Martin sees long-term benefits of upping age eligibility for adult games

The chairman of the GAA’s Minor Review Group says the benefits of increasing the age of eligibility for adult competition may not be seen until 2020.

At Congress, it was enshrined into rule that no U17 player can line out at adult club level.

The motion was tabled by the Minor Review Group and chairman Micheal Martin accepts the rule change will hit rural clubs hardest.

“Clubs have to compromise now to look after their younger players,” he said.

“The benefits of this motion will be seen five years down the line. A club struggling for numbers at present might question this rule, but once the advantages become clear, attitudes will change.

“Delegates, through their voting, acknowledged there are problems in the overuse of young players and how these players must be protected.”

He added: “When addressing Congress, I stressed the mind-set needs to be geared towards the long-term. That instead of flogging a young lad at 16 or 17, that he is protected and, as a result, is still playing in his twenties.

“I wanted to end the culture of advancing young boys onto senior teams for short-term success at the expense of retaining older players and making sure the older players stay with it. That is the challenge now, to achieve that change in mindset.”

With the rise in age eligibility coming into affect from 2016, Martin says rural clubs have 12 months, a sufficient timeframe he insisted, to get their houses in order.

“It will be a challenge for rural clubs. We did a lot of research. We studied the statistics and how this might affect rural clubs. But it can be done. No adult team should hinge on a 17-year old. The challenge for clubs this year is to retain the same group of players going into 2016. While young players were traditionally rushed in to filling a space on an adult club team, those very players were the ones walking away at 21 or 22. The emphasis now has to be on retention because the option of dipping into the younger pool will not be there from 2016.”

Last year’s Dingle senior football team contained three U17s. Club chairman Seamus Ó Bambaire says there is merit in the rule change, but still feels there will be an impact.

“Mark O’Connor, Conor Geaney and Tom O’Sullivan lined out for our seniors in 2014. They were exceptional, but if three more like them come along, they will have to wait an extra year. Unfortunately, rural clubs are forced into that situation because they are tight on numbers.

“We are struggling for players at U8, U10 and U12. While it is not desirable that an U17 player would be lining out at senior level, this is a rule that will impact us down the line.”