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Replying To ElGranSenor: "I think those Wexford U15 and U16 teams were A and B though
Regarding mixed teams, I think most counties are A and B at U15 and U16 level, U14 is a different story and may be why Leinster counties no longer compete in the Tony Forristal and Sonny Walsh (Munster counties were more in favour of mixed squads than we were)
And I don't think you can force teams to play A and B
Say the organisers demand A and B; what's to stop a county fielding mixed teams but denoting one A and the other B?" You can't force counties to field A and B teams. Clare deliberately dont. U14s is supposed to be purely mixed, and I think every county approached it that way pretty honestly this year, for a change for some counties.
And in any case its fairly subjective. A hurler who might impress you might not impress me as much.
Not that it means much but it was noticeable our u15b and u16b teams were pretty decent compared to most other top tier counties. Our u16bs only lost to a mixed Clare team by 7 points.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20516 - 18/08/2026 18:23:50
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@Viking ElGranSenor so is "Tipperary Blue" their "A" team say?
I can't see the benefit of not having an A and B team. You have no idea how your top team relate to other counties and you need yardsticks early in hurlers career to say "they are ahead of us, what are they doing"?
Winning a 3rd and 4th place playoff means nothing to me, teams can make changes for that game and use subs that didn't make the semi final.
But it all comes down as well to how hard our clubs are driving each other.
StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2158 - 19/08/2026 10:52:40
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Replying To StoreysTash: "@Viking ElGranSenor so is "Tipperary Blue" their "A" team say?
I can't see the benefit of not having an A and B team. You have no idea how your top team relate to other counties and you need yardsticks early in hurlers career to say "they are ahead of us, what are they doing"?
Winning a 3rd and 4th place playoff means nothing to me, teams can make changes for that game and use subs that didn't make the semi final.
But it all comes down as well to how hard our clubs are driving each other." Their u16A team was the team that we lost to in Belfield Saturday and that then lost to Kilkenny. The 3 Tipp county minors who were u16 all played against us in the semifinal. Im not sure they all played against Kilkenny in the final but I assume they did. But like all 4 counties there, Id presume everyone on their panel got time on the pitch, as would be the norm for development squads.
Agree clubs have to put in the work to develop players, parents too. This work particularly has to be done between u6 and u12.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20516 - 19/08/2026 11:45:14
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Replying To StoreysTash: "@Viking ElGranSenor so is "Tipperary Blue" their "A" team say?
I can't see the benefit of not having an A and B team. You have no idea how your top team relate to other counties and you need yardsticks early in hurlers career to say "they are ahead of us, what are they doing"?
Winning a 3rd and 4th place playoff means nothing to me, teams can make changes for that game and use subs that didn't make the semi final.
But it all comes down as well to how hard our clubs are driving each other." To me, the obvious benefit of not having a designated "A" team and "B" team is for the sake of your own players.
I know our U14s this year had mixed teams, as usual, and lads were regularly swapped between "Wexford Purple" and "Wexford Gold". The few from our own club might be together one week, split up the next, and back together again the time after that.
Remember that many of these lads are still only 13 years old, if they haven't had their birthday yet this year. Others would have only just turned 14. Tell a lad of that age week in and week out that "you're only good enough for the "B" team", and there's a greater chance of losing him somewhere along the way.
Personally, I'd strongly consider mixed teams at U15 too. Not so much U16, because they need to have an eye on U17 the following year, when you really do need to split the sides into "A" and "B".
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3881 - 19/08/2026 12:23:48
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Replying To Viking66: " Replying To MyOhMi: "Think this paragraph from Kilkenny GAA possibly sums up how KK see the importance of these squads and doing well in these tournaments:
"Of the six Na Cáit Óga squads in action today in the National Hurling Games competitions, Kilkenny <b>won four titles, shared one and were narrowly beaten by just a single point in the sixth</b>. It is a hugely positive outcome and a fantastic reflection of all the hard work and commitment shown by these young players and their management teams throughout the season.""</div>Thats called putting a positive spin on things. Their u16As played in the second tier u16 competition, same as ours. They were lucky to beat Dublin in the SF of this. Their u16B team played in a lower grade tournament than ours did. Their u15As were good, their u15As won the Arrabawn Cup, meaning I suppose they were the best u15 team in the country. Our u15As only won the Arrabawn Shield, making us 5th best. Their u15Bs were only in the John Doyle Shield though, while ours only narrowly lost the John Doyle Cup final by 2 points to Antrims u15As. Their 2 u14 teams played at home against a mixed team from here and a mixed team from Galway in an invitational tournament. Hardly worth boasting about winning it, well they didnt win it outright they shared it with Galway after a draw, and I know for a fact that if any of us on here did if we won something similar we would be told we were full of toxic positivity." Wouldn't winning the Arrabawn Shield make our U15 A's 9th best in the country?
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 19/08/2026 12:51:53
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#elgransenor there were only 4 teams in the Arrabawn Cup competition. Same as every year. We have won the Shield 3 years in a row now I think. Last year we only lost the de facto QF to Galway by a point, if we had of won that game we wouldve been in the Arrabawn Cup instead. So I guess at least we are consistently middle of the pack. Not that I think thats great btw, before Im accused of toxic positivity, but I guess its ok. And I had higher hopes for this years u15s, they were very good last year at u14.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20516 - 19/08/2026 13:12:15
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Replying To Pikeman96: "To me, the obvious benefit of not having a designated "A" team and "B" team is for the sake of your own players.
I know our U14s this year had mixed teams, as usual, and lads were regularly swapped between "Wexford Purple" and "Wexford Gold". The few from our own club might be together one week, split up the next, and back together again the time after that.
Remember that many of these lads are still only 13 years old, if they haven't had their birthday yet this year. Others would have only just turned 14. Tell a lad of that age week in and week out that "you're only good enough for the "B" team", and there's a greater chance of losing him somewhere along the way.
Personally, I'd strongly consider mixed teams at U15 too. Not so much U16, because they need to have an eye on U17 the following year, when you really do need to split the sides into "A" and "B"." A good thing JJ Doyle did at minor this year was have the one panel at u17 training together, minor and celtic challenge. People I know involved with other counties minor set ups thought that was a great idea too. Our celtic challenge team were very competitive this year considering depth has usually been considered an issue here in Wexford.
It was also good to see our U15Bs and U16Bs doing relatively well this year for the same reason. The u15Bs in particular got to the John Doyle Cup Final which they only lost by a puck of a ball to Antrims u15As. This would also be the oldest age group that came through the 1st year of Dermot Ryan and Paul Laffans u12 ASH scheme, which I think is now showing to have been an excellent initiative. To put that achievement in perspective Kilkenny made a big deal of how their u15Bs won the John Doyle Shield.
I think its a real shame JJ Doyle has been relieved of the minor manager job too.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20516 - 19/08/2026 13:26:30
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Replying To Viking66: "#elgransenor there were only 4 teams in the Arrabawn Cup competition. Same as every year. We have won the Shield 3 years in a row now I think. Last year we only lost the de facto QF to Galway by a point, if we had of won that game we wouldve been in the Arrabawn Cup instead. So I guess at least we are consistently middle of the pack. Not that I think thats great btw, before Im accused of toxic positivity, but I guess its ok. And I had higher hopes for this years u15s, they were very good last year at u14." I'm not sure on this one, I think Cork Red were 5th and Laois were 6th
I think there were three groups of 4 and then the top two from each group and the two best 3rd placed teams went into the Cup QFs and we then went into the Shield
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 19/08/2026 14:59:37
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