If Dublin have the population of a province then they would be expected to have the same number of talented players as a province. Claiming that a few good players just happened to come along is an insult to our intelligence.
Yeah, that’s my problem, pure and simple.
All you get when this topic is brought up is snide comments and sarcasm masquerading as logic from those who see nothing wrong with the current setup.
But there’s a serious side issue with the Dublin model and it’s going to have serious, long term consequences for the GAA as an organisation.
I did a quick check here and without spending much time on it, I came up with a total of fifteen counties whose combined population was less than that of Dublin.So, in spite of that, we are being asked to accept that Dublin is just another county; nothing remarkable about it apart from the fact that they just happen to have a good team.
Each of the fifteen has its own competitions and structures, reaching down to the lowest age level. There may not be an awful lot of youngsters at any age level but a far higher percentage for those counties will stay involved in the GAA for much longer than the majority of their counterparts in Dublin will. Sure kids will always drop out of any sort as they grow older but the problem is greatly exacerbated in Dublin where clubs like Ballyboden have hordes of kiddies, more than the combined number in many less populated counties.
Clubs will always have young players dropping out for one reason or another as they get older but with Dublin’s superclubs many more are dropped because there’s simply no room for them as the number of teams fielded at u14s and upwards decrease as the age level rises.
But soccer doesn’t follow the pyramid model of the GAA and there are assloads of competitions for all ages and abilities. I’ve had this problem in my own household some years ago. My kid and a few of his pals joined Ballyboden and the craic was 90 up until they found that u15 level a couple was no longer deeded. So they all dropped out and had no problem getting a game every weekend with one or other of the local soccer clubs.
None of them felt particularly fond of the club they played with. I suppose most of them will wear the Dub jersey and go for a few lagers with their mates from the QF stage onwards but there is no conscious involvement with the GAA.
