Westmeath unveil Strategic Plan
February 04, 2010GAA President Christy Cooney was on hand at the Mullingar Park Hotel to launch the initiative, which will tackle the huge discrepancy between the numbers of underage GAA and soccer teams in large urban areas such as Athlone and Mullingar.
It has emerged that there are 22 underage soccer teams in Athlone, with just two juvenile gaelic football clubs and one club catering for underage hurling.
According to the report - part of a comprehensive strategy across a wide range of areas which the Westmeath County Board hopes to implement before 2015:
"Rather than being negative about the competition, should we not be copying their modus operandi and developing Gaelic teams based on large estates and districts to feed in at a higher level to the established clubs?
"Games can be arranged at U8, U10 and U12 level on greens within estates, while also using town facilities.
"Clubs themselves must decide if they can keep going by only being able to field on an irregular basis. Realistically, if you can only field 10 players at U12 level, how many do you expect to field at U16 and minor level?
"This is a difficulty and, no doubt controversial, issue but it is a topic that must be addressed in the lifetime of this plan." Tweet
