The future of laois hurling

[High Fielder]

Remember what Eddie said. There it is. Do what you can with it. The foundations are not in place. When they are, let's see what we can build.

[Keyser Söze]

There are huge numbers of kids in Portlaoise that are not being harvested.
To do so will take a lot of time and money.
If we do this properly, Laois will benefit hugely.
Simultaneously, Portlaoise would become unstoppable at juvenile level.

Would it not be the perfect time to set up a second juvenile club in Portlaoise?
Or at least cede certain areas or schools to clubs like Clonad, The Heath, PR etc?
Or try to encourage some level of kids declaring for their parent's home club.

We absolutely need to maximize what we as a county are getting from the town of Portlaoise. To do so properly would lead to a "Dublin footballers in Leinster" type scenario. It would absolutely destroy juvenile competition.
I think both need to be addressed together from the start.

There's 2 options otherwise;
1) Do nothing
2) Create a monster by pumping time, money & resources into maximizing the raw materials available in Portlaoise.
I don't think either are acceptable.

Ultimately, Laois, Portlaoise and other clubs could benefit. Addressing one of these issues in isolation could be very very counterproductive from an internal perspective at juvenile level.

This is all easier said than done. But the promise of coaching hours and a partial GDA might well be the sweetener needed for some sort of boundary redrawing that would equalize catchment areas.

I haven't put much thought into this, and no doubt there are major issues with the above. But that's where strong leadership comes in. You find solutions and you bring the various parties along with you towards agreement.

[High Fielder]

Portlaoise won't dominate anything as long as the Juvenille amalgamations remain intact. After that, there is so much ignorance amongst clubs, that in some cases they would drive it into the ground rather than do what makes sense. That's the sort of mindset that needs a sledgehammer, not a few volunteers

[Keyser Söze]

In my opinion there's nothing short of a "Rest of County" amalgamation could compete with Portlaoise functioning to even 60% of its capacity/potential at juvenile level.

[BallyroanAbu]

Correct Keyser,  I personally think the promotion of the GAA in Portlaoise is key to a revival in Laois.  But we need to be careful of the unintended consequences I.r the creation of a Super Club.  I am not entirely sure the creation of a second club is the answer but maybe the support of the Heath, Ratheniska, Ballyfin & Clonad to create 5 very strong Clubs including Portlaoise.  Laois has 85,000 off of which 22,000 - 25,000 live in Portlaoise.  Also I remember hearing we have a very young population.

[High Fielder]

The CB have neglected Portlaoise. I personally don't mind creating a super club, because we need them to be that. Let's worry about everything else after we have made this particular orchard productive, because it isn't at the moment

[Keyser Söze]

I disagree HF. If (and it's a big IF) it was done properly it would destroy GAA everywhere outside of Portlaoise. Kids who have no chance of winning drop off, kids who are getting hammered even more so.
Rejuvenation needed in Portlaoise, but a carefully chosen path required to avoid destroying internal club competitions. Not an easy task.

[High Fielder]

I disagree HF. If (and it's a big IF) it was done properly it would destroy GAA everywhere outside of Portlaoise. Kids who have no chance of winning drop off, kids who are getting hammered even more so.
Rejuvenation needed in Portlaoise, but a carefully chosen path required to avoid destroying internal club competitions. Not an easy task.

The flip side of the coin is the current state of affairs, and that is simply not good enough. Too many kids are being lost to the GAA, and a club that should be productive has been ignored. A lot of people beckoned this day forward. Well here it is, and there's no improvement whatsoever. There are too many clubs anyway. A lot of them doing no more than hanging around. So many people involved are doing no more than getting on the treadmill. It's stale. It's unproductive, and worse than all that, the standard is poor. New thinking is needed. Asking people to keep flogging the dead horse, and redouble their efforts, is quite frankly insulting.

[Giovanni]

I'm not sure I understand what you are proposing should be done to freshen it up. Get rid of all the weaker clubs and invest in Portlaoise? And don't bother to help out the Academy until the standard gets better?

We've all been frustrated with the way the Country Board have been dealing with recent good managers in both codes - at least I have - but that shouldn't be a reason for us all to just throw our hat at it.

[clonadmad]

I think it's completely counter productive the idea that Portlaoise should be turned into some sort of super club

Have we learned nothing from Dublin?

Anytime I suggested a GDA for portlaoise,it was for Portlaoise Parish

The next census there will 26,000 people living in portlaoise,between a quarter to a third of the total population of the county

The aspiration should be to have 5 strong dual clubs operating in the Portlaoise Parish area

This is in conjunction with a games manager and 4 GDA positions for the rest of the county.

The budgets are in place

It would be great if we could fill these positions and keep them filled,something we hasn't been done up to now

[clonadmad]

I disagree HF. If (and it's a big IF) it was done properly it would destroy GAA everywhere outside of Portlaoise. Kids who have no chance of winning drop off, kids who are getting hammered even more so.
Rejuvenation needed in Portlaoise, but a carefully chosen path required to avoid destroying internal club competitions. Not an easy task.

The flip side of the coin is the current state of affairs, and that is simply not good enough. Too many kids are being lost to the GAA, and a club that should be productive has been ignored. A lot of people beckoned this day forward. Well here it is, and there's no improvement whatsoever. There are too many clubs anyway. A lot of them doing no more than hanging around. So many people involved are doing no more than getting on the treadmill. It's stale. It's unproductive, and worse than all that, the standard is poor. New thinking is needed. Asking people to keep flogging the dead horse, and redouble their efforts, is quite frankly insulting.

The strategic plan had 10 clubs all rural in danger of disappearing in the next decade

[High Fielder]

Smaller clubs MUST amalgamate. If it's not done now, some will keep falling or just drop completely off the radar. If they want to exist at a lower level fine, but please can we stop denying access to young lads with potential who deserve to be playing Senior football and hurling. These old dinosaurs who sit on club committees have so much to answer for.

The above allows consolidation. It also gives volunteers something to work towards. Some of the most tired and disgruntled people you will ever meet are those who keep small clubs afloat by redoubling their efforts every year. Protecting their small patch and in reality protecting very little. Killing themselves. Look around the Laois GAA landscape. How many clubs are just hanging on? Their only goals either to stay financially viable, avoid relegation or maybe have the occasional dalliance in a higher grade. All the while trapping their best players into this never ending cycle.

It doesn't need to be like that. We have a small enough population as is, without dividing ourself up into the smallest of constituent parts. Portlaoise is not small, but it has lost its way in GAA terms, and that creates the illusion that everyone around them has improved. I don't believe that for a minute, but I do believe that a strong Portlaoise could and should be the tide that rises all boats. I would rather of course that those boats wouldn't capsize in the wave, but that really depends at a lot of clubs asking themselves the serious question. I don't believe any of this will change in my lifetime, because let's face it, when have we ever done anything radical or progressive in Laois GAA? But don't ask and/or blame Club members when the structures in Laois don't facilitate player development. There is so much wrong way higher up the ladder before you get down that far

[blueandwhite1]

Short term no need to worry about Portlaoise being a super club in hurling. They are in quite a bad place currently. There have been occasional green (and white!) shoots but there is 10 years work required to get them even back to where they were in the 90s.

If it does happen that Portlaoise become a dominant club then there are options. The town is more than big enough to support two clubs as is the case in many other county towns. However we are a million miles away from that. Not investing in Portlaoise because of an unfounded fear of the Dublin effect is madness.

[clonadmad]

I did some number crunching on the 2019 registered juvenile players with the various clubs

Juvenile includes from u15 down

Top 10 Largest clubs by Juvenile Playing numbers

1.Portlaoise 505 Registered Juveniles
2.Ballyfin 229 and yet are part of a hurling amalgamation
3.Ballyroan 206 Portlaoise is bigger than the next 2 clubs put together and we are only scratching the surface of gaelic games participation in the town
4.Abbeyleix
5.O'Dempseys
6.Ratheniska
7.Rosenallis
8.The Heath
9.Kilcavan
10.Port

The bottom 10
Kyle
Clonad
Slieve Bloom
Colt/St Fintans
Shanahoe
Kilcruise
Trumera
Courtwood
Ballypickas
Annanough

[on the hop]

I am amazed to see that top ten, What's happening in Mountmellick, stradbally and mountrath if rural areas are ahead of them ?