Folks

A group of us are undertaking some research for a club to 'examine the reasons why there is a drop in team membership around the age of 18 and make recommendations for retaining team members'

We believe this is a very interesting topic and would be relevant to a lot of clubs throughout the country. While we are doing the research in a short period of time we believe the option would be there further down the line for more research to be carried out to add to our findings.

I'm sure most of you could relate to your club having the same problem at some stages throughout it's history and how you either dealt with it or failed to deal with it. We believe many of your views could help us in our research.

We have created a survey that we would appreciate you taking the time to fill in. It is a short one so it will not take you very long. We believe our research could be of great benefit to many clubs across the country and the GAA could build upon the research we do in a much bigger scale to improve for the future.

gaaresearch (Antrim) - Posts: 39 - 12/11/2010 14:37:37    815004

one word - Drink! well that was my reason anyway - i found it a lot more fun than getting rings ran round me on the pitch!

stranmillis29 (Antrim) - Posts: 787 - 12/11/2010 14:55:20    815050

membership is too expensive!

wishfulthinkin (Cavan) - Posts: 1709 - 12/11/2010 15:00:23    815058

Done. Best of luck with your research.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 2002 - 12/11/2010 15:13:00    815074

the players that drop out when they are 18 are generally the less talented ones, and the GAA are doing nothing to improve this

titasikram (Tyrone) - Posts: 117 - 12/11/2010 15:15:05    815081

Yes he's right !! I ran a minor team for a few years and some of them dropped out because of drink, drugs and women !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 12/11/2010 15:15:06    815082

Moved to Dublin. Don't remember us having an u-21 team, either that or nobody told me about training/matches hahaha

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12160 - 12/11/2010 15:16:57    815085

Drink and drugs is your answer.

Dellboypolecat (Tyrone) - Posts: 15069 - 12/11/2010 15:31:36    815100

I stopped at 18 aswell for a couple of reasons. Firstly and most importnatly I suppose was because I have a very dodgy back and even though I've been to physios, osteopaths, back specialists, Sean Boylan, fortune tellers etc etc nothing can really be done, I just have dodgy disc's. Secondly it was a bit political, I come from just outside the town so even though I was better than some of the other players on the team, I was sometimes dropped for big games due to favouritism which is very annoying.

And finally of course the gargle had a little bit to do with it and I'd say it's by far the most common reason for players to retire early, I know plenty of very good players who just said 'to hell with this, I'm headin on the batter' and never returned. But in fairness what do you get out of Gaa other than pride, it won't pay the bills so you can't really blame lads for packing it in if the easy life looks more appetizing.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 12/11/2010 15:35:32    815105

The 3 Ds Drink,Drugs and Done in.

fortyfive (Tyrone) - Posts: 5929 - 12/11/2010 15:42:40    815114

Move away to college, girls, drink.

Royal_Girl2k9 (Meath) - Posts: 2107 - 12/11/2010 16:17:46    815163

reasons why players quit g.a.a. don't have time due to work commitments etc serious sacrifices required, people go to collage, drink, women etc

Kenlim (Limerick) - Posts: 864 - 12/11/2010 16:40:33    815209

It must be down to the GPA

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20681 - 12/11/2010 16:49:57    815221

done , my own reason was work commitments and social

b.mullins (Dublin) - Posts: 1413 - 12/11/2010 17:03:58    815238

work commitments drink and women

kildare4sam2010 (Kildare) - Posts: 506 - 12/11/2010 17:05:55    815243

Survey done.

A lot of reasons for the drop off and obviously socialising is an issue but its too easy to say that it is the only reason.

You play with pretty much the same group of lads from U8 up and then after minor it all changes. The same dynamic isn't there and lads can easily slip away. Some lads keep at it while others don't seem to have the same commitment that they once had.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13777 - 12/11/2010 17:22:25    815259

titasikram
County: Tyrone
Posts: 115

815081 the players that drop out when they are 18 are generally the less talented ones, and the GAA are doing nothing to improve this

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Thats not true. Plenty of very talented hurlers have slipped through the net. Unfortunately some hit the drink, some head off to college, some find women, some cant make the step up to adult hurling and some just arent too bothered with hurling. Simple as that.

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 12/11/2010 17:29:11    815272

There are many reasons

Drink , drugs and socializing .. Alot of people just want to have a life and dont see how they can balance having a life with GAA ..

Work commitments and college assesments and so on are other reasons ..

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13654 - 12/11/2010 17:30:31    815276

People just realise GAA isn't going to get them a living so working,social lives,girlfriends and family become more important and prioritised.

proevo (Meath) - Posts: 296 - 12/11/2010 17:37:48    815290

done :) good survey

budlight (Tyrone) - Posts: 540 - 12/11/2010 18:11:03    815326