Offaly SHC 2021
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:21 pm
You might think it's a bit strange to start a thread on the 2021 championship when the 2020 version hasn't even been completed yet but it's important that some thinking goes into the structure and schedule of this championship for the coming year.
As we are all well aware we are existing in a very fluid Covid situation at the moment where restriction changes and movement among levels are only around the corner but let's hope that by Summer we are in at least the same position we were last Summer. With this in mind I hope to see our fixtures committee get creative with the SHC in Summer 2021.
Firstly I feel this championship should be scheduled to be run off in as quick a time frame that is reasonable. With 10 teams the only format I can see is 2 groups of 5 but to avoid excessive weekends it's probably best only to have the top 2 in each group qualifying for semi finals. 3rd place is finished for year while 4th and 5th head for relegation semi-finals.
Within this structure I think we can't afford to have a full set of week on, week off fixtures to run alongside the football championship. If we are going to commit to getting the senior championships being played dual clubs are going to have to accept that they might have to play Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday (between both codes)at some stage during the course of the Summer. If that doesn't happen and providing the top 2 go semi finals only, the championship will need 12 weeks (3 months). That jumps to 14 weeks if we add Quarter Finals into the mix. I feel that is just too risky a time frame to put on the championships. The less time we take the less chance they are of being called off due to the pandemic and we can get them finished.
As a result and in an effort to shorten the season I would also suggest that Kilcormac/Killoughey, St Rynagh's, Kinnitty, Drumcullen and any other team make up Group 1 and their group games double us the county finals (Senior A and Senior B) from last year. Yes I am well aware that Offaly championships have been seeded for the last few years (too much seeding if you ask me but that's for another day) so in a normal year K/K and Rynaghs would be kept apart the year after reaching the final but this is offset for 2021 by the fact that in their groups would be the 2 promoted teams, who in theory would be the weakest teams in the SHC.
This is a tricky situation and I hope all involved put some reasonable thought and time into it. For me if we run a week on, week off structure we are looking for trouble and the 2021 championships could very well go down the same road as the 2020 versions.
As we are all well aware we are existing in a very fluid Covid situation at the moment where restriction changes and movement among levels are only around the corner but let's hope that by Summer we are in at least the same position we were last Summer. With this in mind I hope to see our fixtures committee get creative with the SHC in Summer 2021.
Firstly I feel this championship should be scheduled to be run off in as quick a time frame that is reasonable. With 10 teams the only format I can see is 2 groups of 5 but to avoid excessive weekends it's probably best only to have the top 2 in each group qualifying for semi finals. 3rd place is finished for year while 4th and 5th head for relegation semi-finals.
Within this structure I think we can't afford to have a full set of week on, week off fixtures to run alongside the football championship. If we are going to commit to getting the senior championships being played dual clubs are going to have to accept that they might have to play Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday (between both codes)at some stage during the course of the Summer. If that doesn't happen and providing the top 2 go semi finals only, the championship will need 12 weeks (3 months). That jumps to 14 weeks if we add Quarter Finals into the mix. I feel that is just too risky a time frame to put on the championships. The less time we take the less chance they are of being called off due to the pandemic and we can get them finished.
As a result and in an effort to shorten the season I would also suggest that Kilcormac/Killoughey, St Rynagh's, Kinnitty, Drumcullen and any other team make up Group 1 and their group games double us the county finals (Senior A and Senior B) from last year. Yes I am well aware that Offaly championships have been seeded for the last few years (too much seeding if you ask me but that's for another day) so in a normal year K/K and Rynaghs would be kept apart the year after reaching the final but this is offset for 2021 by the fact that in their groups would be the 2 promoted teams, who in theory would be the weakest teams in the SHC.
This is a tricky situation and I hope all involved put some reasonable thought and time into it. For me if we run a week on, week off structure we are looking for trouble and the 2021 championships could very well go down the same road as the 2020 versions.