NO TEAM HAS enjoyed more recent success in the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship than Galway, with the Tribesmen winning 13 of the last 31 titles.
Their status as the only county from Connacht in the top-tier competition has been an undoubted boost in regards to on-field success, given they enter at the latter stages of the All-Ireland series, bypassing the provincial championships.
Nonetheless, they are seeking change this weekend at the GAA’s annual Congress, with Motion 14 to focus on the county being added to the Leinster or Munster Minor Hurling Championships.
While the current system has been good to the westerners in terms of silverware, it is failing the county’s developmental efforts, according to Galway GAA chairman Paul Bellew.
“It’s not [satisfactory]. It often gets confused with success. I think we’re synonymous with success at minor level in Galway to our detriment,” he tells The42.
“It might be funny to hear from the outside looking in, why do we want to make the route harder for ourselves? But realistically at this level, it is developmental.
Advertisement
“Everything about it is developmental, except the level of access to games that Galway get. Our request is simple: Equal access to games for all. Nothing more. Nothing less. And Leinster is the natural home for that.”
Ultimately, more games at the level are of greater interest to the county. The 13 All-Ireland minor titles since 1992 have translated into just one Liam MacCarthy Cup success in that time-frame.
“It’s a hard thing to say that we’d turn down winning one to get them more games,” Bellew details.
“But in terms of developing them into U20 and into adult, which we’ve had serious issues with here in Galway, and which we are tackling behind the scenes on a number of fronts, we would prefer the access to games. And if that means we exit at a Leinster final stage, Leinster semi-final stage, All-Ireland semi-final stage, we’d take that all day long.
“If you roll that out to be year-on-year, you have the 16-year-old who is strong enough to be on the team the first year, he’ll get eight-to-10 games at that grade over two years rather than four.”
Bellew says Galway GAA need more games to improve the pathways from minor level. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The motion on the table this weekend will ponder two potential landing spots for the Galway minors, but the county’s preferred destination is the eastern province.
“The motion is worded technically, it has included both. That was more from a technical element to get it on the clár. But we will go into either. We’re not going to be picky about it,” he outlines.
“But our preference is for Leinster, mainly on the grounds that we do our business in Leinster in the other two [grades]. Geographically, structurally, it makes the most sense. But we won’t turn up our noses to either. The bottom line is we just want the same programme of games as everybody else.
“The fact that the seniors went in [to Leinster] 14 years ago. The U20s went in 2018. It is just the natural home for us. We haven’t dominated either of those scenes, which is the fear with the minor level as well. If you look at the U20, since we’ve gone in, no team in Leinster has won two in a row, which is always healthy I would think.
“I think we’ve shaken up the senior championship to a good degree, despite only winning it three times. And if we do go into Leinster at minor level, what you’ll see is a rise in standards across all counties. And that’s been proven in the other two areas.”
With Congress kicking off at Croke Park on Friday evening, the vote on Motion 14 is expected to take place on Saturday morning.
Get instant updates on the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues on The42 app. Brought to you by Allianz Insurance, proud sponsors of the Allianz Leagues for over 30 years.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Development, not All-Irelands: Why Galway's minor hurlers are seeking a new home
NO TEAM HAS enjoyed more recent success in the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship than Galway, with the Tribesmen winning 13 of the last 31 titles.
Their status as the only county from Connacht in the top-tier competition has been an undoubted boost in regards to on-field success, given they enter at the latter stages of the All-Ireland series, bypassing the provincial championships.
Nonetheless, they are seeking change this weekend at the GAA’s annual Congress, with Motion 14 to focus on the county being added to the Leinster or Munster Minor Hurling Championships.
While the current system has been good to the westerners in terms of silverware, it is failing the county’s developmental efforts, according to Galway GAA chairman Paul Bellew.
“It’s not [satisfactory]. It often gets confused with success. I think we’re synonymous with success at minor level in Galway to our detriment,” he tells The42.
“It might be funny to hear from the outside looking in, why do we want to make the route harder for ourselves? But realistically at this level, it is developmental.
“Everything about it is developmental, except the level of access to games that Galway get. Our request is simple: Equal access to games for all. Nothing more. Nothing less. And Leinster is the natural home for that.”
Ultimately, more games at the level are of greater interest to the county. The 13 All-Ireland minor titles since 1992 have translated into just one Liam MacCarthy Cup success in that time-frame.
“It’s a hard thing to say that we’d turn down winning one to get them more games,” Bellew details.
“But in terms of developing them into U20 and into adult, which we’ve had serious issues with here in Galway, and which we are tackling behind the scenes on a number of fronts, we would prefer the access to games. And if that means we exit at a Leinster final stage, Leinster semi-final stage, All-Ireland semi-final stage, we’d take that all day long.
“If you roll that out to be year-on-year, you have the 16-year-old who is strong enough to be on the team the first year, he’ll get eight-to-10 games at that grade over two years rather than four.”
The motion on the table this weekend will ponder two potential landing spots for the Galway minors, but the county’s preferred destination is the eastern province.
“The motion is worded technically, it has included both. That was more from a technical element to get it on the clár. But we will go into either. We’re not going to be picky about it,” he outlines.
“But our preference is for Leinster, mainly on the grounds that we do our business in Leinster in the other two [grades]. Geographically, structurally, it makes the most sense. But we won’t turn up our noses to either. The bottom line is we just want the same programme of games as everybody else.
“The fact that the seniors went in [to Leinster] 14 years ago. The U20s went in 2018. It is just the natural home for us. We haven’t dominated either of those scenes, which is the fear with the minor level as well. If you look at the U20, since we’ve gone in, no team in Leinster has won two in a row, which is always healthy I would think.
“I think we’ve shaken up the senior championship to a good degree, despite only winning it three times. And if we do go into Leinster at minor level, what you’ll see is a rise in standards across all counties. And that’s been proven in the other two areas.”
With Congress kicking off at Croke Park on Friday evening, the vote on Motion 14 is expected to take place on Saturday morning.
Get instant updates on the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues on The42 app. Brought to you by Allianz Insurance, proud sponsors of the Allianz Leagues for over 30 years.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Congress GAA Galway