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as a fan of hurling i was out on a evening drive and was excited to fall into a game at feystown north antrim where glenarm entertained belfasts lamh dhearg. this was a cracking game of hurling with the city team winning by a point.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx I feel sorry for the home side shane o neills but could nearly say they will bounce back as i spoke to a local who said alot of the boys are away working. good luck glenarm in the future #iluvhurling

See reference somewhere to U11 and U 12 development squads in hurling - where the 'best' couple in a club are chosen.
This selective process of identifying 'talent' at this age seems as bad as the selective 11+ system of categorising our young people. It is not as if they are going to become professionals one day. Maybe someone would care to explain the equality and inclusive nature of this?

Think it would be great to get a number of hurling clubs together at juvenile level say U16 on a regular basis and provide well organised training sessions for them. Exposure to good coaches would be of immense value.

There is an apparent interest in finding out what is wrong with Antrim GAA. And in some of the discussion there is recognition that we are very parochial / club focused. If this is the case then is it any wonder it is so difficult to get represtatives from clubs to partcipate, work together, gel together as one team. Is it any wonder it is difficult to get County representaives to act on behalf of all our clubs etc. The skills and acceptance ot others required in so many other facets of life are ditched for the so called loyalty to our own clubs. The criticism of others is of little value. Let us start to recognise the common good in others- is that not what sport is also about?

God why did I have to be born in Antrim

See some posts in some places where people strongly disagree with one another on views / opinions relating to their common interest Antrim GAA. The energy expended in disagreement is lost and serves no beneficial purpose. This climate of disagreement etc will do none of us any good. Maybe we need to start a Friends of Antrim - where GAA patrons connected to Antrim can help build an alternative to the negativity that has us stuck where we are?

well as an Antrim fan things are getting pretty tight at the moment. Hard work is the only thing that is going to change it around. Hoping Kevin ryan and the boys can get working and put in a decent championship and then get us out of the hole next year. KR needs to help us do that would be very disappointed if he was to walk away from that now.... plus point was the jordanstown performance in the Fitzgibbon. Footballers need to work hard as well for I was pretty depressed the last day and the performance in Corrigan. Also on that point would like to enquire about the situation off the pitch. What is the current status of the pitches in Dunsilly, did they have to be reseeded ????? when are teams going to be able to use them. What about Casement or a temporary county ground as opposed to st pauls and st johns etc Armoy also, they are barely fit for club championship games. time these issues where sorted out as we are becoming a bit of a laughing stock!!!!! Antrim has the 2nd largest population in Ireland and look at both hurlers and footballers along with the facilities. Lets get real here GUYS

In terms of football and hurling we are were we are for a reason.
St Galls have dominated club football with only Cargin testing them in recent years, the football leagues are competitive but the top 3 in Div 1 are miles ahead of the rest.
In hurling, yes loughgiel have been consistently the top team contesting and winning county finals for the last decade or so. Last years hurling winners drew with the Derry Champions before being beaten by the Down Champions.
Our record at minor/U21 isn't of any note in football and in hurling apart from the Wexford game it has been horrendous outside of Ulster, we are yet to win a quarter final at minor level.
Development squads are in place at underage, but need to be reviewed to achieve the optimum from the effort being put in by all.
At schools level in football we don't play MaCrory Cup in Antrim and in Hurling we play the B outside of Ulster.
In terms of primary schools are we tapping in sufficiently to the numbers who could be playing gaelic games?

We have no county ground at present and for the forseeable future and Dunsilly is yet to be opened.
The key to success is finance.
Unfortunately we aren't good at fundraising and generating the required capital at all levels.
The potential is in Antrim but the issue is how do we fulfill it.

We may lambast players, County , management about their performance etc.
However there is no question that hurlers who have trained under Kevin Ryan, Dinny Cahill come back to their clubs really better players. They set the new standard within their clubs. If truth were told or asked some would be totally disgusted by the standard of coaches they have had to endure with within their own club structure. Let the so called good/ big clubs come out and recodnise this. Without exposure to better cosches - like Ryan the standard in our club scene would go backwards. Unless we invest time in improving those who take teams we will still be where we are.

Earlier in the year Kevin Ryan had an indoor coaching session held at Jordanstown - could this be delivered now outdoors - for coaches? It was an excellent session. I think a few sessions like this could generate a lot of good will and maybe ignite a willingness to up our game as coaches?

Have a strange feeling that people may now just get behind our hurlers!
That is what supporters are for - to support when it is needed. And remember to ask those who may know it all - what role they have in the development of hurling. The harvest is great but the labourers are few

Just want to make 2 points.

Firstly as an Antrim Fan, I would like to thank Kevin Ryan for his efforts so far and sincerely hope he continues with us for the future Devolopment of Antrim Hurling

Secondly, we all know we describe GAA and hurling in particular as an armature sport.
Would I be the only person to think that the entire game has went professional. In fact the only people who aren't getting paid are the players.
Coaches getting paid, Nutritionists, physios, and managers getting ehh, expenses??

If we are to be serious contenders in inter county hurling and I mean in the top 10 teams. Then we need to be more professional in our approach. Recruit the top coaches and I don't mean one or two, have them work with Devolopment squads, minor teams and U21s and then into the senior team.
I don't mean to take anything away from the countless volunteers who give up so much of their time in the interestes of Antrim Hurling but the rest of the country have went professional and volunteers can only commit so much.
If we don't I think our situation in Antrim will continue to get worse.

The big question, how can the other counties afford to pay theses professionals and we in Antrim can't.

Is the will there?

Does anyone know when the South Antrim minor hurling championship begins. A few weeks ago it was on the SA website for this friday night but it has since been removed (or i cant find it)

Go raibh maith agaibh

hi can the referees panel be updated for 2015 referees. thanks

Do the senior hurling div 1 fixtures span from 4th of April to the 16th of October or is that a mistake? 7 months of the year?