Gaa society gone wrong in armagh

[Armaghgeddon]

This started as a thread of general interest, how to keep youth interested in GAA and the damage that self destructive substance abuse can do. In comes Sheehy with a bit of thread destruction, and you were all unwise enough to follow his lead.

Im not too sure about this, primarily because I didnt go to school in Ireland but how about following the United states? Having a sports scolarship of sorts. Help players in their education and get better jobs. This could also encourage both side of the community in the North to take up Gaelic sports.

[BallyhaiseMan]

By the looks of the young players in Armagh on show yesterday,there isnt too much wrong with the GAA society in the orchard county.

[winsamsoon]

I am not saying there are major problems with the GAA in Armagh. I refer specifically to North Armagh (as i am from here) as our county is divided into three divisional areas (North, South and Mid) Having played senior football with some of the counties most exceptional footballers like Marsden, O Hagan and Mc Cabe to mention a few, i am making a comparision with what we have at the moment. I see young lads( not all of them) now coming down to training with a very poor attitude happy enough to go through the motions, yet they have the most arrogant attitudes when it come to expressing their ability. Ie they would tell you they were the best footballers in the county.

There would be a core of young lads at my club that would have a very poor attitude, something that didn't exist a number of years back(certainly not to this extent). I was chatting to a lad over the weekend and he said that his club was showing similiar trends. I acknowledge that the alcohol issue was always there because we had some wild weekend and like clockwork always went for a pint after friday games and to a lesser extent sundays. Even our club at the moment you would see the same faces staying after the game for a pint/coke and the younger generation will come down and play the game and they can't wait to get out the door after the match. This is another important aspect for a GAA team. I remember coming from school and heading straight down to the club to play a game of football, i watched Armagh train many a night in Davitt Park and it was an absolute privilage to kick the balls back out from the back of the goals. I think this is now a non starter as you would hardly see a child now going out on the street with a football.

The issue of drugs is a major issue in North Armagh in and around the lurgan area and something that the clubs have tried to address but it is becoming increasingly more prominent amoungst the youth. I cannot work out when and how this level of disrespect for the "club" crept into our society. I guess it is a reflection of society in general .

I also acknowledge that there is hard work being done by the majority of the clubs at under age but i think the clubs need to go down the line of a universal code of conduct, so as the disciplinary structures are the same right across the board and ranges from senior right through to the youngest teams. Something needs to be done to stop the rot.

ALSO LADS THIS THREAD WAS STARTED TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS FACED BY THE GAA IN  NORTH ARMAGH AREA ( BUT OPEN TO ANYONE WITH SIMILIAR ISSUES), NOT TO ARGUE ABOUT ARMAGH AND KERRY. PLEASE STICK TO TOPIC AT HAND.

[bingobus]

WINSAMSOON,

From looking at the current juvenile scene in Monaghan, I believe that in 10-20 years that many clubs will amalgamate and we've have about 20 clubs instead of the current 31. Even already Div 1 U12 is 11-a-side to help clubs compete and field teams.

[winsamsoon]

Yeah Bingo it's definitely an issue that needs addressed.

[fitzroyalty]

Compare that to some Armagh clubs fielding two teams at each underage level eg Clann Eireann!

I think its around U16 that players discover drink, drugs and ladies and numbers start to drop; and it certainly affects the town teams more than the country clubs. Looking at the U16 team I played on that won a championship, only a handful went on to play senior. it seems that this the age group that needs targetted, because the attitude seems to be that if the team isn't good enough to win trophies then the players don't give a fiddlers. That has been addressed to some extent with the gradings with clubs divided into divisions to suit their standard.

I also think theres a minor rejuvenation going on at the min in Lurgan with four of the clubs currently getting new facilties. If that doesn't restore a bit of pride into the younger generations then we are truly fooked.

[Orior]

Better to have those kids between 8 and 15 than never at all. Fair play to all underage managers and coaches.

[Zapatista]

This mightn't have anything to do with this thread but thought I'd post it anyway.

In the part of Dublin west I live in these problems seem to be a big problem for the young fellas involved in the soccer clubs. The local GAA club seems to have avoided it somewhat.

One of the problems I see that takes away from the success of the soccer clubs in this area is that there are too many of them. Everytime there is a row in a soccer club someone decides to split and set up there own club. There are soccer clubs for every estate and sometimes there are two in an estate. When it is constantly being broke down like this it dilutes the talent in the organisation and it dilutes the funding. It then becomes a past time more than a competitive competition leading all the clubs to doom and casting the young fellas back onto the streets. The fact that there are so many clubs popping up all the time means that it's difficult to have and to maintain an underage structure. The GAA club is organised as one club in  the area. It's much more difficult to set up a GAA club which helps keep them together. Most rows are either dealt with or put on ice until a power swing comes along but very few walk away. The GAA club promotes and actively recruits parents to help out in the club too giving as many as possible a role to play.

I think the continuity of the GAA club from the cradle to the grave has had a real positive effect on it's young players wereas most of the soccer clubs in the city don't have that.

[winsamsoon]

Zap soccer teams were always like this sure they even throw their toys out of the pram in the premiership when they fall out . Has a wee bit of releance but as you know the GAA is totally different or at least has been. There are some around at the moment who are treating it like soccer ie where you come down and throw a top on and that's as good of committment you will get.

[JUst retired]

WINSAMSOON,on a point of information, the County is not in three divisions any longer.
It is  one minor board that looks after all under age football in the County. This is broken up in two regions,simply because of geography in the County,in order to cut down expenses on clubs.
All clubs were consulted before this happened and seem to be very positive about this move.
I agree with you on the question of apathy within some clubs. The blame doesn`t lie soley in the clubs,who have people doing great work. Society now has changed,we have a culture now where alchol and drugs are freely available. The 4 Lurgan clubs are being pro-active in trying to combat this problem,and should be commende for this work.
On a lighter note you started by saying you played against " an old boy" where does this leave you?

[winsamsoon]

Well lets jsut say your name sums my position up nicely