Parish Rule

[Dodge83]

Thoughts on this parish rule debate going around with the Kinnitty/ Drumcullen saga ?? Personally I think every child should start out playing with the club in their catchment area. If parents are not to sure which club it should be then the club officers definitely will. This needs to be checked when young kids start out to avoid trouble down the line. Someone on Twitter said kids should be allowed play with any club they like. Absolute nonsense!! If that is allowed happen the smaller clubs in the country will really struggle. Boundaries and catchment areas must be adhered to.

[greenairfield]

Personally you feel that was Dodge because you are from Crinkle and it would benefit your current situation so of course you would feel that way.

It's a tricky one on so many counts the GAA have to try protect small clubs but you also have to be fair to everyone too. If parish rule is done properly it should work for everyone but I can see where parents are coming from too who want young johnny to hurl for the club they hurled or played football for.

[Claffey]

I think the rule has to be applied, otherwise you are causing further problems by setting precedents that prolong the issue. I have sympathy with the families as Knockbarron and Droughtville are very close to Kinnitty village and I'm sure the children would be going to Kinnitty NS and their friends would be in Kinnitty club. At the same time there's usually a couple of houses with Drumcullen flags around that area, so I think some at least in that area are supporting/active in the parish club. I think the onus has to be on clubs accepting players from outside their parish - they know it will cause problems in the future, so should recommend to the parents that they go to their own parish club.
(Note: I am not in either of the parishes involved, so no axe to grind in the discussion)

On protecting small rural clubs, I don't think waiving the rule does that, as many of these cases will involve movement from one small club to another or even from a small club to a larger club.

There are few anomalies like this around the county where the nearest village/school is in another parish and there could be a case for revising the parishes boundaries. However, that would probably cause years of arguments, would probably hurt the really small clubs that don't have a catchment centre, and in the end there would still be people unhappy with any changes that move them to another club

[Dodge83]

Personally you feel that was Dodge because you are from Crinkle and it would benefit your current situation so of course you would feel that way.

It's a tricky one on so many counts the GAA have to try protect small clubs but you also have to be fair to everyone too. If parish rule is done properly it should work for everyone but I can see where parents are coming from too who want young johnny to hurl for the club they hurled or played football for.

I live in the area. I’m not even from there originally so you need to get your facts right.

[greenairfield]

Same agenda Dodge.
How about an open mind towards parish rule instead of a closed book.

[Fairplayalways]

open mind seems to be the fairest, one can see both sides of the argument but kids are kids, of course as always it will probably really only be an issue for the better players..

[private joker]

Parish rule should be done away with. Somthing more modern and up to date to replace it. Ultimately its kids wanting to play with their friends. That should be that.

[Dodge83]

Parish rule wouldn’t work properly in Birr because Crinkill would lose any good young hurlers. But as it stands Birr don’t seem to follow rules judging by the number of illegal young lads currently playing with them. Buy hey who am I to judge it’s none of my business. I think you should hurl with the club within your boundary. Simple.

[Lookingovertheditch]

[/quote]

Thoughts on this parish rule debate going around with the Kinnitty/ Drumcullen saga ?? Personally I think every child should start out playing with the club in their catchment area. If parents are not to sure which club it should be then the club officers definitely will. This needs to be checked when young kids start out to avoid trouble down the line. Someone on Twitter said kids should be allowed play with any club they like. Absolute nonsense!! If that is allowed happen the smaller clubs in the country will really struggle. Boundaries and catchment areas must be adhered to.

Just to play devil's advocate here people always assume players will leave for bigger clubs if allowed. I'd ask if the only thing keeping players in smaller clubs is forcing them through parish rule then is it worth?

Few clubs in mid/North offaly have a very loose understanding of county boundaries never mind parish rule. Should these lads be advised to play in the correct county?

[Hasselhoff]

Parish rule should be done away with. Somthing more modern and up to date to replace it. Ultimately its kids wanting to play with their friends. That should be that.

This suits the bigger clubs. Do anyway with parish rule would be free for all. It's bad enough as it is. All the good underage players would transfer in and play with the bigger and stronger teams.

Big clubs like Tullamore, Birr, Rynaghs, Kk, Edenderry would get all the good players. Those clubs would have enough of a catchment. It's only when those clubs lose a good few players they might realise what it's like.

The other smaller clubs like kinnity, clareen, drumcullen, Lusmagh would struggle even more for players and either force them to close down to amalgamate. Parish rule is keeping them alive. Every single young player. Is essential.

In Tullamore, there must be four or five big primary schools in the town alone. Plenty of young lads in the town if they want to train them up. Same in Birr and Edenderry. Some of those town clubs need to get their own coaching system in order rather than taking from other smaller clubs on their fringes.

However, I think in certain cases it might be sensible for bordering clubs to come to a local agreement to make allowances for local players for example a local swap or cede.

[Hasselhoff]

Thoughts on this parish rule debate going around with the Kinnitty/ Drumcullen saga ?? Personally I think every child should start out playing with the club in their catchment area. If parents are not to sure which club it should be then the club officers definitely will. This needs to be checked when young kids start out to avoid trouble down the line. Someone on Twitter said kids should be allowed play with any club they like. Absolute nonsense!! If that is allowed happen the smaller clubs in the country will really struggle. Boundaries and catchment areas must be adhered to.

Just to play devil's advocate here people always assume players will leave for bigger clubs if allowed. I'd ask if the only thing keeping players in smaller clubs is forcing them through parish rule then is it worth?

Few clubs in mid/North offaly have a very loose understanding of county boundaries never mind parish rule. Should these lads be advised to play in the correct county?
[/quote]
Yes absolutely. They should play with their own county.

[Lookingovertheditch]

I agree with but it doesn't happen.

[greenairfield]

I agree Hasslehoff to a point but in Birr's situation them 4 or 5 schools that are in the parish but they are outside this famous boundary we have within our parish.
So what we have is our players in school outside the boundaries where our GDA is not allowed coach.

If parish rule is good enough for one part of the county it should be for the rest

[private joker]

It's not always the case that players will go to a bigger club. But if your forcing kids to play for a club they don't want to or can't cater for in a proper manner I think they should be allowed play where they wish. I know in Dublin in particular where if a player can't make a first team despite being very good they will transfer out and play first team for another local club. Ballyboden for instance have seen a good few of their players transfer to Faughs or st judes and have a good career. Where if they stayed they be 2nd or 3rd string in a club like boden crokes or cuala.

[Hasselhoff]

It's not always the case that players will go to a bigger club. But if your forcing kids to play for a club they don't want to or can't cater for in a proper manner I think they should be allowed play where they wish. I know in Dublin in particular where if a player can't make a first team despite being very good they will transfer out and play first team for another local club. Ballyboden for instance have seen a good few of their players transfer to Faughs or st judes and have a good career. Where if they stayed they be 2nd or 3rd string in a club like boden crokes or cuala.

Ballyboden is one of those super clubs and not everyone is going to get a game at the level they want.

The opposite also happens.

I cannot see how having no boundaries would be of benefit to clubs in Offaly.