Opinion: Hurlers must have patience

The news that some members of the Cavan hurling fraternity are agitating for a return of the county adult hurling team was disappointing. The time is not right, yet, writes PAUL FITZPATRICK.

A map was distributed on social media last week showing an outline of all the counties in Ireland (and parts of the UK), colour-coded to reflect which level of hurling they participate in at senior level.

Standing out like a beacon was Cavan, silhouetted in black. It was a powerful image - but pictures only tell part of the story.

A meeting was called in the Hotel Kilmore at which, according to a statement online from one of the organisers, Seamus Hughes, the senior clubs would “demand” the reinstatement of the Cavan senior team.

It is unclear whether the senior club’s committees themselves were consulted in this regard but The Anglo-Celt understands Cootehill Celtic were not – so, the statement is misleading because the organisers did not have the mandate they claim to.

How did we get to this stage? The senior hurling team was disbanded at the end of the 2010 season. In the previous three years, just under €250,000 had been spent on a team which won five matches from 23 played in the lowest tier in the game.

The results, though, are not the important thing – the context is. And, back then, the game was on its knees at juvenile level, where the investment going in at the top desperately needed to be re-directed.

Heavy defeats were the norm for the Cavan hurlers back then and there were no minor or U21 county sides when county GAA board secretary Liam McCabe mooted pulling the plug on the senior team in his report to the 2010 annual convention.

“Is it time to call a halt and put some of the expenses incurred to underage hurling, so we have the structures in place to have a minor and U-21 team coming through?” he asked.

“We have a good club structure, but these clubs need funding to survive and maybe this is the way forward.”

Ditching the senior Cavan team prompted a furious reaction from some hurling officials at the time. Willie Gaughan, who had been chairman before the hurling board itself was disbanded earlier that year, asked whether the board intended “to spend whatever they save on the development of hurling”.

“Even if they reinvest it, it will only get us back to where we already were with the possible re-appointment of a hurling coach, we will be no further on although on paper it will look fine,” he railed.

“More box ticking bureaucratic nonsense. Croke Park should be taking responsibility here, not Cavan County Board who have consistently failed hurling at all levels.”

And now here we are, five years on. Significant work has gone into promoting the game at underage level through the clubs and through two excellent full-time hurling development officers, Waterford man Eoin Morrissey – who left to take up a role with Wexford – and the late Shane Mulholland, who tragically passed away earlier this year.

The landscape has changed dramatically in the intervening years. Cavan have since enjoyed success at minor level, where they have been regularly beating the likes of Tyrone and Monaghan, and last year fielded an U21 team as well. 

In all, according to figures discussed at Saturday’s meeting, approximately 90 young hurlers have represented the county at underage level in recent years.

As with all sports where there is a drop-off as children grow older and fall away, the game is strongest at the lowest age groups. While there are only three senior hurling teams – champions Cootehill, Mullahoran and St Feilim’s, the latter of whose senior team is made up almost entirely of minors – there is double that number at U12 level.

East Cavan Gaels, St Feilim’s, Cootehill, Ballymachugh, Castlerahan, Woodford Gaels and Annalee Gaels are all competing at U12 and U14 level, where the standard is high. At U16 level, Cootehill, Ballymachugh, St Feilim’s and East Cavan Gaels are joined by Woodford Gaels to make up a quintet.

Therein, though, lies the rub. The U21s were beaten narrowly by Sligo this year, with reports of a poor attendance level at training. Were the senior team to be re-instated, it is estimated that 70 per cent of the panel would be made up of those same U21s who, put simply, did not give the required level of commitment at their own age group this year or last, when they fell heavily to Tyrone.

How can they be expected to do so now, where an even greater commitment is required to compete with seasoned and experienced county teams of grown men?

And how many of the 90 hurlers who wore the county jersey at underage level are still even playing for their clubs? Considering there are only three adult club sides in the county and one of the three, Mullahoran, have an older age profile than the others, it’s safe to say that only a fraction played hurling this year.

In fact, just six members of the minor panel who shocked Monaghan in the 2011 Ulster MHC played senior club hurling in 2015.

And it’s not as if they did not have an outlet. Almost a quarter of the 30-odd names who signed a petition, the heading of which began “we the undersigned request that our right to play senior hurling for Cavan be facilitated”, listed 'Woodford Gaels’ beside their name.

But Woodford had no team this year at adult level. The option was there for those from the Woodford catchment area who wished to play hurling to do so. 

Had they not got the numbers for a team of their own, they could have transferred to one of the other sides, as the talented Stephen Harten of Ballymachugh did, for example, in throwing in his lot with Mullahoran.

That did not happen, however. It seems strange that these individuals who decided not to play club hurling are demanding (and “demand” was the verb used by Seamus Hughes online) their right to play at county level.

Others taking this militant stance are from the Mullahoran St Joseph’s club, the former standard bearers for the small ball game in this county. Sadly, Mullahoran do not have an U12, U14, U16 or minor hurling team at present – surely that, and not a return to inter-county adult competition, should be the priority.

Back in 2012, Cootehill Celtic returned to senior hurling with an extremely young side, against the wishes of some members of their committee. The result? They were beaten by 6-20 to 0-5 in the championship. What did they gain from rushing back into the fray?

Those sort of humblings do nothing to promote the sport. The last thing Cavan hurling needs is to return to the National Hurling League and Lory Meagher Cup and be embarrassed.

The age profile of a proposed Cavan senior squad in 2016 would mirror that of Cootehill of three years ago.

On the current Cootehill side - the county champions, remember - nine are under the age of 21 and the rest, bar one player, are over 30 years of age.

This is a microscosm of the age profile of active senior players in the county right now whereby there’s a major deficit of players in their mid-20s playing the game. 

At the other end of the spectrum,only Dublin native Matthew Hynes and Stephen Harten of the spine of Mullahoran’s team will be under 33 next year.  

The county needs at least a couple of years to address such an age imbalance with the inclusion of U21 county graduates who have proven their mettle and their commitment to the Cavan jersey.

Aside from the inevitable hammerings which fielding a team of callow young players mixed in with elder statesmen would produce, there is the cost factor to consider.

The last Cavan senior hurling team to field, in 2010, cost €64,000 to prepare and run. That sort of funding would buy a lot of sliotars, would install hurling walls and would help strengthen the foundation of the game in this county. Which would be more beneficial?

Rushing back into adult inter-county hurling would be akin to polishing the slates on a house which is falling in. Don’t get us wrong - Cavan have to return to the fold nationally, the county is getting there but the time is not right yet and agitating for it is counter-productive and a distraction at this point in time.

It was notable that the GPA was represented at the meeting in the Kilmore. The heavily-funded Croke Park-based body would be better off doing their research before lending their support to what is, at this point in time, an ill-advised move.

The hurling fraternity are passionate and deserve enormous plaudits for the good work they have done to grow the game but more is needed at underage level. 

A county team can only come about by having a consistent stream of talented, dedicated young hurlers. That process has been initiated but the conveyor belt is a couple of years off reaching the end of the production line just yet.