Wonder if anyone has an opinion on this. We are a football only club in Wicklow. One of our young lads (u13) who is mad into the hurling plays with a club in the next county (a tier 1 hurling county). Someone just told me that this is illegal and he must play for a hurling club in our own county (a tier III hurling county). I know that he will stop hurling if this is the case and I don't have the heart to tell him. Anyone know what options we have here?

liam500 (Wicklow) - Posts: 175 - 18/10/2021 16:52:38    2386118

Have to tell you that's the case all right.

Rule 6.8 is the relevant one here, and while it allows somebody to play the different codes for different clubs in their own county (Glenealy in hurling and St. Pat's in football might be an example in Wicklow), there's no provision for playing across county boundaries in cases like this.

The "isolated player" rule varies from county to county since it's governed by local bye-laws, but again, there'd be no provision for playing in two counties at the same time.

As regards options, don't think you really have any, apart from the obvious of either seeking rule change through the long and sometimes tortuous process all the way to Congress, or else the young lad continuing to play illegally in the other county.

I know this isn't what you'd hoped to hear and that it doesn't really help, but that's the situation.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 18/10/2021 19:45:50    2386156

Has he got family links with the Hurling club?

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 1898 - 18/10/2021 19:53:15    2386157

premiumrashers (Leitrim) - Posts: 50 - 18/10/2021 20:27:47    2386162

Am curious about that Roscommon/Leitrim arrangement. Could be the case that there's provision in the "isolated players" rules there all right for playing across county boundaries. As I said, those rules are governed by local bye-laws, and I wouldn't know the ins and outs of all 32 counties.

As regards family links to the hurling club....don't think it would really help in this particular instance either. Family links would probably enable him to play with that club all right, if that was all he wanted to do. But the difficulty remains with wanting to hurl with one club in one county, and play football with a different club in a different county.

An added difficulty would be if the "hurling" club plays football as well, which is probably the case if the neighbouring county is Wexford (surely it has to be either Wexford or Dublin?). Just about all clubs here all dual clubs to at least some degree, and none of the purely hurling clubs are close to the Wicklow border anyway.

Only way you'll get a definitive answer is to contact the County Board(s) in one or both counties, but have to say I'm afraid it'd be bad news for you.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 19/10/2021 10:22:27    2386195

On this subject,I'm curious to know about the cahalane family in cork..they play football with castle haven,hurling with st Finbarr's?is there no hurling club between west cork and the city they could have played with?also there is always a strong possibility of both these clubs meeting in football championship..i was just wondering how this came about..as for the dilemma with the young lad,it might be better to try and get it sorted in case there are problems down the road..it would be awful to see a young fella not able to play a game he loves..

CTGAA10 (Limerick) - Posts: 2206 - 19/10/2021 11:08:27    2386213

Thanks all. Yes, it is wexford. This lad has inter county aspirations and I believe he's well capable of it from what I've seen of him. So basically, he'd have to drop the football (which he's very handy at too) or move to a hurling club in Wicklow? Either would be devastating for him...

liam500 (Wicklow) - Posts: 175 - 19/10/2021 13:27:56    2386248

Also, what would be the sanctions if he just continues to play as he does now? Do I have to report it now that I am aware it is illegal?

liam500 (Wicklow) - Posts: 175 - 19/10/2021 13:41:22    2386249

Have had a closer look at the rule book and am afraid it looks like further bad news for you. Looks like even a family link to the club in Wexford wouldn't be enough to allow him play there for as long as he's not actually living in Co. Wexford.

I reckon what he wants to do would basically involve an inter-county transfer for at least one code, and the family link provision for such things ("other relevant connections", as it's termed in the rulebook) only applies if a player is at least 18 years of age.

Looks like the only way that I for one could say with certainty that he'd be legally able to play both codes is if he plays both with Wicklow clubs, which I know is not what he wants.

Only small bit of hope you might have is the second part of the rule that says both clubs must be in the same county:
A player of a separately affiliated Hurling Club may play football with a separately affiliated Football Club, and vice versa, within a County, subject to any restrictions provided in County Bye-Laws.
A County Committee may make alternative arrangements in the interests of the promotion of Hurling/Football, provided that the arrangements have been approved by Central Council.

I'm guessing that the Roscommon/Leitrim arrangement mentioned above must fall under that provision somehow, so you might even be able to argue that there's precedent for such things. Would still involve getting both Wexford and Wicklow to agree to it and then going all the way to Central Council, though....and that's a rigmarole, to say the least.

I hate the thoughts myself of a promising young hurler not being allowed to play in the place that's maybe best for him (and I don't mean any disrespect to Wicklow hurling in saying that! I had a few battles myself with Carnew over the years!). But the rule book can be an awful yoke sometimes.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 19/10/2021 15:17:20    2386275

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 19/10/2021 17:51:16    2386329

Cockney_Cat (UK) - Posts: 2446 - 19/10/2021 19:08:38    2386346

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 20/10/2021 14:35:39    2386444

It's true Carrick Hurling Club, Co. Leitrim have players at underage who play football in Roscommon. There is a similar situation with Southern Gaels in Athlone.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 20/10/2021 14:59:45    2386456

Is there a cross border hurling league between clubs in the south of Wicklow and Wexford. Pretty sure there is something along those lines happening in Blessington and North Kildare now. Could be a possibility if he had to play hurling in Wicklow, at least he may still be playing at a decent level?

Victorious87 (Wicklow) - Posts: 597 - 20/10/2021 15:03:50    2386458

Moyle (Tipperary) - Posts: 86 - 20/10/2021 15:14:12    2386464

Cockney_Cat (UK) - Posts: 2446 - 20/10/2021 15:15:19    2386465

Thing is parish rule has become a bit of a joke these days as it is totally abused.

Moyle (Tipperary) - Posts: 86 - 20/10/2021 15:15:52    2386466

expe (UK) - Posts: 31 - 20/10/2021 17:36:34    2386501

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 20/10/2021 17:38:19    2386503

@Cockney_Cat:
I'm not advocating anything. The boy wants to play hurling, his 'home club' do not play hurling.
Are you advocating that children who want to play hurling (or football) at their 'home clubs' but can't because the said clubs don't play it, should be banned from the GAA if they find a club that will let them play?

With all due respect, you were advocating that the parish rule shouldn't apply to underage players. That's there in black and white above, for us all to see.

I'm not advocating anything myself. I'm just explaining what the rulebook says. I didn't write it and I don't necessarily agree with everything in it, but we're all bound by it, all the same.

There's provision for this young lad and everybody else in the Association to play both codes, even if their own home club doesn't play both. The difficulty here is that the provision applies only to playing both in their own county.

As I said, I didn't write the rulebook, but I expect all rules are written initially with good intentions. I suspect the thinking behind the rules here is to prevent wholesale migration of people from one county into another, so that each county gets to hold on to its own playing talent. In this case, it would be so that the best Wicklow hurlers stay playing in Wicklow and for Wicklow, rather than moving to Wexford or anywhere else.

Nobody's stopping the young lad in question here from playing hurling. I'm sure there are any number of hurling clubs in Wicklow that would welcome him. The fact that he'd rather play in Wexford instead is his own perogative, and all I'm doing is pointing out that the rulebook doesn't make explicit provision for that.

Original poster here asked a question about whether what's been happening is or isn't allowed, and what any options might be. I've done my best to help him, even if it's unfortunately the case that what I had to say about the rules isn't particularly encouraging. You or anybody else talking about what "should" be the case doesn't actually answer his question.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2229 - 20/10/2021 17:56:04    2386511