This came out of another discussion but its basically around the idea of counties making the brave, if primarily futile attempt, to turn out decent senior teams in both codes VERSUS the 'mono-coders' of Kerry, Kilkenny, Mayo, Donegal etc.
Galway, Cork, Dublin, Tipperary, and also Clare, Limerick, Antrim, Wexford, Laois, and Offaly at least attempt to put out viable, credible teams in BOTH codes - the 'mono-coders'of Mayo, Kerry, Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan and of course Kilkenny are allowed to focus 99% of their resources on one code only - that is the reality. Their 'other' team seem little more than a token effort by their respective county boards and are nowhere even near elite level - for many well-founded reasons.
The problem is, this is arguably creating an unfair advantage versus Dual-GAA counties, that in a more professional era are struggling to keep all sides going. I think its time to kick off a proper debate in the GAA about how funding is allocated in light of this issue - I would argue that every SENIOR club in the country must start an underage program, or at least form a cluster club with adjacent junior level parishes, in the other code from the one they specialise in. And they must bring them right through the underage levels from U-8 / U-10 to adult playing age. County boards would have to bring on this program within their counties. It would certainly help spread the hurling gospel in an era where one team's dominance (and that's not all their fault!) is making the championship tedious and off-putting to a great many neutrals. It would be also nice to see some very specific funding and upskilling/coaching support being allocated to the minority code in the likes of Kilkenny and Kerry.

BurshtOut (Galway) - Posts: 12 - 07/09/2015 16:15:30    1784122

'Mono coders'

We are Division 1 in Hurling, are ye Divison 1 in Football?

With almost twice our population to boot

KYTitletown (Kerry) - Posts: 816 - 07/09/2015 16:25:51    1784133

If counties want to prioritise one, they lose out on the other one. That is already the trade off for people and the ones in mono-counties have accepted it. Maybe the real question is why do counties that don't have the facilities to do it, persist with trying to be a duel county - is it down to their own arrogance?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 07/09/2015 16:27:36    1784135

Kerry are playing in the ALl Ireland Senior Hurling Championship next year :-) - can we now be associated with being a DUAL county!

woops (Kerry) - Posts: 2073 - 07/09/2015 16:29:06    1784137

sadly some counties just don't have the history of being a hurling region and it is very difficult to get hurling up and running in an area which has little history of it. To be fair to Mayo they have spent a lot of resources in hurling, and after some initial success the growth seems to have evened off.

Rosineri1 (UK) - Posts: 2099 - 07/09/2015 16:36:30    1784145

Can't call Kerry a mono coder any more.

Serious work has gone on there in hurling over the last 15 years. Going back as far as 2003 we were fair lucky not to be knocked out by the Green & Gold, a late rally securing us a 0-24 to 1-14 win.

Actually bar a few horrendous results v Cork (I know Cork won one game 2-32 to 0-4 but they had done the same to Waterford in the 82 Munster Final) & Tipp in the 90's & 00's Kerry hurling has been reasonable. There was the victory in 92 over Waterford and we also played them in 88 & 89. We won 6-14 to 1-9 in 88 in Kilmallock, but the year after needed a late flurry of goals to beat them 6-11 to 3-10. We were losing going into the last 10 minutes.

So ...... Kerry have tried at least at Senior hurling, they had a great 2015, let's see how they do in 2016.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 07/09/2015 16:41:40    1784153

This lazy and completely inaccurate crap gets spouted on here at least 1 every 3 months, our Galway friend is the latest to do it without one iota of knowledge as to the situation of hurling in Kerry.

We are playing in the same division as Offaly, Limerick, Clare and Wexford next season. We have been the most dominant county in the Christy Ring in the past 5 years, we are cleaning the board in the B All Ireland championships at every grade in hurling.

But even though all this info is just a google search away, you still have fella's on here trying using the same old line 'sure if Kerry are as successful as Kilkenny, they must be ignoring the other code the same'.

Kerry has always been a dual county (with a senior hurling title to boot), aim your discussion at the likes of Kilkenny, Cavan, Monaghan places which genuinely seem to have contempt for the other code...

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 07/09/2015 16:52:56    1784160

Burshtout, to quote Tommy Gorman in his famous post-Saipan interview with Roy Keane;

"this is hurting you, isn't it?"

ballydalane (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1256 - 07/09/2015 17:03:02    1784170

Come down yourself and tell the North Kerrymen that they are mono coders and you'll soon find out how wrong you are.....boy.

thykingdomcome1 (Kerry) - Posts: 78 - 07/09/2015 20:47:55    1784280

Kind of a pointless thread. In Galway, north and west in football and south and east is hurling. We have 35 hurling only, 35 football only and 10 dual clubs. I don't think the issue is whether we should concentrate on one, but that the coaching and fixtures structures need to be much better. Look at galways record in both codes in the last 10 years, we won the under 21 double in 2005 & ,2011. Our issue is developing our good underage stars into good senior stars. Besides, in all the one code clubs in Galway, your chances of getting them to drop that code in favour of the other just so galway can win all irelands are nil. In hurling for example, we have more clubs than Kilkenny so should be doing better. The face AC is there until 2017 is excellent. We did reach both senior all Ireland's in 2001 so I don't see that as an issue. We just need to work better with what we have.

galwaydublin (Galway) - Posts: 226 - 08/09/2015 08:31:15    1784322

Exactly ThyKingdom!

Come down here to Kilflynn and head into Parker's pub and tell us we're 'mono-codes'

I wonder what post you'll write then when your trying to pull out the hurley one of the lads has shoved up your ass!!!

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 08/09/2015 09:41:00    1784344

TheMaster
County: Mayo
Posts: 13820

1784135
If counties want to prioritise one, they lose out on the other one. That is already the trade off for people and the ones in mono-counties have accepted it. Maybe the real question is why do counties that don't have the facilities to do it, persist with trying to be a duel county - is it down to their own arrogance?

Nothing to do with arrogance and all to do with history in most counties.

Take North Kerry as an example. Hurling has always been played there, hurling will always be played there. Same as somewhere like Burt in Donegal.

West Clare in football country in a hurling county. Always has been, always will be.

There pockets of either football or hurling in counties provides the bulk of the county team in the weaker sport.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13819 - 08/09/2015 10:35:33    1784393

For me its a bit of a lazy assumption that a lot have (including many in my county) that to be successful at one you must just concentrate on one.

There is a core group within my own County who are convinced we would be up there competing with Kilkenny only for football. Its trotted out ad nauseam every time our hurlers struggle, so much so we even had in recent years official county board letters sent to dual clubs asking them to concentrate on hurling only.

The ironic thing is all Clubs in Wexford are dual clubs and play both grades to a degree apart from 2 prominent hurling only Clubs who play only hurling. The thing is we play an All Ireland hurling final this saturday and between both mono Clubs there is 1 representative only and one of our mono clubs is now engaged in a relegation final from senior hurling and currently hasnt got a single player on the senior panel so im not sure how specialisation works to be honest.

Its up to each how they go about things but to believe that the only reason certain Clubs and counties are successful when they are concentrating on one code is because they are only concentrating on one code is lazy and incorrect

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1522 - 08/09/2015 11:18:42    1784442

The only mono coders are Kilkenny in what is basically a regional/minority sport

jfd (Westmeath) - Posts: 256 - 08/09/2015 11:47:12    1784472

It is very hard to expect a county with no tradition in hurling to all of a sudden be competitive. Hurling is a specialised game and it is very hard for a GAA club to get people playing it in an area with no tradition of hurling. It is much easier to get people playing football as this is not as specialised a game.
When the majority of the country has little tradition of hurling in its area it is very hard to change this. Nationwide the number of people playing hurling is far far lower than the numbers who play football. Traditionally you have always have had only about 10 counties (at best) where hurling has a equal profile/ higher profile to football and these have always being located in the southern half of the country (as I used to hear said, draw a line between Dublin and Galway and show me a hurling county north of this). Most of these counties are usually capable of being somewhat competitive at the top level. After this you have another about 8 or 9 counties that have some bit of a tradition of hurling but in the past have never being able to compete at the top level . The number of hurlers in these counties has always being far lower than the number of footballers. The further north you go the less hurling you will find.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1413 - 08/09/2015 11:47:14    1784473

'Traditionally you have always have had only about 10 counties (at best) where hurling has a equal profile/ higher profile to football and these have always being located in the southern half of the country (as I used to hear said, draw a line between Dublin and Galway and show me a hurling county north of this). Most of these counties are usually capable of being somewhat competitive at the top level. After this you have another about 8 or 9 counties that have some bit of a tradition of hurling but in the past have never being able to compete at the top level . The number of hurlers in these counties has always being far lower than the number of footballers. The further north you go the less hurling you will find.'



You do know there's quite a few players/ex players north of Dublin with All Ireland Hurling medals or are you just conveniently ignoring this to suit your argument!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 08/09/2015 12:55:08    1784525

'If counties want to prioritise one, they lose out on the other one. That is already the trade off for people and the ones in mono-counties have accepted it. Maybe the real question is why do counties that don't have the facilities to do it, persist with trying to be a duel county - is it down to their own arrogance?'


Here Master have a read of this, im sure most of it is probably alien to you, but if you can bring yourself to read concentrate on 1.2 to 1.5 as this may give you an idea

https://www.gaa.ie/content/documents/publications/official_guides/Official_Guide_2011_Part_1.pdf

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 08/09/2015 13:04:25    1784538

i think the gaa exists to provide an outlet to players. If players in a county want to play either code then i think its only fair that the county board facilitate them with a team to compete in. There are counties where the numbers and the necessity for a senior team dont exist. Also i know mayo have a hurling team. I also think kilkenny have a football team if memory serves correct. Its not right for any county to make a decision to priorities one code over the other its their responsibility to provide the plat for for the best players in any county to compete at intercounty level and it doesnt make a difference what level that team can compete at it must just have the platform to tog off and represent their team.

ritchie (Cork) - Posts: 346 - 08/09/2015 13:04:38    1784539

I would have to strongly disagree....
Football is number one in Kerry and they are the number one county, BUT
4 All-Ireland Minor B titles in a row
U-21 B All-Ireland's
NHL Div 2 and playoff winners
schools success

Now
look at Kilkenny - they get massive grant aid to go to Britain to play Junior football!!!!

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1688 - 08/09/2015 13:04:58    1784541

I think the OP is getting a bit of a hard time here. The way I read it he ment counties that drive 70% plus of their money, time players into one code and the code that gets the most supporters.

I know Kerry are doing very well but how many would you get at a game compared to the footballers.

Every county has people who play both but this 'monocode' think in my opinion applies to counties who are best know for one. i didnt see it as an insult to anyone in anyway......being a hurling fan myself from derry

DoireCityFC (Derry) - Posts: 1580 - 08/09/2015 13:09:57    1784548