No Cavan Hurling Team 2012

This is a big step back for hurling. Cavan didn't field a championship team this year and vowed to enter one next year but it hasn't happened. They're focusing on underage development but that should be in place already, the blame lies mostly with the county board in my opinion. The aim should be to have a team entered by 2013. If not the sport will disappear.

Any opinions?

In fairness HG if you saw the team they put out for the League last year... Lads without the basic skills of hurling it was a complete joke. They could and would get 30+ point hammerings at every outing. They are doing some underage work so I think they should wait until a few of those lads with a bit of interest come through. As it was the entry criteria was: turn up, with a Hurley preferably.

Terrible that it was allowed to get this bad though..

Oh! dear, more issues with Cavan and hurling. Their attitude to the development of the game can be seen here....

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They badly need Bernard Gaffney back up there although I hear it was costing the Cavan county board a fortune keeping him in fried chicken

Whats all the fuss about? Sure they haven't had a football team for years either!

MAJOR concerns have emerged over the future of Ulster underage hurling following an alarming decline which left Antrim and Derry facing embarrassment this year.

Antrim came close to withdrawing from the All-Ireland U-21 semi-final with Dublin in August as they struggled to assemble a squad, while Derry had earlier withdrawn from the Ulster championship, having been unable to field a team.

There are fears that the malaise may spread to the Derry senior grade amid warnings that unless clubs show greater co-operation, future involvement in the Allianz League could be in doubt.

Cavan no longer compete in the league, while Antrim have withdrawn from the Walsh Cup. However, it's the fall-off at underage level which is most alarming, especially as it has spread to Antrim and Derry.

"Any drop in standards is a worry and yes, underage hurling is under pressure in Ulster," said Ulster Council chairman Aogan Farrell.

News that Antrim came close to conceding a walkover to Dublin in the All-Ireland U-21 semi-final stunned the hurling world.

Nobody expected them to beat the Leinster champions, but it wasn't widely known that they were having difficulty assembling a team a few hours before throw-in.

Antrim were beaten by 26 points but at least they fulfilled the fixture, unlike Derry, who withdrew from the Ulster championship.

The Saffrons' minors also had a humiliating experience, losing by 38 points to Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Antrim had beaten Derry by 18 points in the Ulster final, further underlining the low standard which prevailed in the province.

Farrell said that the introduction of the Tain hurling league, which will feature club teams from Ulster counties joining with counterparts from Louth, Longford, Leitrim and Sligo in a special competition next spring, should bring about an improvement as it will give players more games than in previous years.

"We're hoping that the extra games between clubs from different counties in different provinces will freshen up the scene and lead to an improvement at all levels," Farrell said.

"In Derry's case, nearly all the lads who hurl play football as well, so they come under huge pressure at certain times of the year.

"Antrim's situation is different but they'd be the first to admit they have a lot of work to do also."

Hurling in Ulster is bleeding to a slow painful death, standards have been low for years and now with the stance in Derry by players to make club their prioity the death knell is near for the Senior hurlers. Now really a shock when you consider that the U-21s failed to field in the Ulster Championship despite being a recent power in it.

The importance of the county team is behind the club in the most of Ulster but now some clubs are pushing this stance moreso as they strive for success. The shame is that now there are players who do not wish to pull on the county shirt and i simply cannot understand this view.

Cavans move does not shock me at all, nor does Antrim leaving the Walsh Cup as the financial squeeze is being put on counties but at least i can understand their reasons for pulling out of the Walsh Cup.

The interest and structures in Hurling are just not there, the game itself is dying off outside the top table and people cannot see how to fix it. You get blockbuster games being shown on RTE now, but it's the same teams in them and this is getting boring, what needs to be done is that the GAA should make a consious effort to show lower tier Hurling live also, promote the little men of the game a bit more and give them exposure!

The years of Derry scaring the **** out of Offaly and Antrim nearly beating Wexford in a thriller are long gone, and will not return to Ulster for a long long time!