'Are we creating elitism in the game?': Rural Galway clubs fearful of championship reform

Ten East Galway clubs are voicing opposition to a proposal to cut eight teams from the county senior hurling championship.

Thu, 03 Feb, 2022 - 14:29

John Fogarty

Reducing the number of senior teams to streamline championships threatens the existence of rural clubs.

That is the opinion of former Galway goalkeeper Damien Howe, who is a leading figure in a campaign by 10 East Galway clubs against the proposal to cut eight teams from the senior hurling championship.

The move by the board is prompted by a rule change voted in at Congress to restrict all championships to a maximum of 16 teams as a means of making them more efficient.

However, as more rural clubs find themselves in relegation difficulty, Meelick-Eyrecourt man Howe believes the move could be the beginning of the end for east Galway clubs and elsewhere.

“East Galway has traditionally been a hurling stronghold in the county but the long-term view of this is once you go down from senior so do the standards. Some clubs will think they’ll go up straight away and that would be foolish because the sense around the club is you don’t need to do as much to get up but it’s so difficult with the one up, one down scenario.

"I don’t see it as being a long-term situation.

“Are we creating elitism in the game with 16 teams? Are we making different areas stronger than others? There’s a lot of discussion about transfers around this. A promising young guy with aspirations of playing for the county who is now coming from a traditional club that is forced down to junior, does he get the opportunity to showcase himself? I think it would become extremely difficult.

“The only sense of community in many rural areas now is the GAA club. If you’re downgrading these clubs, it doesn’t become attractive to the young fella and I can see a fall-off. What is the driving force behind this? They can paint it any way they want but the GAA seem to be led by professional sports in terms of streamlining. Are we being led by commercial interests? Are we being led by broadcasters and getting bums on seats? If so, we’re going to ruin what we believe is part of our heritage.

“Hurling is an Irish game, it’s in our heritage. Is this a promotion? I see it as nothing but a demotion. This will benefit teams large in population. I know they will say they are competing against other brands but I can see them being attractive to talent from rural areas.”

Howe highlights how the once great Kiltormer club, 1992 All-Ireland senior champions, are now “hanging on to intermediate status by mere threads. They’re talking about amalgamation and they’re in danger of losing their identity. The same thing is coming down the tracks for Portumna, who have won four All-Irelands."

The county board have extended the consultation period about the change to the championships until February 13 but the anger in East Galway is palpable. “The part we find most upsetting is the lack of communication from our county board in relation to the proposal being created,” says Howe. “No matter how mandated they were by Croke Park, this came from our county board. The intermediate clubs weren’t consulted by a drop of eight teams from senior and the senior teams don’t seem to be consulted and everybody seems to be caught in the headlights. We don’t know if it’s a done deal or we’re going to get a hearing and nothing tangible out of it. Numbers are an issue for rural clubs but if you drop eight more teams from senior down to intermediate, I would say it will make it 60% to 70% more difficult to get out of the grade for those there.”