Hurling"s state of play still a cause for concern

Cavan hurling is searching for a new direction and fresh impetus. League results have been disappointing, while performances and discipline have improved but what is the future for Cavan hurling when even the current manager fears for the survival of the senior team? The county chairman, Willie Gaughan, says youth initiatives, a raising of the sport"s profile and new regional teams could not only consolidate the small ball game"s future among the drumlins but bring it to another level entirely. Cavan senior hurling manager John Hunt thinks the immense efforts of the players and overstretched hurling staff deserves more support from Croke Park and from hurling fans for the progress they have made this year and that without it, he fears for the future of Cavan hurling. 'When John Coughlan [fitness coach] and I joined there were five or six players who had an appalling level of fitness and before their previous win some of the players thought it was nine years since their last win,' he said. 'Ok, we should have won two or three this year and we hammered South Down but there were lost games by two and three points in there, which was an improvement overall when you consider that we had half of the team out injured including five or six of our best players. Having said that, we still had good enough players out there to win more games.' Hunt has instilled discipline in the team but results have not gone their way with just one win in five league games. His sense of frustration lays not with the players performances nor with the efforts of the chairman, or secretary Vincent Dolan, who he singles out for individual praise but with Croke Park"s hurling powers-that-be and those who claim to be Cavan hurling people but 'do nothing'. 'The Ulster Council and Croke Park could make a big impact but we have to show them something to get behind. The situation is serious. I would worry that there mightn"t be a senior Cavan hurling team in five or six years time if we let these players go and it is the people of Cavan, the hurling people of Cavan, who should look at themselves. We shouldn"t have a go at the football people, because the hurling situation is just disrespectful to themselves,' says the Tulla man. 'If you take every parish in Cavan that might have 10 or 20 people who either play or might get involved - essentially hurling people - that is a lot of people but it"s also a lot of people who never bothered to go to the hurling forum meeting that was held on April 8, now I don"t know if that was poorly advertised or if people just didn"t know about it but it is not just the Cavan County Board that should be looked at. Where are these people who say they are hurling people? Are they hiding? People who say they are interested in hurling but they don"t bother to go to support their local team. They do nothing. Where are the players" mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles? 'I mean, I hate to see the same 30 or 40 people turning up to everything because it is unfair to those people who then have to do everything - I feel sorry for them because then you have two people doing the 10 or 15 jobs. So, we have to look at how things are being done. I raised a few points and asked a few questions at that meeting but I lost interest when they started talking about football guys coming in. The notion of football guys coming in to train and teach hurling just cannot work.' Hunt reserves his strongest words for Croke Park and its development officers. 'Not once in 10 years did a development officer from Croke Park call the Cavan County Board,' he claims. 'There is a development officer in Croke Park with this specific job,' said the former Meath manager. 'They [Croke Park] think that Cavan and the border region is a hurling wasteland but the people here who are involved, the players, the organisers and the hurling people of Cavan deserve better. Croke Park thinks there are 10 or 11 hurling teams in the country and they couldn"t care less about the rest. They should have picked up the phone seven or eight years ago and invested in hurling countrywide but they didn"t and it is going to be almost impossible to do it these days.' However, county hurling chairman Willie Gaughan says it"s far from doom and gloom for the future of the small ball in the county and a solution is at hand. 'When John came on board, he wanted a full commitment and the players gave it to him and that shows something. We have the biggest squad and biggest management team than we have had in a long, long time. Credit has to go to John and John Coughlan as well for creating a really serious attitude within the squad.' Getting more players in, though, remains a problem and Gaughan is exploring all avenues. 'We are looking at getting in hurlers from other counties who would be connected with Cavan. It is a football dominant county and we need bodies. I thought we were good in the league but the results didn"t tell you that. The deficits are reducing all the time and Frankie [Quinn, the former manager] had also reduced those deficits by 60-70 per cent. 'We should have beaten Leitrim, that was a hard one to take but we have fitter and stronger lads now and whereas in the past, we might have had 17 or 18 lads out, we are now taking 28 or 29. So, things are improving all the time.' Gaughan is also exploring bringing in footballers to improve the team. 'We are talking about including footballers in the squad and I think the lads all understand that we have to do everything to make the squad better. We would need a system in the next few years to accommodate that, however, but it is well within their scope to move seasons or fixtures to that end. We would need some streamlining from Croke Park.' Both men are acutely aware of the need for more competition in the county. 'The league at the moment isn"t very competitive in terms of games, if we have 20 games in a season, only five of them are going to be competitive league games. We held a meeting which was an open forum to bring people back into the hurling family but the problem is simply the lack of bodies,' says Gaughan. Though there is nothing set out in stone, Gaughan would like to see more teams in the county established on a regional basis and feels that even a few more teams would revitalise the entire hurling landscape. 'The recurring theme is that it is a "hard ask" for towns to set up teams. We need more coaches to do that but if we set up on a regional basis, say, for example, at under-8 or under-10 level then we can go from there.' The rationale behind the scheme would be that it would take a team of coaches around the regions rather than newly-formed clubs having to find their own - essentially, a sharing of resources and a centre-point in different regions for those looking to establish a club. Like Hunt, Gaughan, too, does have concerns of his own about the future. 'There is very little at the moment for the under-16s. The problem is getting them in when football is so dominant at that age-range. Players turn away from hurling and towards football at the under-14 and under-16 level and we have to get them back. The regional teams could get them back into the hurling family because it can be disillusioning for parents and coaches who are trying to get involved. This is a more carrot-stick-approach and it"d make it easier for all to get involved.' Though there is no Croke Park money earmarked at the moment, Gaughan is confident that the regional approach will offer a product worth buying into and, unlike Hunt, he is far from critical of the GAA"s ruling body saying that they have done all they can. 'It"s very difficult in a financial sense. We have the coaching level and it is almost by the grace of God, hard work and the county board that we have what we have. We need to grow our own hurlers. At the moment there are around, say, 100 hurlers and 2,000 footballers. If we see five new hurling clubs it would make Cavan hurling more viable and we are looking to change the model to attract money and resources in from Croke Park - until we do that, they [Croke Park] have done all they can. 'I think people feel that they have been left by themselves but if we can set up five regional teams to operate side-by-side with clubs we should be looking at going for 20 teams from the six, or seven we have now. It is up to ourselves to make it more relevant and getting more kids in to make it more competitive. 'That is the base model but if Bailieboro, for example, want to have their own under-8s or under-10s, then we can work side-by-side with that. But, say, hurlers in Laragh, who might not have enough for a team, they might join a regional side. There is plenty of scope in it but this is a softly, softly approach.' Youth participation is valued immensely by both men and there are plans ahead to get children involved as early as possible. 'We are looking at bring on indoor hurling which is really enjoyable and that takes away an off-season. In hurling, you can"t have an off-season. You can"t really come back in after an off-season and still be a good hurler. We also have the 3G pitch coming in to Breffni, which is really important and it"ll help to keep them hurling all year. We have to target schools and invite them for nine-a-sides on the 3G, which is a truer surface and makes for better hurling. Hurling is, after all, brilliant fun and that"s how we should sell it.' Gaughan"s energy and optimism for the future makes it hard to believe that the future is anything but bright and he sees Cavan hurling as on the way up. 'I think we could go up two rungs of the league ladder and still be competitive or into the Nicky Rackard.' Like Hunt, though, he would like to see the sport better publicised. 'I think we need to get on to the local media, too, to get this idea across. Even a 10-minute slot on radio every month, or a quarter-page section in the local papers might help to get people in and take off some of the pressure.' Hunt enjoys working with the players even if the league hasn"t panned out as he hoped and he admires the hard work of Gaughan and Dolan and the overstretched organisers as much as anyone who he says do 'tremendous amounts of work'. 'There are five or six players there that are as good as anywhere. I would give out to them now and again but only to improve the hurling and, fair play to the lads, they"re a great bunch and they responded and have improved in all aspects of their game. At any level, it is an honour to represent your county and those players deserve results and deserve better for their commitment,' he said. It seems the efforts of all of those involved in Cavan hurling deserve a better and brighter future and that change could be just around the corner.