Replying To Pikeman96: "Let's leave soccer aside, then. But the question still remains.
If you want GAA finished before October, that means you want it finished in September.
U14 championships really only get going in May. That means you want only five months of the whole year to cover football and hurling for boys of that age.
U16 & U18 championships only get going after the Junior and Leaving Certs. Let's say middle of June. That means you want the entire U16 & U18 hurling and football championships squashed into only three and a half months of the whole year. Anybody knocked out at semi-final stage would be finished in only three months.
Do you really think that's enough hurling and football action for lads aged between 13 and 18?"
U14 games started 11th April. U15 Féile started in February U16 games started 4th February. U18 games started 11th February.
If you take U14 as an example, there would be 7 hurling and 7 football games before the quarter finals. A similar amount of games in the rising stars and if clubs are doing their job properly they'll have another 5 or 6 challenge games to ensure everyone is getting game time, that's a minimum of 30 games. When you include training, most U14 Teams would have 3 group sessions a week from February to October, that's roughly 80 to 100 group sessions over the season.
Id love to hurl all year round but the weather and the dark evenings don't allow it. Instead of dragging it out let them go play something else and come back rearing to go again.
They'll still be getting plenty of hurling with the schools if they're interested. And most important they're not listening to the same voice all year!!!
Replying To WEX98: "U14 games started 11th April. U15 Féile started in February U16 games started 4th February. U18 games started 11th February.
If you take U14 as an example, there would be 7 hurling and 7 football games before the quarter finals. A similar amount of games in the rising stars and if clubs are doing their job properly they'll have another 5 or 6 challenge games to ensure everyone is getting game time, that's a minimum of 30 games. When you include training, most U14 Teams would have 3 group sessions a week from February to October, that's roughly 80 to 100 group sessions over the season.
Id love to hurl all year round but the weather and the dark evenings don't allow it. Instead of dragging it out let them go play something else and come back rearing to go again.
They'll still be getting plenty of hurling with the schools if they're interested. And most important they're not listening to the same voice all year!!!"
Did you organise u14 rising stars games for yourselves this year? We were thinking about doing that next year.
Replying To WEX98: "U14 games started 11th April. U15 Féile started in February U16 games started 4th February. U18 games started 11th February.
If you take U14 as an example, there would be 7 hurling and 7 football games before the quarter finals. A similar amount of games in the rising stars and if clubs are doing their job properly they'll have another 5 or 6 challenge games to ensure everyone is getting game time, that's a minimum of 30 games. When you include training, most U14 Teams would have 3 group sessions a week from February to October, that's roughly 80 to 100 group sessions over the season.
Id love to hurl all year round but the weather and the dark evenings don't allow it. Instead of dragging it out let them go play something else and come back rearing to go again.
They'll still be getting plenty of hurling with the schools if they're interested. And most important they're not listening to the same voice all year!!!"
We do indoor in the Joseph's all through winter with a smaller group from October to January.
Replying To WEX98: "U14 games started 11th April. U15 Féile started in February U16 games started 4th February. U18 games started 11th February.
If you take U14 as an example, there would be 7 hurling and 7 football games before the quarter finals. A similar amount of games in the rising stars and if clubs are doing their job properly they'll have another 5 or 6 challenge games to ensure everyone is getting game time, that's a minimum of 30 games. When you include training, most U14 Teams would have 3 group sessions a week from February to October, that's roughly 80 to 100 group sessions over the season.
Id love to hurl all year round but the weather and the dark evenings don't allow it. Instead of dragging it out let them go play something else and come back rearing to go again.
They'll still be getting plenty of hurling with the schools if they're interested. And most important they're not listening to the same voice all year!!!"
U14, which is the age group you concentrate on, is best-served of the three age groups in question here. U16 & U18 are different.
What started in February for those ages were the "Developmental Leagues" - the equivalent of the adult All-County Leagues, where clubs play without their county players. They're beset by all the same issues as the adult leagues, and some of them may never even be finished. For example, my own club won two quarter-finals back in May (one Cup, one Shield), but we're still waiting for semi-final fixtures, and I doubt at this stage if we'll ever get them.
Of the matches we did play, there were long gaps between some of them. For example, U16 Football League - first two group games in the first half of February. Third (and final) group game wasn't played until end of April. And in U16 Hurling League - three group games between end of February and St. Patrick's Day. Quarter-final wasn't played until middle of May.
However, U16 championships didn't start until second half of June. U18 championships didn't start until very end of June. If you really do want to finish them by the end of September, then you really are looking at only three to three and a half months per year of "proper" club action for players at those ages.
Replying To Pikeman96: "One-quarter of teams get a trophy and a set of winners medals. Another quarter of teams get a set of runner-up medals. Half of teams get nothing.
Basically, things are set up such that every team makes a semi-final of some sort (either Cup or Shield).
Can't speak for other clubs, but I know that in mine, it's certainly not a case of "pulling to get into a Shield". Of six teams this year (hurling & football at U14, U16 & U18), four of them unfortunately ended up in the Shields, and there was disappointment in all four cases.
And I note that you're another one who wants to squash all underage hurling and football into no more than five months of the year. How on earth are we supposed to develop players for the future if we adopt an attitude of "let's get it out of the way quickly, so that it doesn't interfere with the soccer" ?"
As far as im aware the underage season starts in February (with Minors) and im suggesting that it should be over in September. thats 8 months. My point is that it takes too long to finish out the season - with the current setup from the time that the leagues finish until the season is over takes 8 weeks a couple of years ago my club was 7 weeks waiting for a county final and we then had to play two finals within 4 days of each other under lights in St Patricks park in the last week of october. Shorten the yearend programme get it done in 4 weeks. After that the people really interested will be playing with their schools. The current system is frustrating as hell and doesnt do anything to improve standards or the retention of players.