Laois SHC 2024

[Laois man]

How can Cbolla fall in with mrath in the minor and they 10 or 12 miles away from them. Can you just join who you want in laois. If your short on numbers try go back into the B and work your way up.

[Verbal]

I would be inclined to agree on the face of it.
Has that been decided already?

[Laois man]

Any word on new Senior club managers for 2026?

[Laois Rising]

I would be inclined to agree on the face of it.
Has that been decided already?

I disagree-Crettyard/Spink looks to be a very successful amalgamation and it looks like one that is now firmly embedded. They won a minor title this year and you can see plenty of players coming through and representing Laois on juvenile squads. I think they were in a number of other juvenile finals as well. Were both clubs competing individually in B and C competitions what would the standard of training be like, interest levels for players and definitely some if not many of their talented players would fall by the wayside.

Juvenile teams need to be coached in a competitive environment where there are good numbers training together and playing competitive games at a high level to ensure progression and skill development. This nonsense of clubs should be going alone in the B or C competition is pie in the sky. if the players simply aren't there then how much could you do in training with maybe only 8/9 lads some nights. Look at the huge success in Abbeyleix/Ballyroan with their amalgamation at juvenile level.

If done correctly it brings huge benefits to the clubs involved as they will be a number of well coached, skilled players feeding into their senior teams year on year. It raises the standards of the juvenile competitions and benefits county sides as well. If you want bring in a rule that the amalgamated sides can still field separate teams in the C championship if you like.

I would at county level sit down with the large number of clubs that we know of in the county that struggle for numbers and see what suitable amalgamations (long term) can be created to ensure all clubs have players involved in well coached sides and playing competitive hurling. I honestly hate one-year arrangements. Much rather see meaningful long-term planning and strategies but in place. Some great examples in the county of how they do work. Let's build on this.

What I do not agree with is one year arrangements at specific grades. That is simply putting a sticky plaster on the issue at hand. Clubs where there are challenges with numbers should be suitably paired with another club and then work together over a period of time to ensure that they have a panel of players at each of the age groups going up that are exposed to good competition and high level coaching.

[Laois man]

The problem is this is just a one year arrangement just filling the gaps till other players in the club are the age for minor.

[Verbal]

I would be inclined to agree on the face of it.
Has that been decided already?

What I do not agree with is one year arrangements at specific grades. That is simply putting a sticky plaster on the issue at hand. Clubs where there are challenges with numbers should be suitably paired with another club and then work together over a period of time to ensure that they have a panel of players at each of the age groups going up that are exposed to good competition and high level coaching.

This is my issue.
I called them "temporary little arrangements" in a previous life here.
Bed hopping some might call it.

[Voice of tReason]

I think the Ballyfin/Mountrath link makes much more sense from a Mountrath perspective. I'd like to see that retained if they need numbers.

Clough-Ballacolla do struggle for numbers at different times. They are more vulnerable than Castletown/BK/RE etc as both schools are very small. And they are surrounded to a large extent by clubs they simply won't be joining with.

I think the issue is quite stark at minor next year and they might struggle to get 15 from U14-U17. I think they have a similar issue at Go Games level so this will crop up again. They have dropped to B level a lot in recent years to field so I'm sure if they can, they will.
I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up with Colt/Shanahoe at underage more regularly. There's a camogie link there already so it would make sense for families.