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I see Offaly Schools had a big win over Meath schools in the senior A championship today. What schools are they picking from or is it all schools in the county?

Anyone know any details about the team?

I would imagine it is all the schools combined bar Birr who always play in the A competition on their own. Not sure about players but would assume theyd have bulk of county minor team outside of Birr lads.

Are Offaly schools in the leinster A colleges championship?
Where are St.Brendans now? Did I hear they have dropped back to B, if so it shows us really where Offaly underage is at the minute...Joe Bergin, Paul Cleary Brian Watkins and Diarmuid Horan were only some of the the players who played in an All Ireland semi final against flannans of Clare. If we have dropped back to B it shows how far we have fallen and it is quite frightening...Considering these guys struggled when they came up against other counties at senior level.

Not a schools matter, but an educational theme all the same and it's not worth opening a thread for it.

The scant number of Offaly hurlers who lined out in today's Fitzgibbon Cup.

Dónal Guinan lined out in the half-back line for DIT.
Pádraic Guinan was first sub on for UCD.
Paul Kinsella lined out for Maynooth.

And that seems to be it. No-one from either of the Galway colleges (the more Offaly-friendly colleges). Seems no-one wants young hurlers who were brought up on a diet of ground hurling drills and whose first experience of high catching, and of dealing with an opponent soloing at them ball-on-hurl, is when they go to college.

Incidentally, DIT featured three from Westmeath, one from Wicklow and one from Kildare.

Its a sign of the times plain. it is a direct correlation with the level of hurler we have produced over last 10 years at development squad level. Our system is poor if not non existent. Outside Offaly, Westmeath and Laoise would be considered way ahead of us in terms of developing players. The young lads are apathetic towards any level of hurling as a direct result. Low standards of coaching breeds a low standard of player. Need we say any more?

Frightening to think, Hayden, Verney, Dooley, Carroll Gorman,Ryan, Parlon and Mulrooneys all hurled fitzgibbion and at this point we were stuggling at inter county. Now we have more or less nobody which shows us we have even more suffering to come.

There are a few residual problems when it comes to Offaly and the Fitzgibbon.
Traditionally Offaly scores at the bottom of the table in terms of 3rd level attendance. This is partly a legacy from the era when Offaly was one of the best places for getting apprenticeships in places like the ESB and Bord na Mona.

After that, of the people who attend third level, most would hail from areas of the county that aren't proficient in hurling. I'm thinking about certain schools in Offaly and I'd wonder have they ever had a fella play in the latter stages of the Fitzgibbon. The geographical and population base capable of producing hurlers has always been small. Judging by the mindset of some folks on the hurling venues debate, a lot of them are happy to keep it that way!

Then the skills problem. I just have a feeling that the skillset of latter day Offaly hurler is not a fit for a typical Fitzgibbon set up. Any time I watch a Fitzgibbon game, the teams are trying to play a structured style of hurling. Holding up possession, riding out tackles, supporting colleagues and generally playing to a pattern.

An Offaly lad who all his life has been urged to smash at every ball as quickly as he can is not a natural fit. This would be ok if all your colleagues have the same mindset and expected this from every play. But if you pull together a panel of lads from Wexford, Tipp, Klare and Cork, an Offaly lad will often be the square peg in the round hole.
The best Offaly hurlers can adapt to different styles and structures, as top sportspeople do, but the ordinary club hurler is at a disadvantage.

Btw. I love this line that I continually hear from Offaly hurling sages that we're 'too small and too light' to be at any of this lark! Imagine if Tommy Walsh had been born in Offaly and how neutered his coaches would have had him 'waiting for the breaks', as that's all a fella of his stature could possibly do.

Bord na Mona man wrote:There are a few residual problems when it comes to Offaly and the Fitzgibbon.
Traditionally Offaly scores at the bottom of the table in terms of 3rd level attendance. This is partly a legacy from the era when Offaly was one of the best places for getting apprenticeships in places like the ESB and Bord na Mona.

I looked into this for an article that appeared in the Offaly Independent a week ago.

Offaly's third level attendance rate was around 45% for the academic year 2014/15, which is below average certainly but not exceptionally so. The National/Dublin average is around 49%, with the highest attendance rates recorded out west. The top six counties are Clare and the five Connacht counties, with rates of 57-60%.

On the other end of the scale, you have Donegal (41%) and Laois (41%) bringing up the rear.

When we consider that there were six Offaly hurlers in total named as part of Fitzgibbon Cup squads (out of a total of nearly 500) it's clear that there are lots of factors at play here.

Seven Fitzgibbon matches this week;
Fourteen teams;
Let's say each team used three subs; that's 18 players per team.
That's 252 players;

Three out of 250 came from Offaly!

Appaling.

Back on the schools agenda. Birr school were beaten by Borris Tech in the Leinster College in a replayed eighth-final. Meanwhile, continuing Laois' underage journey, Mountrath CS reached the Leinster A Colleges semi-final (possibly their first ?) with a big win over Coláiste Eoin, who would draw mainly from Kilmacud Crokes territory.

Plain of the Herbs wrote:Back on the schools agenda. Birr school were beaten by Borris Tech in the Leinster College in a replayed eighth-final. Meanwhile, continuing Laois' underage journey, Mountrath CS reached the Leinster A Colleges semi-final (possibly their first ?) with a big win over Coláiste Eoin, who would draw mainly from Kilmacud Crokes territory.

I'm unclear, are Birr in the B Lenister championship

No, the A championship. Borris will play St Kieran's in the A quarter-final.

feirmeoir wrote:

Plain of the Herbs wrote:Back on the schools agenda. Birr school were beaten by Borris Tech in the Leinster College in a replayed eighth-final. Meanwhile, continuing Laois' underage journey, Mountrath CS reached the Leinster A Colleges semi-final (possibly their first ?) with a big win over Coláiste Eoin, who would draw mainly from Kilmacud Crokes territory.

I'm unclear, are Birr in the B Lenister championship

Why do even more rural counties, like Roscommon have a higher third level attendance rate than Offaly?

And therefore, more lads probably playing Sigerson football.

manfromdelmonte wrote:Why do even more rural counties, like Roscommon have a higher third level attendance rate than Offaly?

And therefore, more lads probably playing Sigerson football.

Farmers are very good at applying for grants!

Fitzgibbon hurling match between Carlow IT and St Patrick's College was played today.

No-one from Offaly involved, as we've come to expect.

Other hand, There were six from Leix on the field, (6 with Carlow, one with St Pat's), three from Westmeath (two with St Pat's, one with Carlow), while Carlow IT also featured two from Meath.