Westmeath to reject U19 championship proposals at Congress

Westmeath GAA clubs have unanimously rejected proposals to run U19 championships at inter-county level on a trial basis for the next three years.

The decision by club delegates, who met online on Wednesday night last, will be carried to the GAA’s Annual Congress at the NUI Galway/Connacht GAA Airdome in Bekan tomorrow (Saturday February 26).

Motion two on a list of 48 proposes the introduction of an U19 grade at inter-county level for a trial period of three years (2023 to 2025), with the format and age span to be determined by Central Council. This would replace the existing U20 championship structures.

However, not one voice in favour of the plan could be found among Westmeath clubs.

Westmeath minor board chairman, Killucan’s Alan Leech, said that it made no sense that alongside this proposal was another to revert to even-age structures at underage level.

Mr Leech said that underage structures at club level in Westmeath had been changed for a reason, with children starting national school at the later age of five, and with transition year becoming a popular option in secondary school, players generally didn’t finish their Leaving Cert until they were 19. Now, the GAA appeared to be going back on this, he said.

He suggested that a return to even-age structures be pursued, with footballers/hurlers aged 18 and under prohibited from playing adult games.

Des Maguire (Mullingar Shamrocks) said that there was “too much switching” with age grade structures. “We did away with U21, then brought it back to U20. Now we want to bring it back to U19,” he remarked.

“I think even ages are best and easiest to manage. We should leave U20 in place, especially with guys doing the Leaving Cert at 19. The current system seems to be acceptable.”

Aiden McGuire (The Downs) supported Messrs Leech and Maguire. He said that it didn’t make sense to bring another competition into the fray, “cluttering up an already cluttered fixtures programme”.

When Westmeath GAA chairman Frank Mescall clarified that there was no additional competition – U19 would replace U20 – Mr McGuire said that this didn’t change the fact that the U19 proposal was a bad idea.

“There’s been a whole series of chopping and changing and no serious look has been taken at why there’s such a fall-off in participation numbers after 17,” he said.

“We need to make our minds up. When you talk about competing codes, our grade structures seem to be at odds with everyone else in the sporting arena.”

Dermot Fox (Athlone) supported opposition to Motion 2. He said that the gap between U19 and senior is “too great”, and that further tampering with underage grades might prove to be a “cure worse than the illness”.

Black card/penalty in hurling

Meanwhile, there was extensive discussion on proposals to extend the trialled penalty/black card ruling in hurling for another two years.

The rule is enforced for a foul that denies a goalscoring opportunity in hurling.

Dermot Broughan (Cullion) said that the motion was worthy of support and that continuing to constructively tackle the problem of cynical fouling was important.

If the rule is abandoned, Mr Broughan added, he wondered what, if anything, it would be replaced with.

Aiden McGuire (The Downs) said that the ruling placed undue pressure on referees for on-the-spot decisions, and he foresaw difficulties with it.

However, well-known hurling referee Barry Kelly (Mullingar Shamrocks delegate) said that he would like to see the rule extended.

“I wouldn’t like to see us promoting a game in which basically hauling a fellow to the ground only gets a yellow card,” he said. “Most lads are able to take one yellow card during a game and are clever enough not to get a second.”

Mr Kelly said that the rule rewarded skilful players and protected them from cynical play. He said that this was borne out by the fact that last year’s championship yielded a higher number of goal chances and goals scored in a number of years.

“Players are able to play, and ten minutes on the sideline can be very punitive.”

Patrick Doherty, Westmeath GAA operations manager, presented some detailed examinations of the rule, and determined that the penalty aspect of the rule is “over punitive”.

He said there were imperfections in the rule, and he did not see why it should be backed by clubs when it was not perfect. He anticipated that it would put “desperate additional pressure” on referees in an age when refs were already heavily scrutinised, judged and often savaged for their decision-making.

Mr Doherty cited instances where the black card/penalty rule had been applied in the 2021 championship where it shouldn’t have been.

“I don’t for a moment believe hurling is perfect. I believe that there are things that could be done which would help [stop] cynicism in the game. For instance, why don’t we simply bring a black card into hurling, all over the pitch?” he said.

“I hate the thought of imaginary lines being drawn on the pitch. Words like ‘rule of thumb’. How can we have the words ‘rule of thumb’ in a rule for our games? And then, ‘in the opinion of the referee, the player was denied a goalscoring opportunity’. Does the referee then have to adjudicate on the skill of the player?

“I think we need to be really careful. There are other ways of doing it, and I think we’re going way too far with this.”

Tom Hunt (Mullingar Shamrocks), Central Council delegates, said that GAA research into statistics on cynical fouls found that over 90 percent of fouls took place within the penalty zone, and this informed the proposed rule change. This was based on analysis of 25 hurling matches.

Dr Hunt said that the rule worked in reducing this pattern. While he admitted that the “rule of thumb” phrase was causing difficulty, he said that this was to give referees some flexibility in making their decisions.

After further extensive debate, it was decided that Westmeath GAA would vote in favour of the motion at Congress.