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superb performance by Marys on the day deserved winners and a famous day for westmeath gaa always nice to beat a kerry team in a football match too tralee showed great determination to come back and lead tbf Marys teams senior and junior.. football and hurling.. have really been making their mark the past couple of years congrats to all in the school who are driving that on and great to see so many other westmeath schools playing A also hopefully a bright future lies ahead a big win in wexford on Sunday would be the perfect start d7h (Westmeath) - Posts: 29 - 19/03/2026 01:48:13 2661759 Link
Congratulations to CBS, unbelievable achievement, ive been saying it for years, the players are in westmeath but the ambition or belief is not. Was really happy to hear glennon and obrien raise that point last night on podcast. County board need to get into schools and see what they are doing, all those cbs and marist players were in Div 1 mentality setup. Now they returning to div 2 and 3 mentality with county set ups. Offaly, longford, louth, roscommon have bypassed us. We back to the same historical issues with dual players at minor again this week, which is crippling BOTH teams. I would ask the county what is the county ambition, mine is for westmeath to be the best that they possible can be and to win trophies it we are way of that with the current structures and alot of the decisions been made at executive level. Upforthegame23 (Westmeath) - Posts: 170 - 19/03/2026 08:49:55 2661763 Link
Replying To iarmhiabu: "Congratulations Coláiste Mhuire. Great work being done by the Schools and Clubs. The future is bright for this talented group, not so much in a Westmeath jersey. All Westmeath players are hamstrung by inadequate facilities, being treated like second class citizens compared to other Counties, begging Clubs for pitches to train on, not knowing for definite where they will train next week. How are Westmeath players meant to train as hard as any other county without the proper structures and denial of basic needs? It should probably not come as a surprise that Westmeath teams from underage to Senior are struggling to make any kind of progress. Significant investment in facilities (a Centre of Excellence) is needed if the likes of the Coláiste Mhuire players are going to develop and reach their true potential as Westmeath Seniors. As long as the current regime is in power, we will continue to struggle and lag further behind the rest." I'd agree with parts of that, but not all of it. Those CBS lads trained a lot on the Shamrocks back pitch which, to be fair, isn't a great surface, and even places like The Downs or Shandonagh would be better grounds. But I don't think the pitch is the main factor here. For me, it's down to the coaching. You've a group of young coaches there who are either still playing or only recently finished, so everything they're doing is modern, sharp, and very game-focused. The patterns of play, movement, and decision-making those lads showed against Tralee were top class, and that doesn't happen by accident-that's coaching and proper training. Don't get me wrong, a COE would be massive and would bring the county on hugely, no doubt about that. But even with facilities, if the coaching and setup aren't right, you won't see the full benefit. Another thing I noticed-Granard winning the All-Ireland B at the weekend. A lot of that team were part of the Longford minor side that won Leinster recently. That's no coincidence. They're coming from a strong, well-coached setup. Then you look at CBS-they had a good few lads involved with Westmeath minors, who didn't get out of the group from what I remember. That kind of tells its own story. So overall, I'd lean towards it being more about coaching and the structures in place rather than facilities alone-though both obviously matter. Could be wrong, just something I picked up on. And fair play to Granard as well, great win. Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 154 - 19/03/2026 11:40:39 2661803 Link
Has Westmeath GAA released their U20 panel for this year? I've noticed most other counties already have theirs announced, especially with the first round coming up next Wednesday. You'd imagine we have a strong squad hopefully they can put together a solid campaign. Looking ahead, next year could be very promising. With players coming through systems like CBS and Marist, there's the potential for a really strong U20 team. It might be worth the county board considering Dean McNicoll for the manager role, given the work he's done with CBS. Someone like Eoin Jordan, who has managed Athlone seniors in recent years and teaches in Marist, could also be a great addition to the coaching setup. Add in Fergal Wilson, and you'd have a management team that has worked closely with many of the county's top players at this age group. While we don't have a Centre of Excellence, the work being done in schools across the county over the past 15 years has been exceptional. The level of commitment early morning sessions and after-school training has been huge. Schools like Moate CS (finalists in 2017), Marist (finals in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2026), St Joseph's Rochfortbridge (winners in 2020), and CBS Mullingar (final wins in 2025 and 2026, followed by Hogan Cup success) highlight the strength of development at that level. We have struggled to gather this success into our 17s/u20s teams but I believe this is because of the disconnect with our county board. While some schools draw players from outside Westmeath, there's a strong case for bringing more of these coaches and teachers into county development setups. Schools football has proven to be one of the most effective and efficient pathways for developing talent and it's something we should continue to build on. Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 632 - 19/03/2026 11:45:12 2661804 Link
Just on my last post-don't get me wrong, there's a big difference in school size between CBS and Granard, which is obviously why one's A and the other's B. But we should still be competing better at minor level. Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 154 - 19/03/2026 12:03:16 2661807 Link
most of the lads that played last tuseday for CBS are over age for minor county" so whatever about the minors doing the business this year I don't know" but you would expect the under 20s to make huge strides this year or nextyear in the championship Mooo (Westmeath) - Posts: 84 - 19/03/2026 12:10:32 2661810 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "Haven't westmeath bought the land adjacent to St Lomans gaa to build their COE. You will get your chance to donate to it in the near future." Near future? I have heard that one before. How many more years do we have to wait? Buying land and getting planning permission is one thing. The costs of building a Centre of Excellence are at astronomical levels. The Limerick Centre of Excellence is expected to cost more than €20m. Where is the money to pay for our project going to come from? We haven't a bean but why can we not be working to improve our finances in advance and get the Clubs to weigh in behind the Centre of Excellence. iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 319 - 19/03/2026 13:21:14 2661823 Link
Replying To iarmhiabu: "Near future? I have heard that one before. How many more years do we have to wait? Buying land and getting planning permission is one thing. The costs of building a Centre of Excellence are at astronomical levels. The Limerick Centre of Excellence is expected to cost more than €20m. Where is the money to pay for our project going to come from? We haven't a bean but why can we not be working to improve our finances in advance and get the Clubs to weigh in behind the Centre of Excellence." I think the Chair confirmed on a recent podcast that the COE is still at design stage so seems to be a bit away yet from even lodging a planning application. Just watched a recent promo video from Club Rossie with lots of businesses involved as commercial members and have been for many years. Westmeath is crying out for such an initiative. The Rossies are so passionate about the GAA and put their money where their mouth is it seems. BigSur (Westmeath) - Posts: 1243 - 19/03/2026 17:42:17 2661848 Link
Replying To Mooo: "most of the lads that played last tuseday for CBS are over age for minor county" so whatever about the minors doing the business this year I don't know" but you would expect the under 20s to make huge strides this year or nextyear in the championship" The lads in the cbs will not be dealing with the same management team as they have in school. The 3 lads got the very best out of them mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1945 - 19/03/2026 18:41:56 2661853 Link
Huge win for CBS. I cant stress enough how important it is for al of westmeath coaches to get behind marist and cbs players and the other talent around. So much so i think the focus on our seniors is too much they will not win anything of meaning if the goal is to compete for an all ireland at some point. yes westmeath might win a second tier comp but there has not been an underage all ireland team in a long time need to harness this youth it'll be the best chance of success. will scahill has a much higher ceiling than luke loughlin rory o brien and ormsby have higher ceilings than ray connellan thats where focus should be placed not lose these guys abroad or whatever because they lose interest in the set up. Dazzler30 (Westmeath) - Posts: 78 - 20/03/2026 08:26:49 2661876 Link
Some wild comments there; to be fair to young lads I wouldn't like to play down their ability but the comparison to Connellan is very premature. OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 252 - 20/03/2026 10:51:20 2661891 Link
Replying To Dazzler30: "Huge win for CBS. I cant stress enough how important it is for al of westmeath coaches to get behind marist and cbs players and the other talent around. So much so i think the focus on our seniors is too much they will not win anything of meaning if the goal is to compete for an all ireland at some point. yes westmeath might win a second tier comp but there has not been an underage all ireland team in a long time need to harness this youth it'll be the best chance of success. will scahill has a much higher ceiling than luke loughlin rory o brien and ormsby have higher ceilings than ray connellan thats where focus should be placed not lose these guys abroad or whatever because they lose interest in the set up." Obviously this is about the other Ray Connellan in Westmeath - not the one who has been starting for the county for the last decade and was brought into the panel at a very young age Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 154 - 20/03/2026 12:10:09 2661910 Link
Great to see 17 clubs represented in the 20s squad can only be a good thing for Westmeath football. Also feel free to retract the Conellan statement in your own time. Midlandsman (Westmeath) - Posts: 49 - 20/03/2026 14:23:11 2661938 Link
Replying To Midlandsman: "Great to see 17 clubs represented in the 20s squad can only be a good thing for Westmeath football. Also feel free to retract the Conellan statement in your own time." Surprised Moloney is not on it. Maybe his choice. 17 clubs, but 3 clubs make up 20 of the 38 players , which is quite unusual. Minor panel in 2023 had 33 players. Only 13 have survived 3 years later. 2 more (Curran and Kelly) would be there only for injury. The 2024 minor team was much stronger , and those guys make up the bulk of it. jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 513 - 20/03/2026 15:44:11 2661950 Link
Came here to agree with dazzler there and id like to add Paul Keating has a higher ceiling than the magnificent lorcan smyth and Ben sheerin is the next Jamie gonoud. The boys are doing some work and deserve a certain look into the Westmeath senior panel in the coming years. Serious ballers Westmeath4sam27 (Westmeath) - Posts: 6 - 20/03/2026 15:58:26 2661955 Link