Freemount object to Cork board proposals - 'We are not happy with the process'

Delegates at tonight’s first Cork County Board meeting of the year will be asked to vote on proposed changes to the county junior A hurling, junior A football and U21 football championships, but Freemount are leading objections due to misgivings over the process employed.

Currently, only divisional champions — eight in football and seven in hurling — advance to the county junior A championships, but it is proposed to expand both to 16 teams. In football, the finalists in all eight divisions will progress, while the teams in the seven divisional hurling finals (Beara do not have a championship) will be joined by two ‘wildcard’ clubs, chosen by the county Competitions Control Committee based on results in recent times.

In addition, a premier U21 football championship, mirroring the hurling competition set up in 2016, is mooted.

However, Freemount delegate John O’Flynn is unhappy with the manner in which these changes are being packaged. “We are not happy with the process,” he said.

“Divisional chairmen and secretaries met with the CCC in December and were put under pressure to accept these new proposals. It was made clear to them that the current system would not be continuing and the CCC would have to look at a premier junior if this proposal was not acceptable.

“The divisional officers accepted the proposal and an e-mail setting out the proposal was sent to the divisional secretaries but not to the clubs. The level of communication of this proposal to the clubs has varied from division to division with communication of it in some divisions leaving a lot to be desired.

“As well as this, the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting doesn’t make it clear that this is coming up. When we raised the matter, we were told that the proposal was coming up under an agenda item called ‘county championships’. It is disappointing that it did not specifically refer to the proposal.

“There are many issues to consider, in particular the wild card proposal where the CCC are likely to have a big say in what teams are selected. It is certainly a questionable proposal that progression in the championship will not be determined solely by what happens on the field.”

With both teams in a divisional final now advancing, O’Flynn fears the prestige of such games will be weakened, with a knock-on financial effect. “Divisional finals are the highlight of the divisional GAA calendar and generally generate great interest and excitement with large numbers in attendance,” he said.

“There is no doubt that under the new proposal, the divisional finals will be diminished particularly as the result of the game has little impact on how the team progresses in the county.

“There is a feeling that this, and the increase of the intermediate championships last year, is about greater gate receipts, but the divisional revenue dropped by more than the county revenue increased. Another concern is that divisional championships will have to start earlier.”