Antrim Hurling

[Syd The Sailor]

Skull,

You hit the nail on the head..he wouldnt give me a reacharound, thats my beef!

Actually I agree with a lot of what Syd has to say about the new setup. I'm especially disgusted with the way Jingo was ousted. A wee birdie told me Dr. Doolittle himself was egging players on to support a regime change. Any truth in this Syd?

True Arthur, Dr Mc Sparran "allegedly" went to one player in particular and "allegedly" asked him to go to the press to express his dismay at Jingos regime and that a change was needed.This player refused and pointed out there were a few players that were not over enamoured with the impending dream team of Sambo & Woody, but in the end Doctor John got his two willing lackeys to go to the press.......

[theskull1]

Skull,
You hit the nail on the head..he wouldnt give me a reacharound, thats my beef!

[johnjoe]

At the end of the day, Dr John will be judged on how Antrim hurlers do. Coming from the heart of the Glens he knows that better than most. He obviously believes strongly that Sambo and Woody are the men that can, IF ANYONE CAN, take Antrim hurling forward during his regime.

I fully understand that Jingo will have his supporters, but so too would have Mickey Culbert! By the way Antrim footballers lost to Wicklow by 9 points, a game Mickey Culbert`s side won last year.

But there is nothing to be gained by gloating. Our only chance is putting the shoulder to the wheel, together, and attempt to drive forward. Negativity will solve nothing.

Thanks to Jingo for a big, respected effort, but its upwards and onwards. Its a long haul, and the wake up call on Sunday is only the beginning. FFS, five minors got a run out on Sunday, I am led to believe! C`mon lads, give the thing a chance!

[The Truth]

Johnjoe would you agree that maybe some players have been discarded too early and that Sambo & Woody are perhaps hell bent on blooding these ex minors whether they are up to it or not? I find it a bit disturbing that they "gave up" on Sunday, you would have thought they would be running through walls to impress the new setup....

[Glensman]

ST BRIGIDS

I have heard that they are potentially setting up a hurling team - I think I remember a St Brigids fella on this board?

Cheers.

[Guillem2]

St Bridget's had an u10/u12 squad 2 or 3 years ago. They played friendlies and tournaments, as you do at that level. They never got the numbers required to enter the league when the kids grew up a bit. There was word that some of the middle class mothers thought hurling was too rough for wee Johnnie.
I know a couple of boys who are close to them & I'd be surprised if there was any interest in starting a team again.

[theskull1]

At the end of the day, Dr John will be judged on how Antrim hurlers do. Coming from the heart of the Glens he knows that better than most. He obviously believes strongly that Sambo and Woody are the men that can, IF ANYONE CAN, take Antrim hurling forward during his regime.

JohnJoe I think John McSparran should be judged on how Antrim Hurling is doing rather than just the Antrim hurlers. For too long now the focus has went off the importance of developing talent through club competitions. Antrims performance on Sunday is a reflection of where Antrim hurling is at at the minute

But there is nothing to be gained by gloating. Our only chance is putting the shoulder to the wheel, together, and attempt to drive forward. Negativity will solve nothing.

Thanks to Jingo for a big, respected effort, but its upwards and onwards. Its a long haul, and the wake up call on Sunday is only the beginning. FFS, five minors got a run out on Sunday, I am led to believe! C`mon lads, give the thing a chance!

The difficult question JJ is what do all these cliches mean? No one in Antrim is stepping back and asking questions of the way we are going about trying to bring about success. I gaurentee you they wouldn't be able to tell you what they would define as success for Antrim Hurling.

The focus in where efforts are made need to change. If I had the reins I would

Ensure that management teams can look after a senior div 1/2 side ONLY if one of them has a level 2 coaching qualification - this should help standardise the level of coaching taking place at club training sessions throughout. Div 3/4 sides would need Level 1 minimum. This could also include the minor grade

Collective county training sesssions could then be cut to once a week at most

Bring back a regular league program with full squads. Cut back on County Friendlies to free up more weekends

Get financial sponsorship for the leagues to provide a bit of an incentive to every team to compete (eg Money for the top 3 sides in each division)

Market the leagues better. Get every club to develop strategies to encourage local people BACK into attending hurling matches

The County Manager(s) with the extra time available to them could attend more matches and see who is cutting it in the leagues. He/They could also attend some club training sessions/even take a few.  Doing this would give every club the understanding of the level/pace of training required by the County Manager to bring players on. He should pick his panel before any game based on those who are performing well in the league

Players chosen to represent the County then prepare on their own 7 days before any matches in the summer

To me this approach provides a much better balance between County and Club activities and will reinvigorate the game at a local level. In time the benefits will come about at County level and I can gaurentee you that performances (at County Level ) at the very least will be no worse.

Massive restructuring like this is needed otherwise we will go slowly but surely in the some direction we have been for the past 10-15 years

[johnjoe]

Truth, the short answer is that maybe some of those minors are not physically up to it - yet. But they need to get in there and see where the required physical level is. Some of them will be a lot wiser after Sunday`s whitewash. If you look at our 25-30 year olds, well I apologise if this causes offence, but how many do you see playing in an all-ireland final. How many of them have the sheer mental strength, and the lifestyle to match. Sorry, but I see a lot of comfort zone stuff going on there.

The bottom line is this. Sambo and Woody need a squad of 20 players plus, who will have the skill level, the core strength, the balance, the mental strength, and very sensible lifestyles. That is work in progress, and will take time. A youth policy is a risk strategy for instant results, but there is no quick fix available. Its players now aged 18-22 who hold the key to our future. Woody and Sambo know that. Maybe one or two very good soldiers a year or two older might slip through the net, but the exception rather than the rule.

Skull, class reply big yin. I think if two or three brains got together, your blueprint could be put in place. Get Sambo, Woody and Dick Mc Keague into a think tank with you, and I think the structures are flexible enough that some of your points can be actioned. One thindg is for sure, Sambo and Woody cant spoil club hurling for 3 or 4 years. They will also know that they will need the total support of the clubs at key times. A strategy is needed for short and mid-term hurling, to better the club and county scene. One badly needs the other.

As I said before, I`m more a football man, but let me have a few days to think about this, and maybe we could get a few heads together. Didnt Nicky Brennan hint at a bit of help if we put a good enough strategy forward! Maybe time to get a group together to look at some of the issues you mention, and a few to go with it!

[milltown row]

So all the proposals went back to the CCC regarding the restructuring of the hurling leagues. Who's not happy and what are the alternatives?

For us this works out well us. Senior games on Wednesday, Saturday (Ulster hurling) and South Antrim for the reserves on a Monday. Then come July the reserve hurling leagues could be put in place for the remainder of the season with outstanding games played at times fixed between clubs..............but as usual this will not always please everyone, and I can see there point for having Sunday games from the start but if they, CCC, change the games to a Sunday clubs who have entered the Ulster hurling league will have to play Saturday (UHL) and Sunday All County. Player's welfare has to be looked at here.

Do we want the shambles we had last year? If a decision is not made soon then we'll end up back to what we had.

[aontroim]

I think the strong and very valid point made at the CCC meeting was that on the introduction of the UHL Antrim County Committee agreed that it would not have ANY impact on Antrim leagues - ie. we will not organise our leagues to accomodate the UHL.

The Ulster Hurling league (for Div 1 teams) should be the place to blood new players / reserve teams if it means a return to a well-organised Antrim league.  It is only Div 1 teams asking for the Sunday games to return - thus showing exactly what they think of the Ulster league - however I am aware that to CLubs in Div 2 & 3 it is a very valuable competition.

[slow corner back]

Coming from a division 2 club I have to say we found the UHL very enjoyable last year and it gave us games when the antrim leagues did not. We played 5 games and there was never more  than three points in any game.

[Syd The Sailor]

Any word of what kind of team we can expect against the mighty Dubs,will it be the development squad again? we are lucky we are allowed to play on the same pitch as Dublin, the fact that they are so much further developed than us.......

[Guillem2]

The draft league and championship fixtures are with the clubs for comment. Can someone post them please?

[milltown row]

are these the new draft proposals? or the ones that came out last week and were sent back?

[milltown row]

team for Sunday: any views

1 DD Quinn              Loughiel Shamrocks
2 Barney Mc Auley   Loughiel Shamrocks
3 Kieran Kelly           Mc Quillans Ballycastle
4 Sean Delargy           Ruairi Ogs Cushendall
5 Malachy Molloy      Cuchullains Dunloy
6 Johnny Campbell    Loughiel Shamrocks
7 Kevin Elliott            Ruairi ogs Cushendall
8 Karl Mc Keegan      Ruairi ogs Cushendall
9 Brendan Herron       Lamh Dhearg
10 Liam Watson         Loughiel Shamrocks
11 Neil Mc Manus      Ruairi Ogs Cushendall
12 Karl Stewart          St Galls
13 Paddy Richmond   Cuchullains Dunloy
14 Neal Mc Auley      Mc Quillans Ballycastle
15 Paul Shields           Cuchullains Dunloy