Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.
Toxicity234
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Toxicity234 »

Great to see this moving forward.
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bare biffo
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by bare biffo »

How long have Wickla and Carla had their centres of exc running?

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honey badger
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by honey badger »

Has anyone seen the tyrone gaa centre of excellence?

http://tyronegaa.ie/club-tyrone/garvaghey-centre/
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Offalys Future
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Offalys Future »

gggggggggg
Last edited by Offalys Future on Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SearingDrive
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by SearingDrive »

Offalys Future wrote:that's what you call ambition in Tyrone.

And lets not kid ourselves here - 4 pitches and a walk way round them is not a centre of excellence.
We had nothing last year. People were complaining about the lack of this facility, so this is a major step forward.
No matter what the Co. board do, someone will complain.

Offalys Future
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Offalys Future »

gggggggggggg
Last edited by Offalys Future on Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
" In The Presence Of Confidence Doubt Cannot Exist "

Truth as i see it
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Truth as i see it »

Offalys Future wrote:it's fantastic to have 4 pitches for county teams to train on.
but its not a centre of excellence.
As a friend of mine once said your training pitch should be "your centre of excellence, you don't need a fancy dressing room to improve as a player" its not what facilities you have its how you use them that counts, i remember a while back Donal Og Cusack on the Sunday game making the point that the Cork county board had built a brand new centre of excellence with six pitches and all the trappings similar to the one that Tyrone have but didn't have one qualified (Sound Familiar? :roll: coach in the county to make best use of it

I'm delighted that the county will have a training base moving forward if only for the fact that it will be a central focal point for coaches in the county to get together and upscale their knowledge and brainstorm on new ideas however the centre will only be another white elephant unless the CB get the coaching aspect right at ground floor level

But for right now i'm just happy that the county is finally getting one to begin with

ryot
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by ryot »

Tyrone had a scheme for Garvahy,,,,,,,

It was an invitation to supporters to subscribe a sum (£500 sterling I think) and the reward was your name on a brick,,,,,,,

They raised a pile ( million or more) & at the same time the same supporters were paying a similar amount to join Club Tyrone !!!

Anything similar for ours ?? I'm up for it ,,,,,,,,,,,

Toxicity234
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Toxicity234 »

http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1484609

County Games Development Manager, Offaly
“Common sense is not so common.”

Truth as i see it
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Truth as i see it »

With the recent announcement of the Centre Of Excellence moving ahead and with the fundraising targets nearly met i find it interesting that this good news story is not getting nearly the same postings as some of our other threads that focus on the negative aspects of Offaly GAA

:twisted:

greenairfield
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by greenairfield »

Delighted to hear the news also....who will run the centre of excellence????...Who will train the young lads to have us back at the top competing in 15 years!!

ah lethimoutwithit
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by ah lethimoutwithit »

Great to see Shane Lowry getting involved behind the scenes in helping to get the fundraising going for the county board.
Not sure if its just for the training fields or whether its a push to get more finance in to help pay down the OCP debt. I thought Offaly CB had only to provide €250k, Lowry was talking about raising €750k, so just wondering?

To answer greenairfield, presume Christy Todd will be coordinating the running of this?

private joker
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by private joker »

Thought there would be more talk about this.
This is a huge development for Offaly. It will be on a par with Dr Morris In Thurlas.
I think its the start of something special that will hopefully occur in Offaly G.A.A.
All county teams should be able to train there, juvenile county blitzes and county workshops.
Just wondering will it be floodllit?
Also I hope they build meeting rooms and a canteen..
All in all ,this is a massive positive for the county.

Truth as i see it
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by Truth as i see it »

private joker wrote:Thought there would be more talk about this.
This is a huge development for Offaly. It will be on a par with Dr Morris In Thurlas.
I think its the start of something special that will hopefully occur in Offaly G.A.A.
All county teams should be able to train there, juvenile county blitzes and county workshops.
Just wondering will it be floodllit?
Also I hope they build meeting rooms and a canteen..
All in all ,this is a massive positive for the county.
I think that building this won't just be beneficial to the present development squads and senior team but will propel the county forward over the next 10-20 years and that is down to the sea change in attitude from the current board which is to their credit because the scope of such a project would never have been a thought even this time last year as the mindset was that of a board who had long accepted and become accustomed to such mediocrity and depressingly low expectations but with the completion of this centre of excellence it will be a symbol to the current board and future board members as well as the teams it will benefit that if you dare to have ambition and if you can plan it out in a realistic and intelligent manner, absolutely anything is possible if they are prepared to have an open mindset and a desire to see it through

jimbob17
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Re: Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence

Post by jimbob17 »

Credit where it is due. This has been needed for a long time and well done to those involved. It is hugely important that at least 3 of the pitches have lights on them, otherwise it is a waste of time. There were always plenty of places for teams to train in the good weather and long evenings. The problem was in bad conditions and dark nights.

However, while this is a positive step it will not be the cure for any of our ills at the moment I'm afraid. No more than O Connor park being a lovely venue to play in, this will be a nice venue to train in. The simple point I am making is that the issue holding us back is the resources put in behind the teams. we have the talent we have. We have a lovely pitch in O Connor park and now we will have a nice place to train. Will they make us better? I think not!

What we need now is an abundance of good modern coaches to drive the whole thing forward. We need real expertise at all levels in relation to coaching, strength and conditioning, medical back up, nutrition support etc. It is no use having this only partially covered at adult level. It needs to be fully covered from U14 level up in both codes. If it means spending a few quid, it will be worth it in the long run. Limerick hurling have pumped in resources to hurling development in last 5 yeras and the have the rewards with serious crop of hurlers coming. They won U21 all Ireland and reached all Ireland minor finals and semi finals recently. Lads now want to hurl for limerick as they are treated right. That wasn't the case 10 years ago. Clare have raised their game. Wexford have raised their game , Laoise have raised their game, Kildare and Kerry and Carlow are trying. Cork haven't changed and look where they have slipped to with their numbers and depth of talent. yet they pump in way more resources to county teams than Offaly. We can follow Limerick Clare and Wexford. We need to or we will fall back into the chasing pack that is Christy Ring standard in hurling.

We need to get the most from our resources and if we do that we will rise very sharply. if we follow as we have done for the last 15 years, new training grounds or not, the best players will fade away as playing for Offaly will not feel worth the hassle. It is no longer considered a major accolade or honour to play for Offaly among young chaps as they have only ever seen Offaly defeated by the hurling and top football counties. The general expectation among them is that you wont win anything playing with Offaly. There is a huge sense of apathy out there towards the county teams. We have to create the environment where that the set ups are so professional, that every young lad wants to be involved and are dreaming of winning things with the county with realistic ambition. We need to have that at every level. if we can get that it will be a lot and dare i say it, the way forward. It will need to get the best young, smart, clued in, positive and pro-active people and coaches involved. With a sense of direction and support from the county board, anything is possible. However, that leadership needs to come from the county board. Training pitch or no training pitch, If the county board can deliver on these things, we can win something of significance very soon.
jimbob

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