why a lot of players quit at 18.

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 at creggan theyve produced hurlers since i was a minor, yet they still have one adult hurling team, they are in the bottom div of antrim hurling but dont kid yourself they have senior and minor county panelists, but i think they need more competition for players and the team, 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?" this would be for young players to help them meet senior panelists whom they might buddy off with so that they have someone to talk to on and off the feild.

Today my clubs minor hurlers take to the feild in the div 2 league final, for a lot of these players it will probably be there last game as our reserve team was pulled from the league two years ago for lack of numbers at training, but you cant blame the boys the reserve team is about development, fun and an outlet to keep players in touch with their club to give them a chance to mature and decide whether or not to step up to the proffessionalism of the senior squad ie training three time a week 10 months a year, also at this age they may have work, training with college etc . 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? walk away, thats the bottom line here, we need to stand up and start putting proposals through like the one ive said about reserve hurling and start actually involving these kids simply sending them to uni teams isnt enough anymore we need to make them future leaders in our clubs and communities.

what yous think?

Very good post NSG, can't say i'd argue with a lot of what you said in it.

Was thinking about this myself after a conversation with a mate of mine in the week, you always hear about these great underage players that disappeared after minors, but just how much of it is the person themselves fault and how much is the club/GAAs fault for not having a proper transition period in place?

I walked away from football at 19, i was fed up with the old codgers still playing football and keeping young players like myself out of the senior squads. I did get my chance at senior football for the club but it was a very brief one, i was asked to mark a former Derry senior in my debut at 18 and he took me to the cleaners. That was it, off at half time never to darken the senior first team again, well except for the odd last 5 minutes and carnaval game at Portglenone!

My feelings on the whole matter are simple. The gap for player development is too short to develop players fully. Let's look at it this way, we start playing from around the age of 8 on average, where we are learning the basic skills and the rules of the game until about 12. We then play seriously for the first time at U-14s (from about 13 years old) then finish our underage careers at 18, give or take a few months dependant on birth month, when we are expected to go and play and train with the senior and reserve teams. On average 14 players per year per team are expected to do this but only around and average of 4 are still playing at 23. Why?

Well the answer is simple, the jump is too big from minor to Senior. In my book, the age ranges need revising as the current ones clash with exams at 16 and 18 also. If the GAA restructured the age groups to odd numbers instead of evens then a lot of the clashes would be nullified, you'd have U-13, U-15, U-17 and U-19, giving an extra age group for young players to continue their development before the "have" to move into Seniors.

The mentallity of the clubs have a lot to answer for too, a lot of them don't make younger players feel welcome as senior players, cliques are already formed in dressing rooms and youngsters can feel very intimidated when they arrive for pre-season training. It's the first 5 training sessions of the year that will lose you a player. I've seen it a lot from my experiences as a hurler who made his senior club debut at 14. At 20 i was a veteran of the team with 6 years experience behind me and when the younger lads were coming through to that level i went out of my way to involve them in dressing room banter.

You say about the younger players suffering from a lack of self esteem, it's a very valid point. In my club, the hurlers always split into 2 camps, the fully fit players and the players looking to get to full fitness. Nobody pushed you into either camp but if you were skinning the lads looking to get fitter then you got bollocked and sent to the fitter session. This meant that there was nobody lagging behind during the hard yards and the fitness section of the training only ever lasted 20 mins then wer all joined up for the proper stuff. Splitting the groups meant we had massive numbers out as no one felt the need to quit, in 3 seasons out squad numbers moved from 18 to 37. Instead of playing backs v forwards we were able to play full games with rolling subs. We had a reserve team for all the younger members of the squad and players returning from injury. We got the blend right and at one stage the clun were contemplating entering a third team into the league such were the numbers, ultimately the league let us down in the end as games were called off and walkovers awarded.

If you wonder why younger players quit, sure some of has to do with personal circumstance, but more often than not it's due to the GAA and the club not doing enough to make the transition from youth player to senior smoother.

Another massive consideration has to be lads moving away for college. It's grand to say that you can head home every weekend but that becomes very draining. Throw in the need to do a bit of study and the need to take advantage of the great life that college can give you, and it's easy to understand why lads drop out. Universities don't have teams for all levels of players and if you are not Sigerson cup standard then your options are limited.

It's fine if you go to uni in the same area your club is in but if you are a Dongal lad studying in Galway or Limerick, it's a different matter.

I also think it's hard to get back into it. Let's say you packed it in at 18 in order to drink and ride your way into your mid twenties. When you are say 25 and looking for nothing more than a bit of exercise and craic, lads tend to go with soccer. All over the country there are astroturf pitches full of lads who show up, wave their arms for a couple of minutes to warm up and then proceed to have a game. There's no training, no registration, no real competition but it's exactly what people are looking for. The GAA doesn't have something like this. I know that Junior B football is probably the closest but it's not the same. I know that something like recreational GAA (there's a name for it but I don't remember) has been trialed in places (Armagh for sure) and I'd love to see something like that available in more places. My playing days are over but every week I play soccer for an hour for a few mates. I'd must prefer if it was football I was playing.

thanks for the comments.

RMD a very valid point you raise, i read on the antrim site about recreational hurling, but it was for like over 30s and i thought to myself why not make it if youve never played adult championship or havent played it in 5 years? This would open the doors a bit more and also make it no club affiliation.

Also in the gaa we have the 7's game, brilliant fast lots of scoring, why not start mid night gaa leagues on the all weather and 3g surfaces around the country, no club affiliation involved just you and 6 of your mates, as youve said many boys go to soccer this could be rivalled very easilly by the gaa, but we have too many traditional heads that will want club involvement etc. This may well give clubs a bigger pool of players as they may unearth new talent at such events.

Good stuff here.

One of the problems here (and it has permeated right down to lower club levels) is the must win philosophy. This takes savage commitment and not everyone can or are willing to give it. GAA has no right to be the 'be all and end all' of anyone's life - certainly not a teenagers. Pressure to commit at this age drives people away. Many are committed to it but equally many are not - and you couldn't blame them. If my lad was putting in 6/8 hours a week and not enoying it or felt it was too much I'd be advising him to step back a little. If he was enjoying it then work away - but I'd be watching how his study was going, The game is all but professional now at all levels but the club players are getting nothing for their time/ efforts.

RMD - your point about astro and 5 a side is excellent and relevant. I know loads of lads who do this - I can't cos I can barely walk at this stage - sad but completely true this week with the bad knee hanging off!!! Most GAA clubs have all weather facilities and a 7-a-side football or hurling hour would be a great idea to compete with the soccer that is out there. Clubs should really look into this.

The must win scenario is a big factor and normally what takes the gaa club away from their responsibilities to developing the young men/women, they simply put so much pressure on them to develop themselves by themselves that they lose confidence in the gaa.

I think the gaa paid development officers should be starting mini 7 aside football and hurling games non club affiliated, get teams to register so that they can be graded so as that no one is getting walked over and from that let them work away and have fun. gaa provided bibs and balls and have someone at each venue.

The last 20 years have seen this problem accentuate. Probably because of ever demanding educational issues but the fun went out of the game around then.
Money is also a factor. Young lads getting mega-bucks for laying blocks etc., and they decided, like many others, to give life and enjoyment one good lash!!!

As we enter our austerity phase its possible with more lads idle and with time on their hands they will give the game another shot. Clubs have a big responsibility to meet these needs from a community aspect if nothing else...

Who knows, maybe a reversal in trends is not far away.

Boxtyeater wrote:The last 20 years have seen this problem accentuate. Probably because of ever demanding educational issues but the fun went out of the game around then.
Money is also a factor. Young lads getting mega-bucks for laying blocks etc., and they decided, like many others, to give life and enjoyment one good lash!!!

As we enter our austerity phase its possible with more lads idle and with time on their hands they will give the game another shot. Clubs have a big responsibility to meet these needs from a community aspect if nothing else...

Who knows, maybe a reversal in trends is not far away.

Maybe boxty the solution but I note from reports from The Kingdom that up to 200 players from the club scene have emigrated over the past 6 months. I assume other counties are suffering player loss also.

RMDrive wrote:
I also think it's hard to get back into it. Let's say you packed it in at 18 in order to drink and ride your way into your mid twenties. When you are say 25 and looking for nothing more than a bit of exercise and craic, lads tend to go with soccer. All over the country there are astroturf pitches full of lads who show up, wave their arms for a couple of minutes to warm up and then proceed to have a game. There's no training, no registration, no real competition but it's exactly what people are looking for. The GAA doesn't have something like this. I know that Junior B football is probably the closest but it's not the same. I know that something like recreational GAA (there's a name for it but I don't remember) has been trialed in places (Armagh for sure) and I'd love to see something like that available in more places. My playing days are over but every week I play soccer for an hour for a few mates. I'd must prefer if it was football I was playing.

Great point here RMD.. Indoor hurling would be a great option here but not many play it. Our school principal at Primary level was a big fan of it and it's great craic! I suppose the requirement of special hurleys and helmets would be an issue compared to indoor soccer or 5 aside soccer though..

I'm glad they play indoor hurling in Cavan. Be a bit dangerous to have Cavan lads wielding hurleys in the great outdoors.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:I'm glad they play indoor hurling in Cavan. Be a bit dangerous to have Cavan lads wielding hurleys in the great outdoors.

I'd like to say something scathing back but in fairness you're dead right. We won a schools final by simply kicking the sliothar around the field, myself and one other lad were the only two who could actually puck the ball, the hurleys were used mainly for intimidation and resting on when the ball was up the field. We had no spares either, one hurley per man, so you didn't want to break your only one by blocking a shot or something and risk being subbed..

[quote="Jonsmith"]

RMDrive wrote:

Our school principal at Primary level was a big fan of it and it's great craic! I suppose the requirement of special hurleys and helmets would be an issue compared to indoor soccer or 5 aside soccer though..

Was the school you went to special ?

Jonsmith wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:I'm glad they play indoor hurling in Cavan. Be a bit dangerous to have Cavan lads wielding hurleys in the great outdoors.

I'd like to say something scathing back but in fairness you're dead right. We won a schools final by simply kicking the sliothar around the field, myself and one other lad were the only two who could actually puck the ball, the hurleys were used mainly for intimidation and resting on when the ball was up the field. We had no spares either, one hurley per man, so you didn't want to break your only one by blocking a shot or something and risk being subbed..

The other good thing about it being indoors is that no-one can see it!

[quote="OMAR"]

Jonsmith wrote:

RMDrive wrote:

Our school principal at Primary level was a big fan of it and it's great craic! I suppose the requirement of special hurleys and helmets would be an issue compared to indoor soccer or 5 aside soccer though..

Was the school you went to special ?

The headmaster was actually the most special member of that school. Not sure if you're familiar with the Man but if you met him once I'd say you remember him.. He was dexterously challenged? The same man was from the old vein of teachers and it was a shame he ever became involved with local GAA, was responsible for more than a few lads quitting before age 18...

Jayo I assure you it's a great bit of craic! Sort of like hockey I suppose. Obviously it's not as close to the real thing as indoor soccer is to outdoor but still better than an hour spent watching TV on a winter's evening..