Antrim Hurling

[Milltown Row2]

Amalgamations at juvenile have rarely been anything other than temporary and cosmetic. To fully succeed with an amalgamation you are talking about permanently creating a new club, not a new under-16 team, from the remnants of other clubs. Are any clubs prepared to walk away from 100 years of club history to start fresh? A bridge too far for most I would say regardless of how much they are struggling.

Clubs can stay as they are I'm not looking to close clubs, form new hurling only clubs, were dedicated people with a single purpose work on juveniles through to senior

[north_antrim_hound]

Amalgamations at juvenile have rarely been anything other than temporary and cosmetic. To fully succeed with an amalgamation you are talking about permanently creating a new club, not a new under-16 team, from the remnants of other clubs. Are any clubs prepared to walk away from 100 years of club history to start fresh? A bridge too far for most I would say regardless of how much they are struggling.

I wasn't referring to juvenile amalgamations I meant full club a amalgamations

Maybe their not desirable but if your have two clubs in close proximity and there struggling
Like some wounded animal due to lack of volunteers and player numbers then sometimes it's the lesser if the two evils.  If you look down south and see how many clubs with double barrel names have joined up for the greater good. Take mount Leinster this year for instance. Are they not improving there hurling standards with that arrangement instead of being reduced  to also rans

This whole debate started on Sunday after we got tanked by Limerick as if had never happened before
We don't have the resources to improve  and recruit more kids in Belfast and the north
And when I say resources I mean people on the ground who give a s..t enough to help out from admin to take some kid on a one to one and sort there weakness

One if the endearing memories of 2013 was watching rte and Ger Loughnane saying when Podge Collins was at school he couldn't strike of his right and look at him now

It's down to work and every clubs bluffers should find the time
Skulls dead right on this but that's the way it is. We are where deserve to be

Still I don't think we should refer to our current or past county squads as sh..te
They are trying so they deserve our respect

[btdtgtt]

I'm referring to transferring from juvenile to senior - not club to club.

Also I'm not a fan of amalgamations full stop.
I have no objection to sanctions as the players come under one banner but I think amalgamtions don't represent as much and therefore the potential exists for lack of discipline on one side as recently shown - or different clubs carrying a flag of convenience just to win something.

As for it all boiling down to a lack of volunteers - obviously this is a huge problem but it's far from the only issue.

I'm not for amalgamtions either, I'm for forming hurling only clubs and football only clubs, that way players can still play both but for separate clubs.

Wildly contentious MR2 - but perhaps you're ahead of your time!
Fast forward X years and this will be the reality.
Glad you said it!

[btdtgtt]

Amalgamations at juvenile have rarely been anything other than temporary and cosmetic. To fully succeed with an amalgamation you are talking about permanently creating a new club, not a new under-16 team, from the remnants of other clubs. Are any clubs prepared to walk away from 100 years of club history to start fresh? A bridge too far for most I would say regardless of how much they are struggling.

Very true.
Amalgamation (to create new club not temporary) would seem logical for various clubs west Belfast to an outsider - but who is willing to walk away from their historical identity? And who can blame them!

[btdtgtt]

Are they not busy doing all the work in primary schools these days?   

point taken

There's a lack male teachers - yes.

And our schools have been dictated to the extent where hurling is a health and safety risk rather than integral to the school.

Also time is precious - schools coaches time is voluntary so often spent with that person's club.
If you want hurling promoted in schools it wail take money.

After all they are teachers - not hurling coaches. Well that's in the part of they year they actually work!

[btdtgtt]

As for it all boiling down to a lack of volunteers - obviously this is a huge problem but it's far from the only issue.

I'd contend that it is 90% of the problem

Once the bodies are on the ground, they can be organised and skilled up and given a bit of structure. Introducing and developing hurling needs time and long term effort by enough interested men. Lets not over complicate it.

Somebody tell me different

I'm not trying to be pointy skull - the association is built on volunteerism I know that.

But there still exists many situations where the volunteers exist, are skilled up, and have structure - yet it's not producing senior hurlers.

Yes what you outline is the building blocks without which nothing else is possible - but I was more referring to problems at the next stage.

After all - there's so many coaches around Belfast they are getting paid a handsome penny to take teams elsewhere!

[All seeing I]

It's only the last couple of years though MR that St Enda's have started coming on. I'd expect it'd be another 3 or 4 years before(or if) that benefit is really seen at senior level.

Tommy, in Cormac Ross, Ruairi Diamond and John McGoldrick St Endas have three superb talents that would fit in to any senior PANEL in Antrim. A result of the good work they did at juvenille level. Whilst the club has done good work with the juveniles, as MR2 said, the same work needs to be put in at senior level. No point in bringing these kids through playing at the top table and competing with the best to suddenly find themselves competing in third tier competiitions. I hoep for those lads sake, St Endas get their act together soon.

[Milltown Row2]

It's only the last couple of years though MR that St Enda's have started coming on. I'd expect it'd be another 3 or 4 years before(or if) that benefit is really seen at senior level.

Tommy, in Cormac Ross, Ruairi Diamond and John McGoldrick St Endas have three superb talents that would fit in to any senior PANEL in Antrim. A result of the good work they did at juvenille level. Whilst the club has done good work with the juveniles, as MR2 said, the same work needs to be put in at senior level. No point in bringing these kids through playing at the top table and competing with the best to suddenly find themselves competing in third tier competiitions. I hoep for those lads sake, St Endas get their act together soon.

It's vital that St Endas do that, can't express that enough having been through it all myself and how it pans out. Keeping the level up and beating other emerging teams (Creggan) and others is the difficulty. I hope to see it. Decent club with great mentors who have put a lot of effort in with a quality underage team that need to bring to senior level.

[Last Man]

It's only the last couple of years though MR that St Enda's have started coming on. I'd expect it'd be another 3 or 4 years before(or if) that benefit is really seen at senior level.

Tommy, in Cormac Ross, Ruairi Diamond and John McGoldrick St Endas have three superb talents that would fit in to any senior PANEL in Antrim. A result of the good work they did at juvenille level. Whilst the club has done good work with the juveniles, as MR2 said, the same work needs to be put in at senior level. No point in bringing these kids through playing at the top table and competing with the best to suddenly find themselves competing in third tier competiitions. I hoep for those lads sake, St Endas get their act together soon.

Yes we have some great young fellas who we are trying to bring through, the challenge now is to get their heads conditioned to making the required sacrafices to fulfill their potential. Not all of them will make it never mind their past glorys. We've the same problems all the urban clubs suffer from so we'll see. Watching the younger boys train with the seniors has certainly confirmed the need for decent quality coaching at a young age .

It's vital that St Endas do that, can't express that enough having been through it all myself and how it pans out. Keeping the level up and beating other emerging teams (Creggan) and others is the difficulty. I hope to see it. Decent club with great mentors who have put a lot of effort in with a quality underage team that need to bring to senior level.

[Milltown Row2]

Hearing that McDermotts have gone to the wall. Not just the social club but the club as a whole is finished. Bad times.

They owed fees I was told and had't paid them, is that right?

[johnneycool]

Hearing that McDermotts have gone to the wall. Not just the social club but the club as a whole is finished. Bad times.

They owed fees I was told and had't paid them, is that right?

It's due to financial issues anyway.

Did they have the social club near the falls baths on the lower falls?

[Antrim Coaster]

Mc Dermotts were playing alongside Ardoyne last year for hurling purposes.

There is a team called Belfast Shamrocks who have entered the lower regions of the hurling leagues this season, 2014. I think they're an amalgamation of Ardoyne, Pearses and possibly the McDermotts players with one or two of the McIlhatton's from Mitchells.

Sorry to see their club go to the wall.

[Milltown Row2]

Hearing that McDermotts have gone to the wall. Not just the social club but the club as a whole is finished. Bad times.

They owed fees I was told and had't paid them, is that right?

It's due to financial issues anyway.

Did they have the social club near the falls baths on the lower falls?

The old bank, facing facing Dunvile Park, a bit further up from the Falls baths

We played them in the Junior hurling final, our second team, I was part of the management team and they were up by 3 in going into the final minute, we won a free way out on the wing and managed to pop it over the bar (tried to drop it in but over it went) the referee for whatever reasons added on at least 4/5 minutes, I'd already congratulated the McDees men on winning their first ever All County hurling championship, they even asked us all down to their club afterwards as they had a party on, we won a free about 80 yards out and Sean McGourty came up and hit the free, it came off the goal keepers hurl and big Conor knocked the rebound into the net!! referee blew the final whistle!! Talk about madness, they were going to kill the ref and then went on to wreck the changing rooms!!

Of course I took them up on their kind offer at their club afterwards, we went down with the cup and to their credit they set us up a pile of drink and we'd some craic!!

[Seamroga in exile]

Rest in peace Bushwhacker.

[btdtgtt]

Sad to hear about McDermotts.
Raises the question - who is next?