IN ALL FAIRNESS - Returning minor to Under 18 isn’t straightforward

One of the big issues that the GAA will debate in the coming weeks is the age grade situation with regard to minor level. As with many GAA issues, if Cork are unhappy with something, it tends to get Croke Park’s attention more than any other county, despite many of the Ulster counties, in particular, being unhappy with the change of minor from under 18 to under 17 for some time.

In Tipperary, we are coming to the end of the second year where club minor has been played at under 17 level, and depending on who you listen to, it has been a success or a failure. When Croke Park pushed to change the grade from under 18 to 17 a couple of years ago, it was done for a number of reasons, including player welfare, removing the clash of fixtures with adult competitions, and also taking the pressure off of eighteen-year-olds, many of whom are also sitting the leaving certificate exams. In an inter-county context, Tipperary had one player on their All-Ireland minor hurling winning panel this year sitting the exam in final hero Paddy McCormack, but you can be sure if minor was at under 18 level, more players would have fallen into that net, particularly when the All-Ireland semi-finals are played in June, right in the middle of the exams.

However, it is at club level where the age grade issue is having its greatest impact, particularly as many feel when minor finishes at under 17, the jump to adult is just too great. Here in Tipperary, many clubs, against the wishes of the county board, felt an under 19 grade was needed to help bridge the gap. A sensible approach you might think, until the practicalities are applied.

Firstly, under 19 competitions cut across adult competitions, and as we approach the midway point in October, the under 19 county finals in both hurling or football have not been set as many of the remaining clubs are also involved in the latter stages of adult competitions, so it will likely run into November, and then there still have to be under 21 hurling & football championships to be played, up to divisional finals only. Some of these under 19’s are also have schools games, and those who have moved to college have that as well as the trek of travelling home for training, games etc… If you went back to the old under 18 minor championships, you would still have that cut across with adult competitions, maybe not to the same extent, but all it takes is one player on any club to impact a schedule. There also appears to be no appetite to play midweek under 19 games, under lights, like they do in Galway, even if there are important adult championship games the previous or following weekend.

Some of the reasons given in Cork for the failure of their under 19 competitions this past summer were club adult managers refusing to release players to play under 19 games midweek, which left some clubs with weakened teasm and/or giving walkovers. This is a sign of weak clubs who allow their adult team managers dictate and impact other teams and players, many of whom at eighteen or nineteen years of age see that under 19 grade as their priority.

One of the big reasons I feel for the struggles of the under 19 grade, and we have had it in Tipperary, is its timing in the summer. Players aged sixteen to nineteen are the key age in terms of retention and providing them with games at their own age grade has to be a priority. However, there are also other things in life, sometimes out of their control.

I’ll give you an example. Lorrha played just one game in the under 19 ‘B’ hurling championship this summer. They had to hand Newport a walkover in round 1 because they were down six players on the evening, three of whom were on holidays with family, one in the Gaeltacht, and two more ruled out through injury. In the second round, Burgess handed Lorrha a walkover, again because they had insufficient players for the some of same reasons. Round 3 in the group saw Burgess beat Newport, which meant a playoff was needed with Lorrha drawn away to Newport, they lost and that was their under 19 hurling campaign over, after playing just one game. That isn’t right.

Many of this panel did get games at either under 17 level or on the clubs intermediate and junior ‘B’ teams but there is one player who is sitting on the subs bench for the junior ‘B’s whose under 19 campaign was the one where he would have gotten most game time but was left short.

I’m not sure a return to under 18 as minor (it would mean doing away with under 17 & 19 let’s no forget) would change a lot, as you’ll still have summer issues, as well as players playing adult at the weekend, but the crossover of players would be reduced which would help somewhat. It’s an important issue that needs to be teased out fully first, and a buy in by clubs who may have to run the risk of some of their best young players playing the midweek of a big adult game, but they are young lads and that age they just want to play, and playing with their friends they have come up from under 9 should always be the priority.