Don’t tamper with U-21 grade, says Tipperary manager

Tipperary U21 football manager Tommy Toomey believes the GPA’s proposal to lower the U21 grade to U20 is counter-productive.

A report published on Wednesday by the Gaelic Players Association states that 45% of student inter-county players train five or more times a week, while half are ‘overwhelmed’ by their commitments.

Toomey says the recommendation for an U20 grade does not go far enough in addressing the unreasonable demands placed on student inter-county players.

“You bring it down to U20 and you are still dealing with the same players. They are all still in college.

“They might not be looking to their final exams, but they still have end-of-year exams to contend with,” he argued.

“On top of their studies, these lads have their clubs to contend with, and then they have U21 and senior with their county. In our case, there are seven players that fall into this bracket of having four different areas demanding their time and focus.

“If you bring it back a year to U20, you are going to concertina it on top of the minor football operation. It won’t work. It is not proven.”

The Tipperary U21 boss and senior selector called for a root and branch review of the over-crowded January programme of games.