Freshers ineligible for top cup games

FIRST-YEAR students will be ineligible to play in the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup competitions this season. The announcement follows a ruling passed at Saturday’s AGM of the Higher Education GAA authority at Trinity College in Dublin.

The move stemmed from a GAA Congress recommendation to alleviate burnout amongst elite young hurlers and footballers and was passed resoundingly on Saturday.

The ruling applies only to Division One clubs meaning that fresher students in lower colleges will be eligible to participate for their senior GAA college outfits. The decision will avoid a repeat of the 2007 scenario where Joe Canning spearheaded LIT to Fitzgibbon Cup success when he was only a fresher student in the college.