Antrim Hurling

[clootfromthe21]

Lads to clear a few things up -

The cushendall money story is true

The county hurlers betting against their own team is true

PJ jumping before being pushed is true

The south Antrim game that was abandoned was to be replayed at St galls pitch but they declined that offer and were hence threw out of the competition. St. John's went on to play in the south Antrim final which was to manus bewilderment refereed by a North Antrim referee.

We can brush the whole lot under the carpet or make sure it doesn't happen again!! Ivan be sure if it were certain clubs time wouldn't be wasted in dealing with it.

Any Good news

Minors beat Kildare by a goal in Leinster Shield Final.

[Milltown Row2]

Lads to clear a few things up -

The cushendall money story is true

The county hurlers betting against their own team is true

PJ jumping before being pushed is true

The south Antrim game that was abandoned was to be replayed at St galls pitch but they declined that offer and were hence threw out of the competition. St. John's went on to play in the south Antrim final which was to manus bewilderment refereed by a North Antrim referee.

We can brush the whole lot under the carpet or make sure it doesn't happen again!! Ivan be sure if it were certain clubs time wouldn't be wasted in dealing with it.

We were winning with 2 mins to go!! The old start a fight and make the referee runaway and overturn the 'result' tactic worked

Anyway ours is of little newsworthy compared to the country teams and set up

[paddyjohn]

The Antrim Hurlers can't be mentioned in the same way as Cathal McCarron.

Maybe is because of who is in involved RedDog wants it swept under the carpet. Those who are guilty should be suspended from both club and county.

Possibly the real answer there PJ

Now come on lads RedDog would never try and defend the indefensible for personal reasons

Maybe it was the Dog himself in William Hill placing big money on a London victory...........
[/quote

Can of worms opened there!

1. The Cathal McCarron situation revolved around a serious gambling problem. The point I am making is that people didn't turn there back on him as most seem to be proposing here
2. I love the Gaa but if these people did as alleged this means they either didn't care or have reached a point where they have a serious problem which has led to them letting their clubs counties team mates and friends down. Yes punish them but if they have a problem it is more important to try and help them. If they have problems what does it say about the GAA if they don't try and help them??
3. It doesn't impact on me at club or county level whatever the outcome. It just saddens me as an antrim man but have seen the damage gambling is having in communities and in the Gaa and see the human being as more imp.
4. Would never gamble in William Hill and get the feeling people think they know who I am. My club wouldn't be affected if rumours are true

I am trying to be constructive. I see tackling gambling problems as a bigger issue. The only thing I would ask people in the know is are the rumours true that the players and representatives were given £200 each expensives for the London weekend? I don't want people out of pocket but surely this put them in pocket?/

I'm not doubting your trying to be conscructive, but I can't see how you can compare  a lad like McCarron to Antrim hurlers betting against their own team. McCarron lost everything as far as I can remember & spent months in rehab, he didn't fly home to a job the next day. If what your saying that the panel got £200 spending money is true then somebody in the county needs to have a good look at themselves, suppose when you hear the rumours of what PJ and his back room were getting paid then it could be true.

I'm not saying that some of our lads are or aren't in the same boat as McCarron but the bottom line is that any sportsperson either Amateur or Professional that bet against themselves or the team they play for shows a complete lack of respect for the whole club or county, fans & players alike.

Anyway onwards and upwards. Does anybody know when the county are meeting to discuss the manager or any rumours of who will fill the job?

[NAG1]

Can't see people lining up to be involved with the squad at the moment.

Would it not be a case of the county secretary selecting a squad if necessary to fulfill fixtures?

[paddyjohn]

Can't see people lining up to be involved with the squad at the moment.

Would it not be a case of the county secretary selecting a squad if necessary to fulfill fixtures?

It's a no lose situation I think, we compete in or maybe even win the CR and its job done, get beat in the 1st round & sure it was expected.

Not sure what way it works to be honest.

[Brocky]

My opinion, if some of the existing team stay, bring in someone with a bit of experience, have the squad once a week, the rest of the time with their clubs and give CR a go. Maybe bring a wee bit of pride back into the shirt.
Let's face it even before PJ it was a shambles and his reign certainly didn't help it.
This would give a better foundation for future years.

Apart from that, the new county exec need to improve things largely with underage squads to set a better standard moving forward. This is where the main focus should be.
Plus have a look at the Roscommon way of doing things. Division 4 to 1 means they must be doing something right.

[NAG1]

My opinion, if some of the existing team stay, bring in someone with a bit of experience, have the squad once a week, the rest of the time with their clubs and give CR a go. Maybe bring a wee bit of pride back into the shirt.
Let's face it even before PJ it was a shambles and his reign certainly didn't help it.
This would give a better foundation for future years.

Apart from that, the new county exec need to improve things largely with underage squads to set a better standard moving forward. This is where the main focus should be.
Plus have a look at the Roscommon way of doing things. Division 4 to 1 means they must be doing something right.

Not that this is the way to have arrived at it, but I think this gives us a serious unprecedented opportunity to have a full and open analysis of where we are and how to improve things.

New Executive should be using this time to look at the system top to bottom and have a costing of what is required coach wise from grass roots through to senior level. This is then ammunition to take to Croke park and say that we have been neglected long enough in terms of employed bodies on the ground.

Yes we have a lack of committed volunteers but I think if a proper and well financed plan was in place that everyone could see and buy into then we might have a chance of turning some of those volunteers into committed coaches/ helpers in the new system.

Hope we dont just stick our heads in the sand and appoint a new manager and expect something to change from simply doing this.

[btdtgtt]

My opinion, if some of the existing team stay, bring in someone with a bit of experience, have the squad once a week, the rest of the time with their clubs and give CR a go. Maybe bring a wee bit of pride back into the shirt.
Let's face it even before PJ it was a shambles and his reign certainly didn't help it.
This would give a better foundation for future years.

Apart from that, the new county exec need to improve things largely with underage squads to set a better standard moving forward. This is where the main focus should be.
Plus have a look at the Roscommon way of doing things. Division 4 to 1 means they must be doing something right.

Not that this is the way to have arrived at it, but I think this gives us a serious unprecedented opportunity to have a full and open analysis of where we are and how to improve things.

New Executive should be using this time to look at the system top to bottom and have a costing of what is required coach wise from grass roots through to senior level. This is then ammunition to take to Croke park and say that we have been neglected long enough in terms of employed bodies on the ground.

Yes we have a lack of committed volunteers but I think if a proper and well financed plan was in place that everyone could see and buy into then we might have a chance of turning some of those volunteers into committed coaches/ helpers in the new system.

Hope we dont just stick our heads in the sand and appoint a new manager and expect something to change from simply doing this.

Fully agree with the last bit - we can't just keep appointing new managers and thinking everything will change.

However there seems to be a perception that we  get some sort of raw deal financially. All monies from Croke Park are set out and justified - otherwise every county would be screaming the house down!
And on that point - every single other county in Ireland with plans going to Croke park - and again they need to be justified.
I refer you back to Dr John McSparran and his time in the media and telling us all what he wanted from Croke Park - join the queue! And head back up the road!

I guess what I'm getting at is two-fold:
1) We are not under-funded or being given a raw deal from Croke park regarding money
2) Do not expect some "ach sure it's those lovely Antrim folk" windfall.

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

Also why would croke park throw perfectly good money into a county thats clearly in a complete mess.

If anything they will want to come and look at it and see what the hell has gone wrong.

many people have given up on county hurling in Antrim judging by the poor support it receives, this saga will have pushed people even farther down the track.

[NAG1]

Also why would croke park throw perfectly good money into a county thats clearly in a complete mess.

If anything they will want to come and look at it and see what the hell has gone wrong.

many people have given up on county hurling in Antrim judging by the poor support it receives, this saga will have pushed people even farther down the track.

This would be the point of the analysis, to identify the areas that need improvement and a costing to show how much a plan would take to fix these areas.

[btdtgtt]

Also why would croke park throw perfectly good money into a county thats clearly in a complete mess.

If anything they will want to come and look at it and see what the hell has gone wrong.

many people have given up on county hurling in Antrim judging by the poor support it receives, this saga will have pushed people even farther down the track.

This would be the point of the analysis, to identify the areas that need improvement and a costing to show how much a plan would take to fix these areas.

Not sure what exact areas you are talking about?

Development squads?
Administrations?
Competition structures?
Coaching?
Fixture making?

Some of these are already financed by Croke Park grants - how effective they are made - is up to Antrim - there's no heavenly being going to give us a blank cheque & master-plan ahead of 31 other counties.
For example great reviews of some development squad work from the dedication of likes of Ciaran Kearney which is fantastic now - but the true measure of these is how many players go on to raise Antrim hurling at senior level.
Other areas are not financial issues - just the fine mess we are in ourselves - and we can only get out of ourselves - or not!

[NAG1]

Also why would croke park throw perfectly good money into a county thats clearly in a complete mess.

If anything they will want to come and look at it and see what the hell has gone wrong.

many people have given up on county hurling in Antrim judging by the poor support it receives, this saga will have pushed people even farther down the track.

This would be the point of the analysis, to identify the areas that need improvement and a costing to show how much a plan would take to fix these areas.

Not sure what exact areas you are talking about?

Development squads?
Administrations?
Competition structures?
Coaching?
Fixture making?

Some of these are already financed by Croke Park grants - how effective they are made - is up to Antrim - there's no heavenly being going to give us a blank cheque & master-plan ahead of 31 other counties.
For example great reviews of some development squad work from the dedication of likes of Ciaran Kearney which is fantastic now - but the true measure of these is how many players go on to raise Antrim hurling at senior level.
Other areas are not financial issues - just the fine mess we are in ourselves - and we can only get out of ourselves - or not!

All of these and more, that is what an analysis would be for?

[Brocky]

Agree with nag1. But in top of that we need coaches going into the schools.
I don't know but I would like to know, how many schools in Antrim have coaches visit them to encourage the kids.
I know rural parishes like loughgiel dunloy Cushendall will take care of this generally themselves but what about Belfast Ballymena etc..
Is there any information available on this.

[NAG1]

Agree with nag1. But in top of that we need coaches going into the schools.
I don't know but I would like to know, how many schools in Antrim have coaches visit them to encourage the kids.
I know rural parishes like loughgiel dunloy Cushendall will take care of this generally themselves but what about Belfast Ballymena etc..
Is there any information available on this.

There is loads of information on this, but my point is North Antrim is a hurling strong hold and deserves more investment, Belfast is the second city and for loads of different reasons requires special treatment.

Yes there loads of good coaches doing lots of good work, but they need help guidance and support. They also need a plan to work toward, maybe that is a bit far fetched for Antrim but it just seems logical to me.

[btdtgtt]

Agree with nag1. But in top of that we need coaches going into the schools.
I don't know but I would like to know, how many schools in Antrim have coaches visit them to encourage the kids.
I know rural parishes like loughgiel dunloy Cushendall will take care of this generally themselves but what about Belfast Ballymena etc..
Is there any information available on this.

There is loads of information on this, but my point is North Antrim is a hurling strong hold and deserves more investment, Belfast is the second city and for loads of different reasons requires special treatment.

Yes there loads of good coaches doing lots of good work, but they need help guidance and support. They also need a plan to work toward, maybe that is a bit far fetched for Antrim but it just seems logical to me.

Firstly - Brocky is entirely correct.
Schools are a massive missing link in our hurling development.
For a number of reasons GAA can no longer be pushed and developed my teachers - so that's where funding should go.
NOT in development squads which actually are a base for the already better hurlers - but to develop!
Let those better hurlers play with their clubs and continue to progress as they have - put the resource into developing talent in schools!
After all, nearly every main county has a "hurling college" - we need to push resources here -why do we think we can do without it!


NAG - if the Glens are a "hurling stronghold" then why would we invest there?
Surely the investment is needed in areas which need development?
What "special treatment" are you talking about? Does this "special treatment" not need money?


Finally, and not totally related, but I think we need to get real about our actual playing population across Antrim. We might like to think we are a big county - but in terms of actual playing numbers we are small fry!
Take out the Unionists/Protestants across the whole county, take out the areas of Belfast and mid-Antrim which are not traditional GAA areas - then factor in the fact that we are a two-code county - what you are left with is one of the smaller playing populations in Ireland I think?