came over to check on him and could  see that his eye was completely close due to swelling, obviously he had been struck. the ref then consulted with his umpire who appeared to clearly point out that he had been struck off the ball. could anybody tell me why any ref in their right mind would book the player? i cant get my head around it.

i dont wish to draw attention to the incident itself but rather to the conduct of the referee. this incident was an isolated one, other than that it was a good clean game considering the conditions. any opinions anyone?

how about talking about some real issues in the world of down gaa?
has anyone got an opinion on the behaviour of the ardglass team in the so called 'game' on sunday? one darragh player has been left with a broken jaw and the abuse suffered by darragh forward marcus miskelly was ridiculous. the referee was the weakest i have ever seen, i think he was afraid of the ardglass players. they were simply allowed to do what they liked. i am not from darragh, nor do i know any of their players, i was simply at the match as a neutral spectator. i must commend darragh's dicipline throughout the game, they tried their best not to get involved and are a very good football team.

this begs the question, what do the county board be thinking when they appoint referees. they know that any matches involving ardglass usually involve trouble (as can be seen in their previous two matches against darragh and clann na banna) yet they sent weak referees to both., why why why?