Paudie O’Neill predicts U21 hurling adjustment
Re-grading minor in football and hurling is part of GAA director general Páraic Duffy’s plans to alleviate the pressure on young players especially those sitting the Leaving Cert and A level examinations.
Unlike the U21 All-Ireland football championship which Duffy wants to remove, there are no plans to get rid of hurling’s equivalent competition.
However, if the minor motion passes, there will be an extra year’s gap between the minor and U21 grades of hurling whereby more players may fall through the cracks.
O’Neill, a selector under former Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea for three seasons, is also a national school principal in south Dublin.
He wholeheartedly endorses the proposed minor age alteration on the basis of study commitments conflicting with inter-county activities. However, he argues the U21 level should be adjusted accordingly.
“Look at the pressure on guys at 18 academically, trying to squeeze it all in. The whole concept of U17, it’s not for guys doing state exams. I would totally agree with it coming back to U17. And I would also think it should come back to U20.
“He (Duffy) proposed the U21 football would be abolished and the hurling left alone.
“My understanding is that there are only 11 matches in the U21 A. it doesn’t impact whereas the football cuts into the third level.
“If you brought the minor down to U17 it would make sense to bring the U21 down to U20 competition. If the minor comes down to U17, I think it will happen organically then.”
Although the current structure of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship won’t change for the time being,
O’Neill has not ruled out putting forward an alternative format by the end of his tenure.
The Clonmel native admitted he was a fan of the championship system put forward by his HDC predecessor Tommy Lanigan.
Rejected in 2012, the Lanigan-led plan called for the Munster and Leinster championships to be made five-team competitions, played on a round robin, home and away basis thereby providing each team with four games.
“I would love a system like that. I was just talking to Eamon O’Shea last weekend and he was saying in 2014 we were beaten in Munster, put in the qualifiers and it was brilliant because you were getting games and there was a connection being built between the supporters and ourselves. We had seven championship games.
“This year we got three championship matches and the five-week gap (between the Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final).
“Players and the public want more games at the right time of the year. Fundamentally, what we have at the moment is three championships — the league, the provincial championships and then you’ve got the All-Ireland. That model of home and away, say Tipp v Clare in Semple Stadium and Cusack Park, people would love it.”
O’Neill was speaking in Croke Park yesterday at the launch of the “Hurling Development Action Plan, 2015-2018” of which the chief plank is the Celtic Challenge, which will from next year replace the current All-Ireland minor B and C championships.
The development strategy for 16 and 17-year-olds involves staging the games on a regional basis across all four provinces.
More games will be provided to each team with the fixtures scheduled after the state exams have been completed in June.
The HDC also support the forthcoming motion sponsored by Galway and Antrim to alter the format of the All- Ireland minor championship. As things stand, both counties enter the competition at the quarter-final stage.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
