October 19 - Limerick hurling needs to take stock

I am seriously concerned at the direction that hurling in Limerick is going at present. I have been involved in hurling for over 30 years, as a player, trainer, manager and currently a selector with Effin senior team. It is incumbent on those in positions of authority to take stock and see where hurling is going within the county.

You have a situation in Limerick (which is probably similar in other counties) that county team managers are dictating to players and clubs when and where those players, who are lucky enough to be selected for a county panel, can train and play with their clubs. This is a fundamentally wrong position for any club to be in. I believe it is the county managers who should be requesting permission from clubs if those players could be excused on occasions from club matches.

With no disrespect to John Allen and his predecessors the future of Limerick club hurling is of no great significance to any county manager – their priority is having a committed panel of about 30 or so players and being able to use them whenever they require. The downside of this is that clubs might only have the use of their best players for club championship matches only.

This makes it very difficult for any club team to prepare properly. Worse, existing club players are left in a vacuum where they don’t know if/when their ‘county’ players will be available.

Another point worth remembering is that a club loses the benefit of having a county player – youngsters attending club training sessions become very disillusioned when their heroes are hardly ever at their local field for training. Ironically, clubs with no county player are gaining a distinct advantage, which should not be the case.

County panels are very big now. A player who rarely gets a game at county level could still be the reason why club matches cannot be played, thereby holding up the other 30-plus club players who would have played.

I believe that county boards have to step forward and make brave decisions for the greater good of all GAA players, i.e. including club players. When county managers are being appointed it should be on the understanding that the club loyalty is not undervalued. An arrangement should be agreed with clubs on a training regime that sees the club as well as county having the players for training each week.

One such arrangement could be that ‘county’ players train once with club and once with county each week and then alternate weekends. However, in the fortnight before county matches the county get full use of players. If such an arrangement cannot be accommodated or if there is no will by people in the county board to address this problem club hurling will be in serious decline.

Unfortunately, the approach for the last number of years has been to work from the county team down to the clubs, instead of from the clubs up to the county team. It definitely has not improved Limerick hurling – if anything it has gone backwards and has hindered the progress of many clubs.

If clubs had a stronger call on players, they would have a sense of involvement with the county and it would help to drive it forward. One way or another there would be greater goodwill towards county teams, which is certainly absent at present.

This letter has been written with the best interests of hurling in Limerick at heart.

It is hoping that county board officers will reflect and see where hurling in the county should be going.

Playing for your county should be an honour and a privilege, not a cause for tension and divided loyalties between a player and his club.

At the end of the day GAA is rooted in communities and clubs are their heart. If this breaks down the GAA is in serious danger of breaking down – it will lose its raison d’être

Denis O’Donovan

Effin, co limerick