I ask the question is west Cavan letting the GAA down.
I feel that the GAA is very weak in west Cavan and that it will take it years to recover.
If Cavan football is going to get stronger I feel that the west Cavan gaa people will have to start putting in the work.
If you look at Cavan ,west from Redhill to Killashandra you have very few good footballers at present.
You have a proliferation of junior club s that do nothing for county football
What do you think.

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4048 - 15/09/2009 23:31:47    427334

You are correct in your comments but I still think it is a bit unfair to the clubs in the area. Junior clubs are an important part of every GAA county set up. Unfortunately these areas would not be historically hubs of employment forcing young people to move outside the area, county or country in search of work. It is difficult to move your way up throught the leagues and championships when at minor level players move away for college and then usual stay away for work reasons. I believe the current economic climate will mean more bad news for these clubs as they loss players from the area who had relied on the building trade.

Castleman (Cavan) - Posts: 32 - 16/09/2009 10:08:09    427455

I think Kildallon are underachievers, Swanlinbar have produced the most county players in West Cavan and hold one of our only hopes in the county for a midfielder at the moment, Templeport were a competing senior side 10 years ago and the loss of a lot of their best players in a short period hit them hard, Corlough have always had very good underage teams but cant seem to hold players interest.

All 4 have fanstastic facilites that are well ran, unlike some of the bigger clubs e.g B'Boro, and put in big efforts to underage which will hopefully pay off in future.

Inactive x5 (Cavan) - Posts: 1452 - 16/09/2009 11:11:41    427525

Of all the insulting rubbish i have seen posted on this forum, that has to be the worst i have seen so far. And the fact the anyone would agree with him is even worse. The people involved with the GAA clubs of west cavan are some of the most hardworking in the county. Do you not think that they would love to have a huge selection of talented players to choose from, play senior football at club level and have a dozen fantastic players on the county panel between them? What club in Cavan would not love that. But to say they are letting cavan football down is a disgrace. These are rural clubs with serious emigration issues. Even without emigration, populations are considerably smaller in that part of our county. I honestly can't believe anyone would be so mean.

SS1 (Cavan) - Posts: 196 - 16/09/2009 11:50:00    427571

Tom I think your looking at this from the wrong angle. What you should be asking is, has the county board let west Cavan clubs down, but to be more precise, has the county board let Junior clubs down. The official GAA guide tells us that the GAA is about the clubs. As SS1 has mentioned, these clubs are among the hardest working in the county and would have the smallest number of members. Junior Clubs have long been ignored by county boards and teams. Years ago if you played for a Junior club you could not play for your county. That has changed in later years but now Junior Teams are being squeezed with the county board allowing relegation from Div 3 (thus destroying those clubs that get relegated) and allowing the creation of "Super Clubs" who will have teams in all divisions. This will be a huge mistake. These super clubs will become the best teams in the county, but will have no competition. They will never improve, but because of the demise of other clubs they will remain dominant within the county. They won't be good enough to win outside the county in provincial championships. They will also be the breeding grounds for the county teams, and will also be the reason our county teams will never win anything. A County team will rarely do well unless they have a quality domestic championship. You will also have more quality players quitting GAA in Cavan. The reasons are 2 fold. Juniors players will have no interest in competing in Div 4 where Senior clubs will pack their teams to beat them. All you have to do is look at Maghera this year. How long will they be able to survive as a club? The second reason is good players will not be able to get on the first 15 in these super team, at U-12, U-14, U-16, U-18, U-21 and Div3 , Div2, Div1. If you had 1 player quitting at each of these levels this year, thats 8 players a year in just 1 club. At least 1 of those players could be a brilliant inter-county player. So to sum up. West Cavan has let nobody down. If the current setup in the county board and league and championship systems continues, we will all be responsible for the demise of Cavan Football. Would you want to be responsible for that??

notavailable (Cavan) - Posts: 11 - 16/09/2009 14:50:50    427791

how do u include in west cavan??

goalline (Cavan) - Posts: 59 - 16/09/2009 18:19:37    428072

are ya including belturbet in west cavan?

mogli (Cavan) - Posts: 41 - 17/09/2009 13:15:28    428757

Jon Smith I do not agree with your views, you ramble on a bit and I will take you to task .
Who has Templeport since the Martins, John Joe, Sean, Own and company left the county scene.
Nobody has made the break trough for the Cavan senior panel from west Cavan for years.
I am a firm advocate that junior football is the ruination of our county team.
I ask you how can a man from west Cavan come and play county football alongside people from bigger clubs like the Gaels ect

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4048 - 22/09/2009 23:24:07    433891

Club football in West Cavan is poor at the moment but it has only degenerated at the same rate as the rest of the county. There are loads of reasons why football in West Cavan is poor at the moment and most of these are the same reasons that it has historically been poor in marginal areas for years (obviously you will get exceptional groups of players that make a break through for 10 years and when they retire it's back to the norm). Smaller populations - a given fact, no argument Less employment - a given fact, no argument This means more of the available players being based in our major cities to gain employment - a given fact, no argument This means it is harder for the team to train midweek or on Fridays compared to the likes of Ramor who are just over an hour from Dublin, Shannon Gaels could be 3 hours. That makes it a 6 hour drive for midweek training which is unachieveable. Lack of real representation on the County Board - too many yes men in for the dinners and free passes rather than actually representing the good of their clubs and their neighbours clubs. Very little representation on county management teams at any level - the last time I can remenber was at U-16/Minor level when you had Sean Corrigan (playing for Ireland), Daryll McConnell, Robbie Smith, Eamon Reilly, etc - and we had a very good team from all corners of the county. In my opinion we will not have a county team again until the level of our club football improves and for that to happen a fundamental change in the structure of our club competitions is required. It was sustainable to have 40 odd clubs when every young lad in the parish played football 50 years ago but with all the distractions nowadays the percentage of players per household is drastically less. We therfore need fewer clubs and therefore stronger teams and I feel we need to have a 3 or 4 year strategy where we adopt the Kerry system of club championship and amalgamations/regional teams - not for trials in November when players haven't trained in 3 or 4 months and not as done in West Cavan without the support of the players but with full club backing and for a 3, 4 or 5 year period where players realise they have to go with it or half their career could be missed.

Dustin (Cavan) - Posts: 26 - 23/09/2009 10:51:35    434094

I Think Jim McAweeney played for Cavan for a number of years and he was from Templeport. So Tom as usual you are wrong. Also Thomas Doonan. and of course look at all the great Ladies that represent Cavan from Templeport. It is not very long since Templeport were one of the top teams in the county. These things go in cycles . give them 6 more years and they will be up there again.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5522 - 23/09/2009 11:17:10    434116

Quote from Dustin In my opinion we will not have a county team again until the level of our club football improves and for that to happen a fundamental change in the structure of our club competitions is required. It was sustainable to have 40 odd clubs when every young lad in the parish played football 50 years ago but with all the distractions nowadays the percentage of players per household is drastically less. We therfore need fewer clubs and therefore stronger teams and I feel we need to have a 3 or 4 year strategy where we adopt the Kerry system of club championship and amalgamations/regional teams - not for trials in November when players haven't trained in 3 or 4 months and not as done in West Cavan without the support of the players but with full club backing and for a 3, 4 or 5 year period where players realise they have to go with it or half their career could be missed. unquote Dustin you are correct, I have been along time advocate for Divisional teams and I have been rounded on derided and indeed called everything for years with my suggestion of divisional teams. You are on the correct tract when you say we need divisional teams,and on another note I feel it is a bit unfair on the Templeport club to single them out as the cause of all Cavan s ill.

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4048 - 23/09/2009 16:30:26    434472

anyone who says west cavan teams are letting cavan football down doesn;t know what they are talking about.football in cavan is at an all time low no matter what division you look at . if you look at all the division one teams, how many are on the cavan team, not to many and them that are , are simpley not good enough

hillyboy (Cavan) - Posts: 3 - 23/09/2009 19:20:37    434663

Looks like Templeport have a good underage set up, they won the Roinn A U14 championship. So if they can keep this group of players together the future looks promising.

Dimitri (Cavan) - Posts: 64 - 23/09/2009 20:53:23    434724

Well tomsmith since the Martins Templeport have had Jim MacAweeney and Frankie Dolan both on the county team at one stage, Thomas Doonan, Shane Maguire should have been on it but was blatently overlooked (scored 5-49 in 6 championship games and was still ignored, Martin McHugh said he had "Unlimited potential") A few other players should have been given a shot but never were. But you are right nobody has made the breakthrough since.

Swad are a junior footballing team; 4 current/former county representatives in their ranks. Kildallon contributing 1 Under 21 recently in Aaron Duignan and Ronan Reilly made the initial panel last year. Corlough should have one player there but sadly it never came about..

How can these players hope to play with the likes of the Gaels etc you ask? I dont think they can tom. They're too honest. For as long as the Gaels will brawl after games and as long as our senior teams will assault referees they wont play the type of football that can accomodate and nurture footballers from the lower clubs which is vital for the success of Cavan football. A pity.. The only hope is to become intermediate and stay there, the most honest Division in football at the moment. Cavan dont know how to handle senior football. I say we pick 5 at most from the senior championship, quarantine them. Then pick the rest from intermediate and a few junior.

Inactive x5 (Cavan) - Posts: 1452 - 24/09/2009 09:24:14    434959

im agreeing with SS1..i think its terrible how any one can say the west is letting down cavan football..its true these things do go in cycles and just besause teams in the west have very good facilities doesnt mean they're not hard-working enuf to deserve them after all it was a team fron the west,(kildallan) who introduced gaelic football not only to cavan but to the whole of ulster..kildallan also have produced some quality footballers who have had spells on the county minor team with the likes of shane reilly, stephen crowe, aaron duignan and stephen smith all being there within a 2 yr spell

templeports cycle is also comimg round now very noticably with great success in under-age

it just shows the arrogance of these teams 'not' from the west to even make such a statement...

redassasin (Cavan) - Posts: 25 - 24/09/2009 13:35:36    435233

No, east Cavan is as well!

aheadofthecurve (Cavan) - Posts: 95 - 24/09/2009 14:32:22    435311

How many players are there on the Cavan Team from these east cavan clubs (Kingscourt,bailieborough,Shercock,Knockbride,Killinkere,Ramor). Not many I would say.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5522 - 24/09/2009 19:26:28    435651

Draw a line from Trehoo X to Killashandra and tell me what contribution has clubs (north West ) made to Cavan GAA over the years.
This vast area of rural Cavan has in the past seen a working class GAA man who is satisfied to play the game at a low level with little commitment to his county team.
look at where teams from this region are in the leagues.
Look at the problems with discipline during games.
Indeed it has been said that west Cavan won very little since fields have been fenced off ( WHY ).

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4048 - 24/09/2009 23:15:30    435909

tomsmith...i dont understand your point, ''since fields have been fenced off''???????

redassasin (Cavan) - Posts: 25 - 25/09/2009 08:56:55    436019

"How many players are there on the Cavan Team from these east cavan clubs (Kingscourt,bailieborough,Shercock,Knockbride,Killinkere,Ramor). Not many I would say".

What exactly is your point? Knockbride are one club who have contributed alot to county football in the last 15 Years. Where do you think Larry and Peter Reilly came from?? There are some excellent underage players in all of the clubs that you mentioned above. As another poster said, it goes in cycles. From what i have seen at Under 14 and Under 16 level from these clubs in the past few years, it won't be long before we see these clubs represented at county level.

As for Tomsmith's comment about disipline in rural clubs, Cavan gaels aren't a rural club yet they are facing very serious bans at present for there conduct. Disicpline is an issue whether your club is urban or rural. Its obvious you are a county before club man. I will never understand that way of thinking. No county would have decent players without the work put in bu the clubs.

SS1 (Cavan) - Posts: 196 - 25/09/2009 09:13:51    436025