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Fermanagh, Longford & Leitrim will join Cavan in not fielding intercounty hurling teams within 10 years unless glaring problems are addressed now. This is the reality unless action is taken, although I saw recently where Fermanagh have set up an U12 hurling league with 6 teams competing.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 12/04/2016 16:16:25    1844809

This posted on the Kilkenny page , now your in a glasshouse put that stone down


1 hurling club in Fermanagh,absolute disgrace ,throw the Fermanagh county board out of all fixtures until our national sport is played in every single game club in Fermanagh,simply not acceptable,the hurlers have more guts & ability & trophys than the muckball ,sorry football will EVER have ,times up for this county board

southerncat79 (Kilkenny) - Posts:2 - 12/04/2016 14:27:36

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 12/04/2016 16:43:45    1844831

its down to investment and planning , if there are no structures or support for underage hurling it will die out simple as that .
I see it here in Mayo from year to year where for a couple of years it will be on the up and the following couple on the decline.
we never seem to make a break though just stay static .... its much the same in all the other weaker counties ..

HurlerOnTheFenc (Mayo) - Posts: 282 - 12/04/2016 16:51:30    1844837

Southerncat how is that horse you are sitting on? It looks to be quite high from down here.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 12/04/2016 17:03:53    1844845

I would agree that hurling is the more attractive game and it is sad that this is how things are going in some counties (in fact a lot more than were mentioned, mine included) but the comments of southerncat are very hard to take seriously. Fermanagh, like Kilkenny, is a small county with limited resources so naturally they put those resources into achieving in one code in order to have relative success as opposed to underachieving at two. Kilkenny know all about this idea because there's not a football kicked in anger from one end of the county to the other. There is no facts to whose players are tougher or trophies etc whatever that rant was about?? its all about preference and Ulster, unlike Munster, largely has a preference for football.

From a personal perspective I love both games but give me a ticket to the AI hurling final over the football every year. It would be nice to see some real investment and promotion of hurling all over the Island before places in England and America produce teams capable of beating several counties in Ireland.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2385 - 12/04/2016 17:36:21    1844860

Plenty of clubs play football in Kilkenny from underage to adult level. The same can't be said for hurling in counties like Fermanagh.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 12/04/2016 19:50:39    1844915

why did Kilkenny footballers withdraw their team then keeper? I may be wrong but I think Fermanagh have the least amount of senior clubs within a county, their choice of players can be extremely limited for football let alone hurling.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2385 - 12/04/2016 20:45:01    1844947

People don't give out about Fermanagh/Leitrim/Cavan having negligable hurling because there's safety in numbers amongst all the weak hurling teams. The gap between Dublin and Waterford in football is as big as it is between Fermanagh and Kilkenny in the hurling. The reason nobody cares is because there's a bunch of counties at Fermanagh's level at hurling, so it gives the impression they are making an honest effort and competing. They even have the likes of Warwickshire and Fingal down there in case they run out of traditional counties to compete with.

There's nobody at Kilkenny's level of football, so people like to single them out, even though football there is thriving compared to how hurling is in a lot of counties.

A lot of it is also bitterness. Nobody complains about Fermanagh prioritising football, because Fermanagh don't win much at football. Kilkenny meanwhile are phenomenally successful in hurling, so will naturally create a lot of resentment and people looking to discredit them.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1643 - 12/04/2016 21:22:36    1844963

CastleBravo (Meath)

I think that's fair comment. And there is no equivalent to the Lory Meaghar or Nicky Rackard in football, so Kilkenny don't have the option of dropping down to a 4th tier. In hurling, a sizable number of counties make the equivalent effort in hurling that Kilkenny do in football, the same could not be said vice versa. Kilkenny are unique in that they are the only county that treats football like alot of counties treat hurling. Unfortunately, that puts them at a level where they have no competition of an equivalent level.
I think they ended up competing in the British Championship last year, not sure if that's a permanent fixture.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 12/04/2016 21:44:26    1844971

Just maybe southern cat was posting with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, particularly given the amount of whinging that goes on about Kilkenny footballers!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 13/04/2016 11:33:30    1845044

sadly keeper, judging by most of the responses to your OP nobody cares , theyd rather fire cheap digs at kilkenny

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 13/04/2016 11:37:11    1845048

When I was a pup keeper there was a good 5/6 underage teams taking part in underage hurling games. There was Erne Gaels, Belcoo, Enniskillen, Lisbellaw, St Josephs and Lisnaskea. However only Lisbellaw and Lisnaskea are still playing at senior level. For me this came down to the lack of interest in the small ball game. The effort was put in by the clubs but there was no uptake from the youth to keep playing. Can you force someone to play a game they aren't interested in?

On a separate not a lot of county hurlers in Fermanagh have a tendency to look down on the big ball game. I'm not sure why but i have noticed there is a certain sense of smugness from the hurlers.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 13/04/2016 11:45:19    1845056

CastleBravo
The gap between Dublin and Waterford in football is as big as it is between Fermanagh and Kilkenny in the hurling
Without meaning any disrespect to Fermanagh hurlers, that comment makes me think you have never seen them or the other teams who operate at that level play.
It is an almost impossible task to sort a problem like this out. Football is the main sport in these counties and, in Fermanagh especially, I am told football clubs play a lot of games in a season. This is what the large majority want, but it leaves little room to try and develop hurling. All that can be done is to invest in the game at youth level and in schools to try and develop a love for the game and to make sure that if someone wants to try the game there is an outlet for them.
It is comparable to the situation with soccer and rugby there. In soccer there are lots of teams and a local league, in rugby I think there is only one club in the county and they have to travel to places like Inishowen and Belfast every second weekend if they want to have a game.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 13/04/2016 12:13:49    1845084

gotmilk,

"When I was a pup keeper there was a good 5/6 underage teams taking part in underage hurling games. There was Erne Gaels, Belcoo, Enniskillen, Lisbellaw, St Josephs and Lisnaskea. However only Lisbellaw and Lisnaskea are still playing at senior level. For me this came down to the lack of interest in the small ball game. The effort was put in by the clubs but there was no uptake from the youth to keep playing. Can you force someone to play a game they aren't interested in?

On a separate not a lot of county hurlers in Fermanagh have a tendency to look down on the big ball game. I'm not sure why but i have noticed there is a certain sense of smugness from the hurlers."

The teams competing in the new U12 league are Belnaleck, Lisbellaw, Enniskillen, Knocks, Ederney & Erne Gaels. Interestingly, Lisnaskea are not among those teams & (like Knocks) haven't fielded at senior for a number of years. As for forcing someone to play a game they're not interested in, do you really think kids in Fermanagh are different from kids in Kilkenny??? The only difference is the tradition & promotion (or lack of) of hurling in their envirnment.

Not sure what you mean about the county hurlers & smugness. They continue to play above their station & are representing your county with pride in spite of their bleak set of circumstances.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 13/04/2016 13:48:52    1845155

Firstly,

There is no onus from Croke Park, The Ulster council and so forth for Fermanagh (in this instance, but there's loads like them) County Board to promote hurling on an equal footing as football especially at club underage level, if anything the Ulster Council and their Tain league has let a lot of these counties off scott free. They were all encouraged to drop whatever adult hurling leagues they had an row in behind the Tain league wholeheartedly.
In both Down and Derry the hurling clubs had just enough power at CB level to prevent this from happening and maintained an adult club league of some description in-spite of the Ulster Council. The much lauded Tain League has a very high rate of games not competed as the games as squeezed in willy nilly and there's excessive travelling. Its a shambles, time to pull the plug and get youth structures up and running in these counties.

How many Derry teams are now, like the Down teams getting underage and adult teams into the Antrim leagues for proper fixtures? Why?

What are the Ulster Council doing to promote hurling? They had a Ulster Hurling development seminar in Stabane the same day Cushendall were playing in an AI semi-final. That tells you all you need to know about their organisational skills!

Secondly,
Within each County like Fermanagh there has to be a timetable in place where hurling fixtures can be played off without asking players to chose between hurling and football. There has to be hurling free nights.
I've heard it said once that x and y dual clubs couldn't field at U16 hurling as their minor footballers were playing the same night! Sure there's no interest in the hurling is all you get. In certain instances that's bullsh*t. Don't make youngsters have to chose and that also applies to Kilkenny in the football.

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 13/04/2016 13:51:25    1845159

The teams competing in the new U12 league are Belnaleck, Lisbellaw, Enniskillen, Knocks, Ederney & Erne Gaels. Interestingly, Lisnaskea are not among those teams & (like Knocks) haven't fielded at senior for a number of years. As for forcing someone to play a game they're not interested in, do you really think kids in Fermanagh are different from kids in Kilkenny??? The only difference is the tradition & promotion (or lack of) of hurling in their envirnment.

Not sure what you mean about the county hurlers & smugness. They continue to play above their station & are representing your county with pride in spite of their bleak set of circumstances.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts:2793 - 13/04/2016 13:48:52 1845155

Bellnaleck is the same parish as Belcoo and the knocks isn't to far from Lisnaskea. I think they may be the same parish too. When I was younger the appetite of the kids was to play football, not hurling. It's great to see the underage teams reemerge though. I'd love to see some form of competitive hurling in Fermanagh.

This isn't an anti fermanagh hurlers rant by me either. But speaking to county hurlers they would often look down on those that play football. An older gentleman who uses the facilities where i work spent 10 minutes recently telling me why the footballers were useless and the hurlers were the best thing since sliced bread. I like to see the Fermanagh hurlers do well though. I don't know if this happens in other counties but the small game enthusiasts tend to look down their noses at the big ball.

Anyway i do agree that the county board could do more to promote the game in the county, but if the money isn't there they can't promote it.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 13/04/2016 14:02:17    1845166

On a separate not a lot of county hurlers in Fermanagh have a tendency to look down on the big ball game. I'm not sure why but i have noticed there is a certain sense of smugness from the hurlers.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts:2813 - 13/04/2016 11:45:19

It's not unique to your county hurlers gotmilk: in my experience a lot of hurling people look down on gaelic football.

It's all very fine and well someone from Kilkenny cocking a snook at Fermanagh's efforts in hurling, but he seems to forget that around half of that county's population are unionists, who could range from indifferent to actively hostile to gaelic games: hardly a problem Kilkenny have to contend with.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 13/04/2016 14:05:51    1845169

Gotmilk,
while you may have experienced one older man telling you how great the hurlers are and how bad the footballers are in Fermanagh, I don't think you can then translate this into a bold sweeping statement that the county hurlers look down their noses at football. In fact, at least 20 of the county hurling squad play club football. How many of the county footballers play club (and county for that matter) hurling? 1 - Daniel Teague, one of very few dual stars in the country. But that is completely irrelevant, as this thread is not about the players in either code, It's about the insufficient efforts made by the CB to facilitate the growth of hurling within the county. Unfortunately they are not the only ones to blame, as at this point the parents of kids interested in playing small ball may well tell them "not to waste their time with hurling and focus on the football". This mindset, which is tragically far, far too common among the ranks of the GAA community in the county, is ingrained to the point where it will take a monumental effort to make any significant progress in the county.
I can say that with the current set up, factually in 10 years time Fermanagh would be capable of lining out a county team, and it likely would be fit to compete as their are some quality hurlers coming through. However, by that stage it would be a team entirely composed of those playing club hurling for Lisbellaw - the county team would exist but it wouldn't be in the capacity that it should be. As for the absolutely disgraceful suggestion that Fermanagh should be barred from competing until hurling is being played at every club - this is nothing more than insult to the resilience of a group of players who have done nothing more than play a game that they love. There is no logic to punishing them for the factors which prevent hurling from flourishing in the county (GAA population, underage infrastructure, and unfortunately the general opinion of the sport in the county)

RudeMessage (Fermanagh) - Posts: 9 - 13/04/2016 14:50:49    1845202

Spot on, RudeMessage!!!

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 13/04/2016 15:55:19    1845246

Even the great Henry Shefflin kicks a bit of football for his club...because he's a GAA man & he's a club man. That's the spirit we need to see more of among GAA people instead of petty squabbling & jealousy. Ok so Ballyhale is a serious, serious hurling club but they still field a football team. How many dual players were there on the Ballyboden team that won the All-Ireland? Slaughtneil in Derry look to be capable of perhaps winning Ulster in football & in hurling. A good number of Tipperary minors played in last year's hurling & football finals. This should be the mantra of our clubs & counties from top to bottom.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 13/04/2016 16:05:24    1845252