Replying To StoreysTash: "So Rosslare recent final was over 20 years ago and senior was 16 teams. And zilch since. This accusation could be thrown at a lot of clubs in Wexford who coast along in an endless cycle of mediocrity and happy clappy. We need to produce better hurlers and who can deliver under the toughest of pressure and no amount of devotion to Fr. Murphy is going to help with that. What will help is more hurling and more hurling against top teams. I'm don't subscribe that Wexford is for retirees and Dublin is for young people, I see some of my friends now moving back and none of them are moving to Dublin. Some are working remotely and doing a commute 1-2 days max and housing is why they are moving back to Wexford and not Dublin. Its just as expensive to buy houses in Australia and people are moving back."
When you are young 2 days sitting in a car for what could be 4hrs a day doesn't seem that much but as you get older that changes and we do not have a commuter train service from Wexford - Gorey is better. Within the county you will see shifts, it may not be the current lads playing but it will be their kids. Like Kildare and the South Dublin Clubs, Wicklow stands perhaps to benefit the most but again if you do not have the structures in place that gets lost i.e Dublin in Hurling for the most part of the first 100 years of the GAA. In 2022 12% were Joint Irish Citizens and 8% were not Irish Citizens in Wexford, now none of that may mean anything but it does point to a large population that we traditionally may have ignored. As I said and I don't think we will disagree on this the battle is to get more kids playing the games and to do that we really need a people product in place that encourages them all along the way to stay with the game and get better. Too often the rhetoric coming out of people in the GAA is that you have to be this or that - its in your blood etc I couldn't care less where they come from, get them playing.
Replying To wexford2012: "Some interesting comments coming up about engaging new comers/non-GAA families something we and the GAA as a whole need to become much better at. Its a big challenge but especially for hurling where I think the consensus is that the difference between good and excellent is what work lads to at home and the encouragement they receive. Anecdotally I believe many Dublin clubs are good at integrating non GAA playing parents - I know for some at least the majority of their underage coaches would not necessarily have played the games and this hasn't stopped Na Fianna or Cuala from winning club all Irelands. They must though have supports in place to upskill and support these coaches and must work hard to make sure they are not closed shops but instead welcome people with open arms - doubt they are doing this perfectly either. Soccer has a huge advantage when it comes to children whose parents grew up outside of Ireland, they know these games and its easier to do the basics and less physical (many kids just don't like the idea of getting a clip of a hurl).
In the show 'Succession' the patriarch of the family, Logan Roy, says to his dysfunctional adult children "I love you, but you are not serious people" - is this Wexford? We love it but its just not serious? PJ MacManus speaking the aftermath of Limerick's winning the All Ireland said "...the difference between being involved and being committed is like when you have bacon and eggs for breakfast - the hen was involved, but the pig was committed!" are too many of us hens? Des Mythen in the most recent 'Wexford hurling podcast' spoke of lads just happy to be on the team/panel but not determined to be all they could be, not to put in the work required to step up, just doing enough to get the polo shirt and swan around - maybe harsh but Des must feel there is validity. I've said it before but I suspect there is an issue in our collective psyche, are we too happy to be there, happy to be everyone's second team, jovial and colorful when maybe success demands a dour seriousness? We all love cheeky chappies like Larry O'Gorman but have the demands of intercounty made this a thing of the past and if we hang on, we will be stuck there?"
On the first part there is also a cost element - Hurling these days is not a cheap sport to play - its safer for the helmets but between the cost of hurls and helmets its expensive if you compare that to soccer. We mut have got to the point now where clubs no longer need facilities? perhaps what clubs need to do is focus on the reasons why more kids are not playing and solving those. What would it take to increase the number of kids playing by 20%, we can talk all we want about management at Senior level but if we are not getting the kids through the gate its pointless.
Replying To Viking66: "Rosslare is growing rapidly. Population won't be an issue in years to come. Getting that population involved in the GAA will be the challenge"
That's where the winning of our next AI title will come from. The hearts and minds of kids in places like Rosslare, New Ross, Gorey/Courtown. Growing populations, parents with limited Wexford or even Ireland connections. Sure we have the perfect role model for them in Lee Chin!
If soccer is strong, for me that's a positive. At least kids are going to be athletic and interested in sport, not just video games. Everyone has a role to play, including Gizzy with his mystical and mythical twaddle!, but we need to be forward looking.