Minor Intercounty

Now here in ulster we have had good minor teams coming through, weather it was derry in the early noughties or antrim in the mid noughties, however these teams have limited if any experience against southern opposition, I believe it is time to create (i would see this as an experiement for senior) a round robin two tier intercounty minor championship, ie the top 16 go into four groups of four and the bottom 16 the same, the provincial championships if necessary could be played earlier in the year, this would also allow for the likes of armagh minors who run antrim close this year a shot at getting good experience against southern opposition.

All in all, you could have a group like, cork, wexford, armagh, carlow, the experience gained and possibilities to take the skills back to their clubs and to their senior teams would be unreal, it would also make teams prepare properly as they are not going out just representing their parish or county but also their province.

If need be replace the early season provincial league with the group stages of this new format. If need be make it three tier in terms of competition 12, 12 and 8 with four groups of three in the top two and two groups of four in the bottom. These young fellas love representing their clubs and counties but maybe only get one game in a year to represent their county, what can they actually learn from this?

This is only an idea however in order for antrim to improve they need to be playing southern teams not just our ulster counter parts.