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Replying To countyman2022: "I have said that here for three years and been told off. Far too many games. And especially for lack of jeporady." We have heard intercounty managers talk about how training is pretty much non existent and I see from my own club its pretty much training to recover for the next game.
What's being worked on outside of games? Where's the skill development happenjng? All these games and in reality still most teams need 1 win or max 2.
We have a hurling development committee completely obsessed with games, games games as that is the be all and end all and personally im seeing players struggling to keep up with it, others drifting from it and as I mentioned others picking up serious injuries to boot.
We talk about developing skill levels in players to improve our lot, how and when? Ive seen chaps at last year in minor in our club doing zero training because they're going from minor match midweek to adult games on the weekend, that then has a knock of effect for the remaining players at minor as numbers aren't there to get proper sessions in. And then we wonder why we aren't developing players.
Something has to give imho and this obsession with more and more games crammed into ever tightening time frames is doing us no good.
tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1682 - 06/08/2026 12:29:11
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Replying To alwaysasub: "Saying the same for years here aswell. Too many games, no jeopardy. Easy fix three groups of 4, top two in each group into quarters, best two third placed teams also into quarters, worst third place team and bottom three into relegation semis. I believe our minor championship is being run like that this year.
When I played it was groups of four for a while and it was a novelty to see who you'd get in the group and also every game meant something." Or with three groups of 4
Group winners (3) qualify directly for the quarter-finals.
Best runner-up also qualifies directly (4 teams total).
The other 2 runners-up play the 2 best third-placed teams in preliminary quarter-finals.
The winners join the four teams already through in the quarter-finals
alwaysasub (Wexford) - Posts: 610 - 06/08/2026 12:38:03
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Replying To countyman2022: "Current hurling championship with that amount of games is worth too much to co board though. Filling their coffers at expense of standards of hurling in the county." Thats not the case at all. Every year for the last 3 or 4 years different clubs have brought motions to play various different options, 4 groups of 3, 3 groups of 4, 4 groups of 4. We have supported these. The vast majority of clubs havent.
More the problem is that the HAC keep bringing motions based on 2 groups of 6. They obviously think this will raise the standard of hurling here. I personally disagree, as do you. But ultimately its the clubs who decide.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20408 - 06/08/2026 14:39:51
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Replying To tearintom: "We have heard intercounty managers talk about how training is pretty much non existent and I see from my own club its pretty much training to recover for the next game.
What's being worked on outside of games? Where's the skill development happenjng? All these games and in reality still most teams need 1 win or max 2.
We have a hurling development committee completely obsessed with games, games games as that is the be all and end all and personally im seeing players struggling to keep up with it, others drifting from it and as I mentioned others picking up serious injuries to boot.
We talk about developing skill levels in players to improve our lot, how and when? Ive seen chaps at last year in minor in our club doing zero training because they're going from minor match midweek to adult games on the weekend, that then has a knock of effect for the remaining players at minor as numbers aren't there to get proper sessions in. And then we wonder why we aren't developing players.
Something has to give imho and this obsession with more and more games crammed into ever tightening time frames is doing us no good." I do think having more underage games as we do now is a good thing.
The biggest problem is that most of our club players, adult and older underage especially, do very little ballwork outside of training compared to lads in other counties.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20408 - 06/08/2026 14:42:26
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Replying To tearintom: "We have heard intercounty managers talk about how training is pretty much non existent and I see from my own club its pretty much training to recover for the next game.
What's being worked on outside of games? Where's the skill development happenjng? All these games and in reality still most teams need 1 win or max 2.
We have a hurling development committee completely obsessed with games, games games as that is the be all and end all and personally im seeing players struggling to keep up with it, others drifting from it and as I mentioned others picking up serious injuries to boot.
We talk about developing skill levels in players to improve our lot, how and when? Ive seen chaps at last year in minor in our club doing zero training because they're going from minor match midweek to adult games on the weekend, that then has a knock of effect for the remaining players at minor as numbers aren't there to get proper sessions in. And then we wonder why we aren't developing players.
Something has to give imho and this obsession with more and more games crammed into ever tightening time frames is doing us no good." Could answer any one of the posts on this thing but may as well be this one. Answering because I used to be involved at County Board admin level myself and so I know how these things work, but seems others don't understand it as well.
Fact of the matter is it's the clubs of the County Board who primarily decide how the championships are run. It's not the top table officials who people usually mean when they say "the County Board".
The two groups of six structure has been in place every year since 2012, apart from the two Covid years of 2020 and 2021. Clubs have never had an appetite to move away from it. At the annual meetings to decide championship structures, there's regularly been motions for three groups of four, or four groups of three, but none of them have ever found any significant support from clubs. And in all that time, there's never been a formal motion from anyone to go back up to 16 teams per grade, with four groups of four.
Two groups of six, with four of the six going through, ran along nicely for years. Then the Hurling Advisory Committee came in with their proposal that everybody would go through anyway (i.e. 'no jeopardy'). Top table and the CCC were against the motion because of how it would mean an extra round of fixtures in an already-busy calendar. Clubs voted it in anyway.
Bit of a change in mood this year as people felt at least some jeopardy was needed after all. One motion - which CCC and top table preferred - was to go back to just four out of six teams going through. But clubs voted against that too, and instead opted for what we now have, with five out of six going through.
It's not wrong to say it's down to the County Board that there are so many matches. But it's important to realise that it's down to the club delegates of the County Board, rather than the top table officials. If clubs wanted to change things for the possible betterment of things overall, rather than thinking mainly of what suits themselves (i.e. greater chance of qualifying for the knockout stages), then they could change it any year they liked.
Finally, on the point about Minor players - that's exactly a large part of the reason why top table warned against allowing Minors to play in the adult grades. But clubs voted it in anyway.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3832 - 06/08/2026 15:15:46
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Replying To alwaysasub: "Or with three groups of 4
Group winners (3) qualify directly for the quarter-finals.
Best runner-up also qualifies directly (4 teams total).
The other 2 runners-up play the 2 best third-placed teams in preliminary quarter-finals.
The winners join the four teams already through in the quarter-finals" That's an exact example of the sort of motion that some club somewhere brings every couple of years. But which is always heavily defeated, as other clubs prefer to stay with two groups of six.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3832 - 06/08/2026 15:17:51
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Replying To tearintom: "We have heard intercounty managers talk about how training is pretty much non existent and I see from my own club its pretty much training to recover for the next game.
What's being worked on outside of games? Where's the skill development happenjng? All these games and in reality still most teams need 1 win or max 2.
We have a hurling development committee completely obsessed with games, games games as that is the be all and end all and personally im seeing players struggling to keep up with it, others drifting from it and as I mentioned others picking up serious injuries to boot.
We talk about developing skill levels in players to improve our lot, how and when? Ive seen chaps at last year in minor in our club doing zero training because they're going from minor match midweek to adult games on the weekend, that then has a knock of effect for the remaining players at minor as numbers aren't there to get proper sessions in. And then we wonder why we aren't developing players.
Something has to give imho and this obsession with more and more games crammed into ever tightening time frames is doing us no good." Correct. Training from end of June to end of October consists of recovery and walk through sessions.
countyman2022 (Wexford) - Posts: 1075 - 06/08/2026 15:24:20
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Replying To Viking66: "Thats not the case at all. Every year for the last 3 or 4 years different clubs have brought motions to play various different options, 4 groups of 3, 3 groups of 4, 4 groups of 4. We have supported these. The vast majority of clubs havent.
More the problem is that the HAC keep bringing motions based on 2 groups of 6. They obviously think this will raise the standard of hurling here. I personally disagree, as do you. But ultimately its the clubs who decide." I'm not going to bat for the HAC here, but just since we're outlining the way things actually work -
It wasn't the HAC who proposed two groups of six in the first place, all the way back in what would have been late 2009 (because of how the change from 16 teams per grade down to 12 had to be phased in over the 2010 and 2011 championships).
And the motions they've brought these past couple of years didn't primarily relate to whether or not there should be two groups of six. They instead related to how many of these teams go through. They'd have just taken it as read that there'd be two groups of six in the first place because every motion since 2012 to change that has failed.
Two groups of six is here to stay until or unless clubs ever do vote for something else. It doesn't need HAC or anyone else to propose it each year. Basically, every time a club votes "no, we don't want three groups of four" or "no, we don't want four groups of three", they're also saying "we're voting to keep two groups of six instead".
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3832 - 06/08/2026 15:46:52
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Replying To Pikeman96: "Could answer any one of the posts on this thing but may as well be this one. Answering because I used to be involved at County Board admin level myself and so I know how these things work, but seems others don't understand it as well.
Fact of the matter is it's the clubs of the County Board who primarily decide how the championships are run. It's not the top table officials who people usually mean when they say "the County Board".
The two groups of six structure has been in place every year since 2012, apart from the two Covid years of 2020 and 2021. Clubs have never had an appetite to move away from it. At the annual meetings to decide championship structures, there's regularly been motions for three groups of four, or four groups of three, but none of them have ever found any significant support from clubs. And in all that time, there's never been a formal motion from anyone to go back up to 16 teams per grade, with four groups of four.
Two groups of six, with four of the six going through, ran along nicely for years. Then the Hurling Advisory Committee came in with their proposal that everybody would go through anyway (i.e. 'no jeopardy'). Top table and the CCC were against the motion because of how it would mean an extra round of fixtures in an already-busy calendar. Clubs voted it in anyway.
Bit of a change in mood this year as people felt at least some jeopardy was needed after all. One motion - which CCC and top table preferred - was to go back to just four out of six teams going through. But clubs voted against that too, and instead opted for what we now have, with five out of six going through.
It's not wrong to say it's down to the County Board that there are so many matches. But it's important to realise that it's down to the club delegates of the County Board, rather than the top table officials. If clubs wanted to change things for the possible betterment of things overall, rather than thinking mainly of what suits themselves (i.e. greater chance of qualifying for the knockout stages), then they could change it any year they liked.
Finally, on the point about Minor players - that's exactly a large part of the reason why top table warned against allowing Minors to play in the adult grades. But clubs voted it in anyway." I do think a lot of clubs are happy with this current approach of 2 groups of 6 .. In reality, of the 12 senior clubs, how many actually are confident of winning a senior hurling championship. The remainder don't want to end up in a relegation final. During Covid times the groups of 3 made it much more of a risk to end up in relegation. Call a spade a spade, but each club will look out for itself so therefore there is a slightly flawed model with county convention voting.
Is there a simplier way? .. I don't know .. But I do think the 2 groups of 6 work .. top 4 into a Q/F .. 6 into relegation .. 5 out.
MyOhMi (Wexford) - Posts: 358 - 06/08/2026 16:01:57
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Replying To Pikeman96: "Could answer any one of the posts on this thing but may as well be this one. Answering because I used to be involved at County Board admin level myself and so I know how these things work, but seems others don't understand it as well.
Fact of the matter is it's the clubs of the County Board who primarily decide how the championships are run. It's not the top table officials who people usually mean when they say "the County Board".
The two groups of six structure has been in place every year since 2012, apart from the two Covid years of 2020 and 2021. Clubs have never had an appetite to move away from it. At the annual meetings to decide championship structures, there's regularly been motions for three groups of four, or four groups of three, but none of them have ever found any significant support from clubs. And in all that time, there's never been a formal motion from anyone to go back up to 16 teams per grade, with four groups of four.
Two groups of six, with four of the six going through, ran along nicely for years. Then the Hurling Advisory Committee came in with their proposal that everybody would go through anyway (i.e. 'no jeopardy'). Top table and the CCC were against the motion because of how it would mean an extra round of fixtures in an already-busy calendar. Clubs voted it in anyway.
Bit of a change in mood this year as people felt at least some jeopardy was needed after all. One motion - which CCC and top table preferred - was to go back to just four out of six teams going through. But clubs voted against that too, and instead opted for what we now have, with five out of six going through.
It's not wrong to say it's down to the County Board that there are so many matches. But it's important to realise that it's down to the club delegates of the County Board, rather than the top table officials. If clubs wanted to change things for the possible betterment of things overall, rather than thinking mainly of what suits themselves (i.e. greater chance of qualifying for the knockout stages), then they could change it any year they liked.
Finally, on the point about Minor players - that's exactly a large part of the reason why top table warned against allowing Minors to play in the adult grades. But clubs voted it in anyway." Just for what its worth I agree and dont blame the county board here, im well aware of the situation at hand.
None of it is the fault of the county board at all, its all on the clubs as for why we find ourselves in this situation along with the HDC who again through their obsession with games being the be all and end all keep pushing through motions for more games safe in fhe knowledge clubs will go with whatever makes things less problematic for their own situation.
The issue is this is hindering us imho.
In many ways its almost a downside to the democratic nature of things, ironically I feel giving the co board or a select committee the only say on championship structures would be of more benefit to us and I write that with a smirk knowing for that to happen the clubs woukd have to vote that through!!
tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1682 - 06/08/2026 16:17:29
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Replying To Pikeman96: "I'm not going to bat for the HAC here, but just since we're outlining the way things actually work -
It wasn't the HAC who proposed two groups of six in the first place, all the way back in what would have been late 2009 (because of how the change from 16 teams per grade down to 12 had to be phased in over the 2010 and 2011 championships).
And the motions they've brought these past couple of years didn't primarily relate to whether or not there should be two groups of six. They instead related to how many of these teams go through. They'd have just taken it as read that there'd be two groups of six in the first place because every motion since 2012 to change that has failed.
Two groups of six is here to stay until or unless clubs ever do vote for something else. It doesn't need HAC or anyone else to propose it each year. Basically, every time a club votes "no, we don't want three groups of four" or "no, we don't want four groups of three", they're also saying "we're voting to keep two groups of six instead"." Yes but many of the clubs voted for the HACs proposals the last 2 years because the HAC proposed them. So a reduction in number of teams per group was voted against at the same time.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20408 - 06/08/2026 18:34:42
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I don't think this current format is working and would prefer it if 1st went straight through to the SFs, 2nd played 3rd in the QF, 4th and 5th were done for the what, and then 6th went to the relegation final
I think more matches at underage level is a good thing (Most important thing there really is to extend the season as that's one way of closing the gap on other counties, our lads aren't doing enough work at home to close the gap otherwise)
Underage would probably be better IMO if there was maybe U14/U16/U18 in the first half of the year and then U13/U15/U17 in the second half of the year but that would need inter county Minor to return to U18 (Which it should)
Ultimately though, while these fixes would improve Wexford hurling, they improve Wexford hurling at the margin. Only way we dramatically improve hurling in the county is by getting lads hurling all throughout the year and if clubs/parents/schools aren't going to do it (Evidence from the last 40 years would suggest they won't), then the County Board must pick up the slack
I have said before (And Viking too) that we should copy Clare and expand the scope of ASH to all age groups between 10 and 15, 2 and a half hours of hurling in the winter each week for 60+ hurlers at each age group across six different age groups done for 5-10 years would make a massive difference IMO
Difficulty is organising that, we have to be honest with ourselves that unless we do something, the mediocrity will continue, Einstein wasn't wrong when he said the definition of insanity was to do the same thing over and over again and to expect different results
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1475 - 06/08/2026 20:33:58
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Replying To MyOhMi: "I do think a lot of clubs are happy with this current approach of 2 groups of 6 .. In reality, of the 12 senior clubs, how many actually are confident of winning a senior hurling championship. The remainder don't want to end up in a relegation final. During Covid times the groups of 3 made it much more of a risk to end up in relegation. Call a spade a spade, but each club will look out for itself so therefore there is a slightly flawed model with county convention voting.
Is there a simplier way? .. I don't know .. But I do think the 2 groups of 6 work .. top 4 into a Q/F .. 6 into relegation .. 5 out." You've hit the nail on the head. Clubs will think mainly of what gives them the best chance. Of course they'll like the thought of a system where ten out of twelve, or even twelve out of twelve, go through to the knockout stages instead of just eight.
Always liked the "four from six go through" myself and I'd still like to see the hurling go back to it.
An even better one, and one that would lead to a real cut-throat championship, was proposed by former Chairman Micheál Martin a few years ago. Top team in each group would go straight to a semi-final. Second and third would play quarter-finals, Fourth and fifth would be out, and sixth would go to relegation final.
Guess what? Didn't even go to the floor because of how it was so sure it would be roundly defeated. Why would clubs vote for a system where they'd have only a 50/50 (six out twelve) chance of going through, where it could be eight, ten, or even twelve out of twelve?
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3832 - 06/08/2026 23:40:46
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Replying To tearintom: "Just for what its worth I agree and dont blame the county board here, im well aware of the situation at hand.
None of it is the fault of the county board at all, its all on the clubs as for why we find ourselves in this situation along with the HDC who again through their obsession with games being the be all and end all keep pushing through motions for more games safe in fhe knowledge clubs will go with whatever makes things less problematic for their own situation.
The issue is this is hindering us imho.
In many ways its almost a downside to the democratic nature of things, ironically I feel giving the co board or a select committee the only say on championship structures would be of more benefit to us and I write that with a smirk knowing for that to happen the clubs woukd have to vote that through!!" If you don't mind me saying, your post is a good example of how the term "the County Board" is misused, because it's the club delegates of the County Board who make these decisions. So far from it being "none of it is the fault of the County Board at all", it's actually all on the County Board - but it's on the club delegates end of it, not the top table officers.
For what it's worth, I've had the same thought myself about what things would be like if clubs didn't have a vote on championship structures at all. But you're right in saying that they'd have to vote to give up that right, and that really would be turkeys voting for Christmas.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3832 - 06/08/2026 23:44:48
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Replying To Viking66: "Yes but many of the clubs voted for the HACs proposals the last 2 years because the HAC proposed them. So a reduction in number of teams per group was voted against at the same time." I'd still maintain that if the HAC were never in the room at all, there still wouldn't be sufficient support for any of the motions to move away from two groups of six.
All the other years when HAC had no proposals, all such motions failed. No real reason to believe it would have been any different this past year or two.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3832 - 06/08/2026 23:46:10
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Replying To Pikeman96: "If you don't mind me saying, your post is a good example of how the term "the County Board" is misused, because it's the club delegates of the County Board who make these decisions. So far from it being "none of it is the fault of the County Board at all", it's actually all on the County Board - but it's on the club delegates end of it, not the top table officers.
For what it's worth, I've had the same thought myself about what things would be like if clubs didn't have a vote on championship structures at all. But you're right in saying that they'd have to vote to give up that right, and that really would be turkeys voting for Christmas." I know what ye mean, when I think of tge county board in this context I think of the top table people minus the club delegates with a real difference between club (delegates) and board.
My general point is the clubs hold the power which isnt necessarily a good thing all the tine.
tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1682 - 07/08/2026 10:00:34
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Replying To Pikeman96: "You've hit the nail on the head. Clubs will think mainly of what gives them the best chance. Of course they'll like the thought of a system where ten out of twelve, or even twelve out of twelve, go through to the knockout stages instead of just eight.
Always liked the "four from six go through" myself and I'd still like to see the hurling go back to it.
An even better one, and one that would lead to a real cut-throat championship, was proposed by former Chairman Micheál Martin a few years ago. Top team in each group would go straight to a semi-final. Second and third would play quarter-finals, Fourth and fifth would be out, and sixth would go to relegation final.
Guess what? Didn't even go to the floor because of how it was so sure it would be roundly defeated. Why would clubs vote for a system where they'd have only a 50/50 (six out twelve) chance of going through, where it could be eight, ten, or even twelve out of twelve?" I think that's the whole problem in Wexford to be honest. A culture of excellence isn't achieved by avoiding a challenge.
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4632 - 07/08/2026 11:06:17
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I personally don't think changing the championship structure will have any great impact on improving the standard of hurling in the county. Like poster said previously clubs won't vote a change if it means increasing risk of relegation or if their club is doing well at their level risk of winning the championship.
We had a knockout championship structure up to 2007 and I don't remember the standard been any better back then either. The whole reason the structure was changed was to increase exposure to games at a higher intensity which you wouldn't get from in house or practice games.
The issue really is that we don't have the number of players at the standard compared to other counties. And that is the question that needs to be answered. Why have we not won an all ireland in minor or U21 since 1968. Why are Clare,Limerick, Cork, Tipperary,Kilkenny, Galway and even Waterford after winning at least one title in each of these past 10 years or so and each of these teams competed in a Senior All Ireland Final in that time frame. What are we not doing that these counties are doing? They all have different championship structures so it can't be that. They all have to compete with other sports such as soccer and rugby even more so than us so it can't be that either.
Our skill levels seem so far off across the board. Apart from Chin and Mac we haven't seen a player able to consistently win the ball in the air since Tony Doran or Jimmy Holohan, our general striking on the run or shooting is poor but the stand out would be our work rate and pressure put on the opposition. Just look at Limerick in this year's all Ireland final or the great Kilkenny teams they all had massive work rate and intensity like men possessed. How often have we seen this from a Wexford team? Is it all down to lack of fitness or is it the coaching of how and when to tackle. I don't think, or hope it's not,down to lack of heart.
Limerick are the masters of the tackle and turnovers at the moment. In the final against Galway,29 times they had 3 players swarming the opposition player and they scored 1-17 off of turnovers. And the defence side of play is ingrained in them. They celebrate a defensive play such as hooking, blocking or winning a free like getting a score, we don't have that mindset. This needs to be coached from a young age. You need skill and you need will. You can't win without the both of these.
I also think the county board can do more to help clubs. More full time coaches employed to go out to clubs and schools, increase coaching knowledge amongst clubs and put frameworks in place. A lot of clubs are struggling financially and they need to improve facilities so hurling can continue throughout the winter months. I know from fundraising myself that it's hard to keep coming to to the same people in the parish for the dozens of fundraisers to keep the club going. And with dwindling numbers in rural clubs it's only going to get harder. The county board can do more on the corporate side of things with fundraising and sponsorship and help develop these facilities and pay for full-time coaches. The more contact hours each child has,the better each child will become.
camánouttathat (Wexford) - Posts: 98 - 07/08/2026 11:45:43
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Does anyone know what our coaching office / director of hurling etc etc does durning the summer months? .. This isn't a smart question as I'm genuinely interested? .. Are all their resources and times been put into development squads or what happens. For me (and I'm very involved in the club scene), I haven't seen or heard from county chairman or coiste chairman or any coaching officer since Wexford finished up its inter county season. I do realise it is holiday time etc but I am wondering if everything goes into our county teams at the expense of our club teams. I also have heard zero mention of the Kinnerick report or what should / will be achieved before the end of 2026 (which isn't too far away).
I have been at quiet a few tournaments over the last 3 months at U8 / U10 / U12 level and the standard of some of the teams is very very poor. For me this is a real wake up call for Wexford GAA - why are some clubs so far behind?
MyOhMi (Wexford) - Posts: 358 - 07/08/2026 12:35:01
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Replying To camánouttathat: "I personally don't think changing the championship structure will have any great impact on improving the standard of hurling in the county. Like poster said previously clubs won't vote a change if it means increasing risk of relegation or if their club is doing well at their level risk of winning the championship.
We had a knockout championship structure up to 2007 and I don't remember the standard been any better back then either. The whole reason the structure was changed was to increase exposure to games at a higher intensity which you wouldn't get from in house or practice games.
The issue really is that we don't have the number of players at the standard compared to other counties. And that is the question that needs to be answered. Why have we not won an all ireland in minor or U21 since 1968. Why are Clare,Limerick, Cork, Tipperary,Kilkenny, Galway and even Waterford after winning at least one title in each of these past 10 years or so and each of these teams competed in a Senior All Ireland Final in that time frame. What are we not doing that these counties are doing? They all have different championship structures so it can't be that. They all have to compete with other sports such as soccer and rugby even more so than us so it can't be that either.
Our skill levels seem so far off across the board. Apart from Chin and Mac we haven't seen a player able to consistently win the ball in the air since Tony Doran or Jimmy Holohan, our general striking on the run or shooting is poor but the stand out would be our work rate and pressure put on the opposition. Just look at Limerick in this year's all Ireland final or the great Kilkenny teams they all had massive work rate and intensity like men possessed. How often have we seen this from a Wexford team? Is it all down to lack of fitness or is it the coaching of how and when to tackle. I don't think, or hope it's not,down to lack of heart.
Limerick are the masters of the tackle and turnovers at the moment. In the final against Galway,29 times they had 3 players swarming the opposition player and they scored 1-17 off of turnovers. And the defence side of play is ingrained in them. They celebrate a defensive play such as hooking, blocking or winning a free like getting a score, we don't have that mindset. This needs to be coached from a young age. You need skill and you need will. You can't win without the both of these.
I also think the county board can do more to help clubs. More full time coaches employed to go out to clubs and schools, increase coaching knowledge amongst clubs and put frameworks in place. A lot of clubs are struggling financially and they need to improve facilities so hurling can continue throughout the winter months. I know from fundraising myself that it's hard to keep coming to to the same people in the parish for the dozens of fundraisers to keep the club going. And with dwindling numbers in rural clubs it's only going to get harder. The county board can do more on the corporate side of things with fundraising and sponsorship and help develop these facilities and pay for full-time coaches. The more contact hours each child has,the better each child will become." Absolutely we need to spend more on coaching and games. I get that there isnt a huge pool of great hurling coaches out there, the often given reason for us not having more GPOs/GDAs on the numerous occasions Ive raised it, but at the same time not having more coaches because we have had some ordinary ones in the recent past is just not helping our situation.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20408 - 07/08/2026 13:23:22
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