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Replying To Loughlenegale: "There's a fair bit to unpack in that take, but the biggest issue is the framing - it leans heavily into a kind of football-first bias that quietly assumes hurling should take a back seat when dual-talented players are involved. Exactly what I have come to expect" Exactly, a warning to hurling people. I have been saying we have to be united. When the hurlers were winning Ring and Mcdonagh cups the CB had decent hurling club participation now it is totally football dominant.
jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1963 - 25/05/2026 16:36:19
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Replying To jobber: "Exactly, a warning to hurling people. I have been saying we have to be united. When the hurlers were winning Ring and Mcdonagh cups the CB had decent hurling club participation now it is totally football dominant." Very few people from sole hurling clubs putting themselves forward for county board positions.
Greengrass1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 67 - 29/05/2026 09:57:35
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the whole sense of apathy towards hurling in the county draw stream was clear to see, slotting it in between the football draws and no discussion about it, its alarming how far hurling has gone the pecking order in the county in such a short space of time.
preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 836 - 29/05/2026 13:18:54
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Replying To Dheen: "The minor hurlers performed better overall than the minor footballers this year with only 3 players duel players starting. 13 of the u20 team are underage again next year, those players will all come through over the next couple of years and we will just have to be patient . There was a young team there in 2011/2012 under Brian Hanley after a lot of experienced hurlers stepped away , they were underperforming but he stuck with them despite lots of criticism which in hindsight was the best thing for us going forward, we competed well then between 2014 to 2024. The current team have been underperforming massively and probably would struggle against certain club sides in the county like I said however its a young side and definitely in the midst of a rebuilding phase. The senior footballers have a lot of quality players in their prime and a nice balance of youth and experience, the hurlers have a majority of players under the age of 25 and its clearly showing. We do well to compete in both codes at a good level, we've fallen away in hurling but I do see us coming back stronger in a couple of years time all going well." Flavour of the month stuff. Football is flying high so that's getting all the attention and rightly so. I'd agree with Dheen above. Brian Hanley did a good job blooding in a younger and less experienced group that began to replace the successful Ring team stalwarts of the mid to late noughties, Paul Greville, Darren McCormack, Andrew Mitchell, Enda Loughlin etc.
I think Kevin Martin was manager and won the Christy Ring with us in 2010 but then the following year we lost every game in the league and would have been relegated to division 3 only to be saved by a restructuring of the league format as often happened at the time. Martin got made the scapegoat though for the abysmal showing in the league and Hanley was parachuted in for the championship in 2011 and steadied the ship for the championship.
In fairness the following year Hanley instilled a lot of belief in that group and hit the ground running, I think he trawled the county with a long series of trials and training that winter looking for fresh talent. That hard work and effort paid off when Westmeath shocked Antrim in the first round of the Leinster championship in 2012. That shows how quickly things can change if the effort and commitment levels are there from the players.
The county board can review the season, see how the management team feels about another year, and if the players have faith in the management, then knuckle down and try again anew next year.
RadioactiveTan (UK) - Posts: 52 - 29/05/2026 18:29:43
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Replying To preddan: "the whole sense of apathy towards hurling in the county draw stream was clear to see, slotting it in between the football draws and no discussion about it, its alarming how far hurling has gone the pecking order in the county in such a short space of time." And its not getting better in the short term.Hurling clubs have got complacent and many have forgotten the bad old days which have returned so quickly. This has nothing to do with a brilliant football team but everything to do with our clubs apathy.
jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1963 - 29/05/2026 19:48:00
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Replying To preddan: "the whole sense of apathy towards hurling in the county draw stream was clear to see, slotting it in between the football draws and no discussion about it, its alarming how far hurling has gone the pecking order in the county in such a short space of time." Isn't the groupings in WM predetermined though. Isn't there 6 in senior A, Senior B , intermediate etc and everyone plays each other once? There isnt a lot to talk about id imagine. Ive nothing against that system or anything but im not sure that there is a lot to talk about.
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 526 - 30/05/2026 17:44:50
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Was Conor Murphy injured for New York? Didn't see him even come on as a sub, worrying as he would likely have been a guaranteed started for us this year
westmeathgaa11 (Westmeath) - Posts: 354 - 31/05/2026 00:22:41
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Replying To jobber: "And its not getting better in the short term.Hurling clubs have got complacent and many have forgotten the bad old days which have returned so quickly. This has nothing to do with a brilliant football team but everything to do with our clubs apathy." As a small hurling county the only road to success is to maximise all the resources available to you. We are now on the rebuild road however in doing so we will have nowhere near the turnover of players as appears to be the case on here. Hurling clubs need to rally and get themselves a voice on the board and fix the shortcomings elsewhere. It's a misery how you have senior teams fix to take us down at club level and fall so far back at county level when from the outside the opposite should be the case like Naas and Kildare
Sloweddie (Kilkenny) - Posts: 31 - 31/05/2026 12:38:07
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Replying To jobber: "I have defended management all year against some strong criticism but today's performance was very worrying. Once again conceding a huge score and very questionable selection.
We were playing Down and no disrespect to them a team who we should at least be very competitive with who pushed us aside almost as easily as Laois. Management need to sort out selection, physical and coaching issues by february next year or impatience wont be just the critical minority we have today.
Football is flying in the county so we must ensure playing for the county remains attractive to hurlers and that can only happen when we are candidates to win trophies and return to the top table. We have endured the pain of 2026 and remain in Mcdonagh and bringing on some new players, but now management must ensure the 2027 panel are candidates to win it. The Laois and Down games have raised big doubts about their ability to do it." There was 5 or 6 injuries for the down game in the week before that match. What are management to do if players aren't available through injury and it was a dead rubber game, apathy always lurks for those types of games. You have to give management time this is a rebuild from the foundations up and it's going to be painful.
2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 153 - 01/06/2026 17:20:58
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Replying To jobber: "And its not getting better in the short term.Hurling clubs have got complacent and many have forgotten the bad old days which have returned so quickly. This has nothing to do with a brilliant football team but everything to do with our clubs apathy." Hurling clubs need to look at the landscape of Westmeath hurling and see what do they want from it. Are they happy to mind what they have now, a senior championship that at the moment only LLG seem capable of laying a glove on CTG. And that wheel will turn it always does, somebody else will dominate for a while. While clubs will always bring through their players we don't have the numbers at club level to compete with the corks, Tipps and kks of this world. At senior level you've what 6 or 8 players in each position to pick from if they're capable enough.
What can clubs do when a lot of their players are also playing football for different clubs. It's not complacency it's trying to juggle what you have. It starts at underage do the county board approach the Offaly board and try and form a league for teams at underage from u12 up to u16 to expose children to more hurling. It's a tough one to figure out.
Does the CB have the drive or appetite to set up another hurling club in mullingar and Athlone (I know I can hear the roaring from here).
Do you regionalise teams at underage(after club league and championship is played)in the different age groups based on ability and let those young players get more hurling at a higher level. You can have two or three divisions at that level and move kids up or down as development goes.
Don't shot me I'm only thinking aloud. Anyone anything else that might help.
2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 153 - 01/06/2026 17:49:29
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Replying To 2maroonjerseys: "Hurling clubs need to look at the landscape of Westmeath hurling and see what do they want from it. Are they happy to mind what they have now, a senior championship that at the moment only LLG seem capable of laying a glove on CTG. And that wheel will turn it always does, somebody else will dominate for a while. While clubs will always bring through their players we don't have the numbers at club level to compete with the corks, Tipps and kks of this world. At senior level you've what 6 or 8 players in each position to pick from if they're capable enough.
What can clubs do when a lot of their players are also playing football for different clubs. It's not complacency it's trying to juggle what you have. It starts at underage do the county board approach the Offaly board and try and form a league for teams at underage from u12 up to u16 to expose children to more hurling. It's a tough one to figure out.
Does the CB have the drive or appetite to set up another hurling club in mullingar and Athlone (I know I can hear the roaring from here).
Do you regionalise teams at underage(after club league and championship is played)in the different age groups based on ability and let those young players get more hurling at a higher level. You can have two or three divisions at that level and move kids up or down as development goes.
Don't shot me I'm only thinking aloud. Anyone anything else that might help." Good post. Best to have a few new ideas thrown out there rather than keep trying the same old ráiméis and expecting it to magically to turn into gold. The idea that you put forward of divisional teams has been tried at underage since the 90s at various stages usually when clubs couldn't field on their own. This is still going on with the likes of Na Piarsaigh (LLG, Turin, St. Vincent's (Ringtown and the Wood) and Clann na Gael (Castlepollard and Brownstown) all fielding together at underage, and being much more competitive with the likes of CTG, Clonkill and Raharney who have dominated underage and senior in recent decades.
I would say you need to take your idea a step further and try to create some kind of structure in the barren ashless wastelands of South Westmeath. I have raised the idea previously of trying to gather a couple of football clubs together in the South of the county to try and create a bit more talent coming through. Might not bare fruit for 20 years, but we're not likely to be winning a Leinster Senior hurling final anytime soon so give it a shot. I know people have tried to reintroduce hurling into the South of the county at various times, Moate and Rosemount tried to make a go at underage from time to time, a few of the Rosemount crowd are lining out with CTG from what I've heard. There was hurling in the South in the past, Ardnurcher near Horseleap, and Drumraney between Maryland and Ballymore.
It could be argued that Fr. Dalton's provide in Ballymore have already brought hurling back to that area around Ballymore/Maryland and perhaps show a road map for how you revive hurling in the football mad heartlands of South Westmeath. They are now quite competitive at Senior A level and that club were only fielding at underage in the early 2000s if I'm not mistaken after their adult team went out of existence in the late 90s. They combined with Southern Gaels at underage and I think were making division 1 minor finals then by the late 2000s. Obviously, it was a huge local effort that brought hurling back there and you had figures, like one of the great Westmeath hurlers of the 80s Brian McCabe, driving them on, but in 20 odd years they went from not even existing at Senior level to being at the top table in Westmeath hurling which is no mean feat.
Your idea of making a combined league at underage with Offaly suggestion could be a good one too. I often feel one of the reasons the clubs in the South of the county, particularly Southern Gaels in the past, struggled to maintain interest was a lack of quality nearby rivals. Fr. Dalton's would be nearest to Athlone, maybe 20 mins away, and are going well now, but even to get to CTG takes a half an hour from Athlone nearly. Southern Gaels always feels quite isolated even in South Westmeath's small hurling bubble nevermind the hour plus trek that has to be made to play the likes of Brownstown, Pollard or Delvin at the far end of the county. If Westmeath were playing with Offaly's leagues underage you'd be giving Southern Gaels a chance to possibly build rivalries with good quality teams in West Offaly like Belmont or St. Rynaghs. The whole idea of mixing the leagues at underage in general would be beneficial to probably both Westmeath and Offaly clubs because both counties have such small picks to draw from.
If the county board really wants to push hurling on, you need the big population centres providing opportunities to play hurling to young lads. I understand that certain rural clubs do provide hurling to some of the bigger towns. Like a good few Kinnegad lads line out with Raharney or Fr. Dalton's might get the odd Moate fellah etc. Like really Kinnegad and Moate have the population to support hurling clubs on their own if it was done right. I'd be wary of making a new club in Athlone until at least Southern Gaels are competitive, though maybe I'm wrong and a local rival in Garrycastle or wherever would actually drive on hurling in Athlone.
I'd say Mullingar is kinda catered for with Plunketts and Cullion. What surprises me about Mullingar is how all the clubs are loaded out one side of the town. Cullion and Plunkets in hurling, and Lomans and Shamrocks in football, are all based the North side of the town. I suppose Shandonagh Gaa are kinda on the South Side of the town, but there's nothing out Ballinderry direction or towards Gaybrook, so maybe if you had ambitions of a new Mullingar club put it on the Southside of the town.
None of this cheap or easy of course. Again, just a few suggestions that maybe those older or wiser souls with a bit of clout at the county board level could talk about and see what's feasible to develop hurling in the long term in the county.
RadioactiveTan (UK) - Posts: 52 - 01/06/2026 21:00:39
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Replying To 2maroonjerseys: "Hurling clubs need to look at the landscape of Westmeath hurling and see what do they want from it. Are they happy to mind what they have now, a senior championship that at the moment only LLG seem capable of laying a glove on CTG. And that wheel will turn it always does, somebody else will dominate for a while. While clubs will always bring through their players we don't have the numbers at club level to compete with the corks, Tipps and kks of this world. At senior level you've what 6 or 8 players in each position to pick from if they're capable enough.
What can clubs do when a lot of their players are also playing football for different clubs. It's not complacency it's trying to juggle what you have. It starts at underage do the county board approach the Offaly board and try and form a league for teams at underage from u12 up to u16 to expose children to more hurling. It's a tough one to figure out.
Does the CB have the drive or appetite to set up another hurling club in mullingar and Athlone (I know I can hear the roaring from here).
Do you regionalise teams at underage(after club league and championship is played)in the different age groups based on ability and let those young players get more hurling at a higher level. You can have two or three divisions at that level and move kids up or down as development goes.
Don't shot me I'm only thinking aloud. Anyone anything else that might help." Raharney Castletown final with Johnny G back at the helm in Raharney, Sean Quinn also back for Raharney which could see them win jt. Although David lynch back for ctg is huge
westmeathgaa11 (Westmeath) - Posts: 354 - 01/06/2026 22:20:11
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Replying To RadioactiveTan: "Good post. Best to have a few new ideas thrown out there rather than keep trying the same old ráiméis and expecting it to magically to turn into gold. The idea that you put forward of divisional teams has been tried at underage since the 90s at various stages usually when clubs couldn't field on their own. This is still going on with the likes of Na Piarsaigh (LLG, Turin, St. Vincent's (Ringtown and the Wood) and Clann na Gael (Castlepollard and Brownstown) all fielding together at underage, and being much more competitive with the likes of CTG, Clonkill and Raharney who have dominated underage and senior in recent decades.
I would say you need to take your idea a step further and try to create some kind of structure in the barren ashless wastelands of South Westmeath. I have raised the idea previously of trying to gather a couple of football clubs together in the South of the county to try and create a bit more talent coming through. Might not bare fruit for 20 years, but we're not likely to be winning a Leinster Senior hurling final anytime soon so give it a shot. I know people have tried to reintroduce hurling into the South of the county at various times, Moate and Rosemount tried to make a go at underage from time to time, a few of the Rosemount crowd are lining out with CTG from what I've heard. There was hurling in the South in the past, Ardnurcher near Horseleap, and Drumraney between Maryland and Ballymore.
It could be argued that Fr. Dalton's provide in Ballymore have already brought hurling back to that area around Ballymore/Maryland and perhaps show a road map for how you revive hurling in the football mad heartlands of South Westmeath. They are now quite competitive at Senior A level and that club were only fielding at underage in the early 2000s if I'm not mistaken after their adult team went out of existence in the late 90s. They combined with Southern Gaels at underage and I think were making division 1 minor finals then by the late 2000s. Obviously, it was a huge local effort that brought hurling back there and you had figures, like one of the great Westmeath hurlers of the 80s Brian McCabe, driving them on, but in 20 odd years they went from not even existing at Senior level to being at the top table in Westmeath hurling which is no mean feat.
Your idea of making a combined league at underage with Offaly suggestion could be a good one too. I often feel one of the reasons the clubs in the South of the county, particularly Southern Gaels in the past, struggled to maintain interest was a lack of quality nearby rivals. Fr. Dalton's would be nearest to Athlone, maybe 20 mins away, and are going well now, but even to get to CTG takes a half an hour from Athlone nearly. Southern Gaels always feels quite isolated even in South Westmeath's small hurling bubble nevermind the hour plus trek that has to be made to play the likes of Brownstown, Pollard or Delvin at the far end of the county. If Westmeath were playing with Offaly's leagues underage you'd be giving Southern Gaels a chance to possibly build rivalries with good quality teams in West Offaly like Belmont or St. Rynaghs. The whole idea of mixing the leagues at underage in general would be beneficial to probably both Westmeath and Offaly clubs because both counties have such small picks to draw from.
If the county board really wants to push hurling on, you need the big population centres providing opportunities to play hurling to young lads. I understand that certain rural clubs do provide hurling to some of the bigger towns. Like a good few Kinnegad lads line out with Raharney or Fr. Dalton's might get the odd Moate fellah etc. Like really Kinnegad and Moate have the population to support hurling clubs on their own if it was done right. I'd be wary of making a new club in Athlone until at least Southern Gaels are competitive, though maybe I'm wrong and a local rival in Garrycastle or wherever would actually drive on hurling in Athlone.
I'd say Mullingar is kinda catered for with Plunketts and Cullion. What surprises me about Mullingar is how all the clubs are loaded out one side of the town. Cullion and Plunkets in hurling, and Lomans and Shamrocks in football, are all based the North side of the town. I suppose Shandonagh Gaa are kinda on the South Side of the town, but there's nothing out Ballinderry direction or towards Gaybrook, so maybe if you had ambitions of a new Mullingar club put it on the Southside of the town.
None of this cheap or easy of course. Again, just a few suggestions that maybe those older or wiser souls with a bit of clout at the county board level could talk about and see what's feasible to develop hurling in the long term in the county." A lot of this "new thinking" sounds more like recycled ideas that have been doing the rounds for years without delivering. Talking about new structures or clubs is easy - facing up to why similar approaches haven't worked isn't. Without that honesty, it's just the same conversation dressed up differently (hopefully Castledaly proves an exception).
There's also a clear pattern in the posts - same tone, same angle, just slightly reworded. It's an echo chamber.
The bigger issue is being sidestepped entirely. The current senior setup is underperforming - badly. Across the board: skill execution, decision-making, game management, pace, physicality, scoring return - it's not where it needs to be. That's the reality, and it needs addressing now, not buried under long-term theory.
"give management time this is a rebuild from the foundations up" this sounds fine in principle, but in reality a rebuild shouldn't mean discarding experience. Experience and honesty are crucial in diagnosing problems - not obstacles to progress.
No serious Westmeath supporter thinks we're about to trouble the top teams - and framing it that way is a distraction. The benchmark isn't them right now, it's ourselves. Just look at the minors - that's the level of intent, energy, organisation, and standard we want to see at senior.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath) - Posts: 55 - 02/06/2026 11:53:28
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LLG V Raharney for me.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath) - Posts: 55 - 02/06/2026 11:57:08
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The bigger issue is being sidestepped entirely. The current senior setup is underperforming - badly. Across the board: skill execution, decision-making, game management, pace, physicality, scoring return - it's not where it needs to be. That's the reality, and it needs addressing now, not buried under long-term theory.
"give management time this is a rebuild from the foundations up" this sounds fine in principle, but in reality a rebuild shouldn't mean discarding experience. Experience and honesty are crucial in diagnosing problems - not obstacles to progress.
No serious Westmeath supporter thinks we're about to trouble the top teams - and framing it that way is a distraction. The benchmark isn't them right now, it's ourselves. Just look at the minors - that's the level of intent, energy, organisation, and standard we want to see at senior.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath)
You can coach up to a certain level but if the skill, desire or cuteness isn't there you're at nothing. Minor hurling is totally different to u20 as it is to senior inter county.
From what your saying it's the clubs who need to up there game to produce a higher level of player. That's all well and good but at underage one or two skilled players can dominate any game.
You see it in the go game set up one young lad who has hurling in him is miles ahead of the non hurling household young lad. They learn from a very young age the bad habit that it's only me that can win games (head down, don't look to give a pass only to a teammate they know is as able as them, and shoot from mad angles)while other players are happy enough to be just winning. Supposed to be no score taken in those games all the kids know who's winning and what they've scored. Coaches are happy with the win and it's great but it's not developing enough players to go up through the ranks to senior. The county board should put more emphasis on the skills side of the game from a young age. Striking, rising and soloing anything that gets every child time on the ball and by u12 they are at the very least at a competent level.
The biggest problem is that the kids who want to hurl will any chance they get while other kids the hurl is only picked up to go training and play a match.
If you want to develop kids it's get the ones who want to hurl no matter the ability at a very young age and work on those. How many times have both development squads in both football and hurling pulling from the one pool, football has the bigger pulling power. Get the kids by 12 to do one or the other and stick with it.
2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 153 - 02/06/2026 14:13:03
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Replying To 2maroonjerseys: "The bigger issue is being sidestepped entirely. The current senior setup is underperforming - badly. Across the board: skill execution, decision-making, game management, pace, physicality, scoring return - it's not where it needs to be. That's the reality, and it needs addressing now, not buried under long-term theory.
"give management time this is a rebuild from the foundations up" this sounds fine in principle, but in reality a rebuild shouldn't mean discarding experience. Experience and honesty are crucial in diagnosing problems - not obstacles to progress.
No serious Westmeath supporter thinks we're about to trouble the top teams - and framing it that way is a distraction. The benchmark isn't them right now, it's ourselves. Just look at the minors - that's the level of intent, energy, organisation, and standard we want to see at senior.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath)
You can coach up to a certain level but if the skill, desire or cuteness isn't there you're at nothing. Minor hurling is totally different to u20 as it is to senior inter county.
From what your saying it's the clubs who need to up there game to produce a higher level of player. That's all well and good but at underage one or two skilled players can dominate any game.
You see it in the go game set up one young lad who has hurling in him is miles ahead of the non hurling household young lad. They learn from a very young age the bad habit that it's only me that can win games (head down, don't look to give a pass only to a teammate they know is as able as them, and shoot from mad angles)while other players are happy enough to be just winning. Supposed to be no score taken in those games all the kids know who's winning and what they've scored. Coaches are happy with the win and it's great but it's not developing enough players to go up through the ranks to senior. The county board should put more emphasis on the skills side of the game from a young age. Striking, rising and soloing anything that gets every child time on the ball and by u12 they are at the very least at a competent level.
The biggest problem is that the kids who want to hurl will any chance they get while other kids the hurl is only picked up to go training and play a match.
If you want to develop kids it's get the ones who want to hurl no matter the ability at a very young age and work on those. How many times have both development squads in both football and hurling pulling from the one pool, football has the bigger pulling power. Get the kids by 12 to do one or the other and stick with it." What you seem to be experiencing is simply a lot of sub-standard coaching. The coach should also be influencing the 'skill, desire and cuteness' and also ensuring that 1 or 2 players are not being allowed to dominate Go Games or any underage games.
It is time we accepted that kids keep scores and want to know the score and there is little wrong with that in itself. It is, again, the coaches that need to be parking their pride and doing what is best for their full squad.
I don't think it is correct that the hurling and football development squads are simply pulling from the same pool of players, with a crossover range of only somewhere between 5% to 15% involved with both squads. For sure we have a lot more kids playing football but when it comes to choosing between one or the other we have a high percentage of our top players choosing hurling over football.
Forcing children to choose either hurling or football at 12 will simply hinder their development. There are any amount of studies proving that it is best for elite development to participate in a range of sports to mid-teens at least, with the early specialisation model proving itself to be much less effective.
Having said all of that, our underage hurling scene would seem to be in reasonably good health with a high standard of club hurling being played, resulting in highly commendable performances from a range of school and underage county teams.
Yes we need to grow our numbers, bring more consistency to the level of coaching across all grades and develop a centre of excellence with the aim of being properly competitive and striving to win underage Leinster titles in the not too distant future. Who knows but with a fairer system our minors might have achieved that this season.
As for our seniors, an open and honest review of our season is needed. Let's not bury our heads in the sand simply for the sake of unity.
Maroooned (Westmeath) - Posts: 21 - 03/06/2026 09:57:43
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Replying To 2maroonjerseys: "The bigger issue is being sidestepped entirely. The current senior setup is underperforming - badly. Across the board: skill execution, decision-making, game management, pace, physicality, scoring return - it's not where it needs to be. That's the reality, and it needs addressing now, not buried under long-term theory.
"give management time this is a rebuild from the foundations up" this sounds fine in principle, but in reality a rebuild shouldn't mean discarding experience. Experience and honesty are crucial in diagnosing problems - not obstacles to progress.
No serious Westmeath supporter thinks we're about to trouble the top teams - and framing it that way is a distraction. The benchmark isn't them right now, it's ourselves. Just look at the minors - that's the level of intent, energy, organisation, and standard we want to see at senior.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath)
You can coach up to a certain level but if the skill, desire or cuteness isn't there you're at nothing. Minor hurling is totally different to u20 as it is to senior inter county.
From what your saying it's the clubs who need to up there game to produce a higher level of player. That's all well and good but at underage one or two skilled players can dominate any game.
You see it in the go game set up one young lad who has hurling in him is miles ahead of the non hurling household young lad. They learn from a very young age the bad habit that it's only me that can win games (head down, don't look to give a pass only to a teammate they know is as able as them, and shoot from mad angles)while other players are happy enough to be just winning. Supposed to be no score taken in those games all the kids know who's winning and what they've scored. Coaches are happy with the win and it's great but it's not developing enough players to go up through the ranks to senior. The county board should put more emphasis on the skills side of the game from a young age. Striking, rising and soloing anything that gets every child time on the ball and by u12 they are at the very least at a competent level.
The biggest problem is that the kids who want to hurl will any chance they get while other kids the hurl is only picked up to go training and play a match.
If you want to develop kids it's get the ones who want to hurl no matter the ability at a very young age and work on those. How many times have both development squads in both football and hurling pulling from the one pool, football has the bigger pulling power. Get the kids by 12 to do one or the other and stick with it." Your points
Our senior hurlers are un-coachable with no skill desire or cuteness, and this is the club's fault.
The hurling families in the county have poisoned their children into believing that they are 1-man Teams.
County Board (GAA) go games system is a failure and need to be revaluated.
Force Choose @12 between hurling & Gaelic Football (or all other sports?)
There is always room to improve and WH Hurling needs work but to address your main points.
Calling senior players "un-coachable" with no desire is a lazy, classic scapegoat for systemic management failures. If players look lost, it is a failure of tactical game-management, modern conditioning, and execution drills at senior training-not a lack of innate "cuteness."
Accusing traditional hurling families of encouraging their children into being selfish ego-trippers is complete nonsense. If a kid is playing with their head down and refusing to pass, that is a failure of coaching, not parenting. Hurling families are the only reason the game is alive in Westmeath. They are the ones putting hurls in kids' hands at age three, driving them to fields, and keeping clubs afloat.
Suggestion Go Games is a failure because children keep score. Kids will always count goals; you cannot program the competitive drive out of them. The system isn't broken because a child wants to win.
Forcing 12-year-olds to pick one sport would immediately hand a monopoly to massive football clubs while stripping hurling clubs of their most valuable resource young players.
In a county with Westmeath's demographics, rural clubs rely on the exact same pool of players. If you split that pool at U12, hurling numbers collapse overnight, clubs fold, and you drastically reduce the overall athletic talent pool for both county teams. A club like Clonkill would potentially collapse due to the domination of football super clubs like The Downs & St Lomans.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath) - Posts: 55 - 03/06/2026 12:35:42
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Replying To Loughlenegale: "Your points
Our senior hurlers are un-coachable with no skill desire or cuteness, and this is the club's fault.
The hurling families in the county have poisoned their children into believing that they are 1-man Teams.
County Board (GAA) go games system is a failure and need to be revaluated.
Force Choose @12 between hurling & Gaelic Football (or all other sports?)
There is always room to improve and WH Hurling needs work but to address your main points.
Calling senior players "un-coachable" with no desire is a lazy, classic scapegoat for systemic management failures. If players look lost, it is a failure of tactical game-management, modern conditioning, and execution drills at senior training-not a lack of innate "cuteness."
Accusing traditional hurling families of encouraging their children into being selfish ego-trippers is complete nonsense. If a kid is playing with their head down and refusing to pass, that is a failure of coaching, not parenting. Hurling families are the only reason the game is alive in Westmeath. They are the ones putting hurls in kids' hands at age three, driving them to fields, and keeping clubs afloat.
Suggestion Go Games is a failure because children keep score. Kids will always count goals; you cannot program the competitive drive out of them. The system isn't broken because a child wants to win.
Forcing 12-year-olds to pick one sport would immediately hand a monopoly to massive football clubs while stripping hurling clubs of their most valuable resource young players.
In a county with Westmeath's demographics, rural clubs rely on the exact same pool of players. If you split that pool at U12, hurling numbers collapse overnight, clubs fold, and you drastically reduce the overall athletic talent pool for both county teams. A club like Clonkill would potentially collapse due to the domination of football super clubs like The Downs & St Lomans." We're back to square one, numbers. While football is the dominant sport and you're relying on those that do both to keep hurling going and produce senior players up to what you want which is a decent inter county standard then you've to pare it back to the minimum and try and figure it out.
I never said traditional families are encouraging their kids to be selfish you've missed my point. Traditional families are what keeping the game going. Why because either the mam or dad is out playing hurling and showing the kids how to hurl correctly re grip, hitting and rising the ball. As I said non playing families don't do that so it's easier give them a phone, I pad or football. As I said no hurling played at all only at training or a match so no improvement it's easier let the lads who can can and they'll eventually fall away from it.
Go games as said above those who can can they dominate the go games and there's no need or hope to improve the lesser lights because coaches are getting the wins at that age where I'm sure they're(coaches)trying like mad to encourage the weaker players to improve but if there not practicing at home or even going for a puck around with a parent or sibling at that age forget about it. So make it more of a skills competition which encourages and helps kids stay at the sport. Eg walk the width of the pitch doing keepie uppies great for hand eye coordination and making something that appears hard to master an easy task. It's the little things.
I'm not forcing any child to pick one or the other it's choosing the development squads at u14. Play all the hurling or football you want with your club or clubs but when it comes to county development it's either one or other not both at that age. So rather than every second weekend at both the kid can hurl or play football every weekend at that level as I said you can't ride two horses at the onetime.
As for the senior hurlers we have to accept that like Kilkenny they're not there at the moment much and all as we'd love them to be a lot better. So we can shout and roar and blame coaches and say they should be sacked we're back to square one. Time is what's needed to give the coaches and players the time and space to improve together.
2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 153 - 03/06/2026 15:00:40
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Replying To 2maroonjerseys: "We're back to square one, numbers. While football is the dominant sport and you're relying on those that do both to keep hurling going and produce senior players up to what you want which is a decent inter county standard then you've to pare it back to the minimum and try and figure it out.
I never said traditional families are encouraging their kids to be selfish you've missed my point. Traditional families are what keeping the game going. Why because either the mam or dad is out playing hurling and showing the kids how to hurl correctly re grip, hitting and rising the ball. As I said non playing families don't do that so it's easier give them a phone, I pad or football. As I said no hurling played at all only at training or a match so no improvement it's easier let the lads who can can and they'll eventually fall away from it.
Go games as said above those who can can they dominate the go games and there's no need or hope to improve the lesser lights because coaches are getting the wins at that age where I'm sure they're(coaches)trying like mad to encourage the weaker players to improve but if there not practicing at home or even going for a puck around with a parent or sibling at that age forget about it. So make it more of a skills competition which encourages and helps kids stay at the sport. Eg walk the width of the pitch doing keepie uppies great for hand eye coordination and making something that appears hard to master an easy task. It's the little things.
I'm not forcing any child to pick one or the other it's choosing the development squads at u14. Play all the hurling or football you want with your club or clubs but when it comes to county development it's either one or other not both at that age. So rather than every second weekend at both the kid can hurl or play football every weekend at that level as I said you can't ride two horses at the onetime.
As for the senior hurlers we have to accept that like Kilkenny they're not there at the moment much and all as we'd love them to be a lot better. So we can shout and roar and blame coaches and say they should be sacked we're back to square one. Time is what's needed to give the coaches and players the time and space to improve together." You're trying to hold a few positions here that don't really align.
On one hand, you're saying we should narrow focus early and concentrate on the kids who really want to hurl. But at the same time, you're highlighting that numbers are already an issue. Narrowing the base earlier will only make that worse, not better.
You say you're not forcing kids to choose between codes but then suggest that at development squad level they should pick one. In reality, that is forcing a pathway choice, even if it's not at club level.
So we're not back to square one at all. If hurling's future depends solely on traditional hurling families, then the game is already limiting its own growth. The challenge is developing players from non-hurling backgrounds, not accepting they can't reach the same level.
Kids don't improve by avoiding competition; they improve by playing. Skills are important, but games teach decision-making, awareness and confidence in a way drills never will so a blended approach works.
And asking players to choose at U14 is a solution to an administrative problem, not a development one. Some of the best players in the country thrived because they played both codes for longer, not because they specialised earlier.
As for the seniors, patience matters, but patience without progress is just waiting. Nobody expects overnight success, but it's fair to expect clear improvement, accountability and higher standards along the way.
Loughlenegale (Westmeath) - Posts: 55 - 03/06/2026 17:19:53
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Kids don't improve by avoiding competition; they improve by playing. Skills are important, but games teach decision-making, awareness and confidence in a way drills never will so a blended approach works.
If you get the basics right first off and correct to start with you make hurling easier for kids to play as the get introduced to competition lets say from u10 go games. Make it skills based under6 and under 8.
As for playing both codes to improve both and round them out as better players, in all my time on this planet I've yet to meet a dual Kilkenny player.
Dual inter county players are a thing of the past.
If you want to improve hurling you have to go at it full throttle it's more hurling, coaching the younger the better. More training sessions and games, otherwise we will be here going back and forth in twenty years time arguing over the same problems.
2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 153 - 03/06/2026 17:39:50
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