Improving the game in weaker counties

[Teo Lurley]

I've taken this from the Laois forum, posted by the boy Don Draper. This is what Cheddar Plunkett had to say post the Dublin match:

"This is nothing to do with me," Plunkett says, killing the obvious line of questioning stone dead. "Anything we do has to be about Laois hurling and only about that . . . It's not about people, it's about systems and structures and about the quality of work that people put in.
Cheddar is surrounded by recording devices as dozens of kids happily puck about despite the ancient tannoy voice demanding they remove themselves and their odd-looking sticks.
"I can't say this more clearly to people who have influence here," Plunkett continued, reiterating his everlasting lament. "There is an opportunity in Laois at the moment to do something absolutely brilliant. There are a lot of businesses out there trying to flog products and they don't have the natural customers that you see in this field at the minute."
Sliotars whizz over and under head. Most are killed stone dead by decent first touches. It's only 30 kilometres to the Kilkenny border.
"I've presented it to enough people at GAA headquarters but for some reason they just close their eyes to this and that is just incredibly disappointing.
"I'm not just saying that after this defeat, I've been saying it for three years. It's time for somebody here to wake up and decide how this thing is going to be done better. Because certainly what is being done in the last 30 years is not working.


"We need somebody to look at this differently and take advantage of the opportunities that are arising. And I'd be saying exactly the same thing about Westmeath and Carlow and other counties. They are giving everything they can to improve themselves. And that's not easy. We're a small county. We just don't have the revenues generating that other counties have.
"Will people continue to sit on their hands while all these people do all this work and an opportunity is here? I can't keep asking that question often enough.
"It's about a complete vision for hurling. How we're going to promote the game. What is the objective here? Is the objective for the next 40 years to have an All-Ireland championship where only three counties can win it? Because we've had that for the last 40 years.
"If that's what they want, let them stand up and be honest and say it.
"And we'll all go away and do something else. But if the vision is to support people like us in what we're doing, let them stand back and say what has worked before isn't working and let's do something different."


Then this is what Croke Park said in response:


The GAA has rejected comments by Laois hurling manager Séamus Plunkett that were critical of efforts to develop hurling. Plunkett was speaking at the weekend after the defeat of his team by Dublin in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

"Work has gone into this on a number of different frontiers," said GAA director of games Pat Daly. "Laois are one of the designated five counties for instance (a scheme that targets improvement at senior level for Laois, Offaly, Carlow, Antrim and Westmeath), and with the help of that and thanks to the work done by Cheddar Plunkett there has been an improvement."

Plunkett had said the difficulties facing the game were more than about resources "It's more that that," he said. "Daly denied that the GAA was content to allow a limited number of counties compete.

"Of course we don't want a scenario where only three teams can win the All-Ireland, but competitive levels oscillate through the years and there are more contenders some years than others. At the start of this season it was seen as quite an open championship and we'll see how it unfolds.

"What we are trying to do is to build sustainable systems providing games opportunities for as many as possible and up to as high a standard as possible . . . We're happy that we're making good progress but we know that it's not perfect and that not everyone is happy with the rate of that progress but we're also constantly reviewing what we do.

"We'll be sitting down with Laois and discussing the best way forward."


The GAA gave the 5 weaker counties mentioned above about a million euro to divide between them. Here, there's a few quid for ya and now will you leave us alone? The GAA is filled with business men at the top, it's all about the revenue they can generate. Teams trying to improve their standards is just an annoyance to them, they don't see a financial return in it so they ignore it.
Counties like Carlow, Westmeath, Offaly, Antrim, Laois and others not even in that list like Kerry, Derry, Down etc are trying their best but they're getting no support. There's great people in all those counties (except Offaly ) that are trying to keep hurling alive but they need help. As Cheddar has said, it's not just finance, they need people of expertise to form development plans and give advice on what can be improved.
The business men and women in HQ are important, let's not deny that but developing our games and keeping hurling alive is far more important.

[redsetanta]

I think the money equated to between €40k to €50 per annum for 3 or 4 years.(Can't remember the exact figures) I would say that the main sponsers for the likes of KK, Cork and Tipp would be paying that amount every year so it's very hard to compete financially.

You can also be guaranteed that Cheddar didn't meet with them without being well prepared with a carefully thought out plan. The fact he says he has presented this to them on more than one occasion without any success and still has to get it off his chest to reporters says it all really.

If a man like Cheddar is prepared to put all this time and effort in for nothing(financially) then the GAA should be committed to helping out. They did it for Dublin, they should spread the wealth.

[deiseach]

The GAA gave the 5 weaker counties mentioned above about a million euro to divide between them. Here, there's a few quid for ya and now will you leave us alone? The GAA is filled with business men at the top, it's all about the revenue they can generate. Teams trying to improve their standards is just an annoyance to them, they don't see a financial return in it so they ignore it.
Counties like Carlow, Westmeath, Offaly, Antrim, Laois and others not even in that list like Kerry, Derry, Down etc are trying their best but they're getting no support. There's great people in all those counties (except Offaly ) that are trying to keep hurling alive but they need help. As Cheddar has said, it's not just finance, they need people of expertise to form development plans and give advice on what can be improved.
The business men and women in HQ are important, let's not deny that but developing our games and keeping hurling alive is far more important.

Well said. Ian O'Riordan started an article in the Munster final programme a few years back by noting how the twin aims of the Association when it was established were the revival of the Irish language and promoting the spread of hurling. By those measures, it's been a failure. I think the dominance of Kilkenny under Brian Cody has disguised how robust hurling is now in a lot of counties, but it's three steps forward two steps back. I think Cheddar has done a great service by at least getting the conversation started on this.

[manfromdelmonte]

Has any club seen the benefits of this hurling money on the ground?
Or has it been splurged on the county senior team?
County development squads?
Coaching courses ran?
Outside coaches got in for workshops?

[Premier Emperor]

There is no use shoveling money into counties that don't have the hurling know how. It should be spent on expert coaches going in to these places.

[theskull1]

Its one thing bringing expert coaches in to these places (where I live), its another dealing with the half heartedness of a large chunk of the coaching population. Developing hurling needs know how, dedication and the the right numbers with those qualities to get the skill levels bedded in.

[manfromdelmonte]

Employing full time enthusiastic hurling coaches who work to an agreed plan, budget, timetable with measurable goals is the best way to improve hurling on the ground in counties.
These coaches can support the clubs, schools coaching and county development squads.
Cavan were a good example of this, until last year

[theskull1]

Cavan were a good example of this, until last year

What changed

[manfromdelmonte]

Cavan were a good example of this, until last year

What changed

the hurling coach/development officer (from waterford originally) got new employment with Wexford GAA
his replacement Shane Mulholland, the Fermanagh hurler died in a car crash

no replacement has been hired afaik.

[keep her low this half]

the hurling coach/development officer (from waterford originally) got new employment with Wexford GAA
his replacement Shane Mulholland, the Fermanagh hurler died in a car crash

What happened young Mulholland was a terrible tragedy. If it has taken Cavan a few weeks to replace him I would cut them some slack. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Cavan were paying a full time hurling coaching officer. As far as I am aware Antrim only have one or two full time hurling coaches and hurling is meant to be the premier sport here.

[manfromdelmonte]

I wasn't being critical of them. It would take any county or community a while to recover from such a loss

Still though, the template that the previous coach put in place should be looked at in a lot of counties
similarly, the program that Laois have in place - Setanta. Its about getting the best U10, U11 and U12 players together a few times a year and exposing them to better coaching and playing against better players is also a very good idea. I believe that is why their under 16s and minors have improved so much.

[Mayo4Sam14]

If one has the basic skills set (rising, soloing etc) what age is too late to pick up hurling?

[theskull1]

Difficult to say .... all dependent on the individual, the quality of the coaching he gets from there on and ultimately how much he loves the game.

There's been plenty of top senior hurlers who were weak juveniles. One from my own club who (so the older coaches say) was one of the most uncoordinated awkward juveniles at U12, was a complete and utter machine at senior level by the time he got to 18 . He was still a bit raw stick work wise at 18/19 and needed a few more years before his touch came totally up to the standard of the rest of his qualities as a player.

[manfromdelmonte]

If one has the basic skills set (rising, soloing etc) what age is too late to pick up hurling?

Two most basic skills

Jab lift
Striking ball

Soloing is a pretty redundant skill if other skills aren't present.
Striking the ball sweetly is probably the biggest obstacle to late starters

[MoChara]

Depends on what level your aspiring to play at, if its a fairly low level if you've good fitness the bare basics of being able to pick the ball up and hit it will suffice you to get a start at any age.