How come nobody has mentioned all the lads who got a calling and went off to join the priesthood?

laflour (Cavan) - Posts: 528 - 12/11/2010 18:12:40    815331

Drink,girls,bad back,moving away to get work,and unjust favouritism being shown to other players.

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 12/11/2010 19:26:09    815415

Gave up when i was 19, college was a big reason as id miss out on the weekly trainings on a wednesday and friday night. Combined with a weekend job it just fell into third place with things. Another reason for me was the attitude of other people in the club, if their relatives were involved in the club they took over and felt they were a higher power and could boss the younger club members around, myself included. For some people it was drink but not for me, still have the urge of wanting to put on the boots and run out while soleing a ball and put it over the bar on a cold dark evening but its too late now for me.Young players just hate a trainer and others to roar abuse, and if there is no encouragement there then why bother?

rossielassie (Roscommon) - Posts: 672 - 12/11/2010 19:29:58    815419

seanie boy did you just take the reasons of everyone else and combine them? lol

Me personally i never quit, i initially did at 18 and went to canada but returned to playing over there, i missed all last season through injury and spent this one in the gym, i expect to return next year fitter than i was at 18, its about never giving up and never say die, this attitude died in ireland with the economy boom it needs returned.

But mainly drink n women r the key components to this also the fact of lack of senior development squads, i always look atcreggan theyve produced hurlers since i was a minor, yet they still have one adult hurling team, the are in the bottom div of antrim hurling but dont kid yourself the have senior and minor county panelists, but i think they need more for example we have a reserve league in antrim for reserve club, but only the top hurling clubs enter (around 8 teams) why has no one ever wrote to the other 12 clubs that play minor club hurling in antrim and even lower down minor club teams and say " hey listen we are going to set up a div2 reserve hurling league fixtures will be agreed upon between the clubs involved do you want to enter?" development of the player the person and the game are all vital components at 18 years old. These players need life aspirations, they might have been sacked from their trade, dropped out of college, got a girl pregnant, feel depressed do we in the majority of the gaa handle these situations no we walk away from our responsibilities, these players may struggle in confidence at this age due to lack of physical fitness, unable to fit in on the social scene of the team, what do we the gaa do walk away, we see all these things at county level club level and national level what do we do? walklk away, thats the bottom line here, we need to stand up and start putting proposals through like the one ive said about reserve hurling.

what yous think?

North Side Gael (None) - Posts: 1076 - 13/11/2010 09:14:23    815564

is there a link for this survey?

wise_guy (Tyrone) - Posts: 1584 - 13/11/2010 11:34:26    815592

Drink,drugs,women,politics,Ego!

beer baron (Cavan) - Posts: 3916 - 13/11/2010 11:38:56    815595

I think the biggest influence for young players quitting is other sports.. espec soccer/rugby!

HappyasLarry (Meath) - Posts: 38 - 13/11/2010 20:47:24    815993

Having seen all sides in 14 years of adult football I have several schools of thought on this.

Firstly, as someone mentioned is talent, good & bad.
What I mean by that is that by 18 ,many lads realise that they have very little ball in them & struggle at any level.
Some of those will continue to be active in the club in other roles others will fade away.
Other promising younsters get smoke blown up their asses after a few good performances at 17 .Maybe get a run with county minors, U21s
They then get carried away thinking they are the business, develop an attitude that the club needs them more than they need the club & like to be begged to play. This is common in small clubs.

Family is another factor. If the family is deep rooted within the club they are unlikely to quit. IE If your missing trainin or games, your auld lad is on your case!

Drink was undoubtably a major factor in the past few years. Young fellas had lots of disposable income to go out on the piss on Saturday nights & not bother with the Sunday morning training sessions.
That may change now & lads could turn back to the football.

Also the length & unpredictablity of the Gaa season is a real pain in the ass for club players.
We really are second class Gaa citizens & it is a complete joke that a few hundred club players can suffer when a county manager takes a notion that he wants fixtures cancelled.
This is where we are really behind other sports.
My local soccer club, which Im not involved with, have a guaranteed match every single weekend , weather permitting, from August to May. Thats the way it should be.
In GAA you train from January & if your lucky the season finishes in November.

Aside from finishing at 18 there is also a haemarrage of lads around the 30 mark.
Family & work commitments kick in & the rubbish deal that club players get does little to persuade them to stay on.

sam57 (Louth) - Posts: 1502 - 14/11/2010 14:59:15    816187

Work commitments, women and sometimes feeling like youre putting more in than youre getting out if it.

Derry_ledd (Derry) - Posts: 2093 - 15/11/2010 11:13:27    816672

The gap between minor and senior is massive - there isn't a decent reserve league, also young men find the demon drink,

On a more tragic level - a young gifted gaelic footballer in south armagh is currently fighting for his life after been struch down by illness on Thursday, our prayers and thoughts are with him and his family

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1684 - 15/11/2010 12:37:42    816747

Where's the survey? How do you take it?

Cat.inRoscommon (Roscommon) - Posts: 16 - 15/11/2010 12:41:28    816748

Having torn my ACL three times before the age of 21 I gave it up. . .there only so many times you can go back to the well . . . and to be honest I wasn't looked after very well by my own regarding phsyio bills surgery etc. . . .unfortunately to this day it has left a bitter taste in my mouth. . . .so I just come on here and have a rant about other GAA matters.

bealatha (Limerick) - Posts: 21 - 15/11/2010 17:16:11    816970

The link for the survey is: surveymonkey.com/s/J3HHTLF

Thanks for taking the time to fill it in.

gaaresearch (Antrim) - Posts: 39 - 16/11/2010 14:08:28    817512

Done

Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6347 - 16/11/2010 14:38:18    817550

So many reasons why people stop playing after 18, college, drink, drugs, work-related, badly looked after by club/county etc etc

Survey done

StJude (Roscommon) - Posts: 87 - 16/11/2010 15:34:57    817597

Actually the drop off occurs at around 15, in my view, and this is more alarming as these lads, mostly, haven't sampled drink or drugs. I believe it gets tougher to step up through the grades as you get older and the weaker lads get disillusioned and quit. So we will never know about the late developers who don't make it past 15.

what do we do about it?

perhaps we should try to focus on more competition at this age, in my county there is no u15 competition that I am aware of.


at 18 people go to college and make life choices that is the way of it

at 15 it a case of neglect by us!

potnorwindow (Cavan) - Posts: 363 - 17/11/2010 11:15:23    818186

I had won every major honour in the game and wanted to go out on a high!!!!!

Seriously though, i stopped playing when i was 18 due to drink and woman.....but i went back playing when i was 22.

Fredthered (Donegal) - Posts: 1144 - 17/11/2010 15:17:38    818386

Its so easy to blame women!! tut tut!

rossielassie (Roscommon) - Posts: 672 - 17/11/2010 16:19:23    818424

I'm an 18 year old still playing football and from my experiences with my friends quitting the game, its not about drink. Its all about the pressure they are being put under from club members during matches and the fact they don't have the time for the game. Most are juggling college and work. Its hard enough as it is never mind getting home from college or losing hours from work to try and play football. There has be an incentive for the younger generations to continue playing.

Not only that but some were afraid of the taughts from one day marking a lad who is at most 18 to some lad who might be up on 32/33. Most lads are afraid of getting injured and having to struggle through the rest of their lives with a bad back, stiff knees, etc.

pocketrocket (Meath) - Posts: 3 - 17/11/2010 16:51:10    818456

im 17, gave up after this years minor, even though our team this year is pretty good, i cant motivate myself to go..

Much more talented at soccer, play it nearly 4 times a week, and the aul Leaving Cert too.

Also, not very talented at it and dont enjoy it too much

Eldiablo42 (Galway) - Posts: 291 - 17/11/2010 19:19:14    818574