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Weather curtails hurlers’ preparations

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

For the hurlers in particular these past few weeks have seen a considerable amount of behind the scene activity.
Debate raged over how to best align the New York GAA Senior and Junior hurling divisions. Limerick and Waterford were due to play off to determine which team would be relegated to the Junior Division. However, neither side was keen to drop to the lower division, which was essentially reduced to a one-team league, Tipperary, when Connecticut State failed to complete their schedule last season.
That only continued a worrisome trend that has rendered the Junior Hurling competition increasingly less meaningful in recent years. Hurling enthusiasts are loathe to eliminate the division outright because, in addition to its rich history, they see it as a useful outlet for the game’s marginal players, who might otherwise wither on the bench if limited to senior competition.
With the status of Limerick and Waterford unsettled, the Senior Division was also in flux. After a series of meetings a solution was finally hammered out with Limerick and Waterford remaining in a restructured Senior Division.
The 10 teams that will compete for the New York Hurling Championship will be divided into two divisions. The five strongest clubs, based on 2003 performance, will be in the first half of the draw. These five are defending champions Tipperary, Connecticut State, Offaly, New Jersey, and Kilkenny. The second group will comprise Westmeath, Clare, Waterford, Limerick, and Galway.
The top two finishers in the first group and the table topper from the second will qualify for the semifinals. The last playoff spot will be contested by the third-place finisher in Group One, and the runner up in Division Two. Some scheduling wrinkles remain to be ironed out, but that is expected to be taken care of shortly.
That still leaves the delicate problem of what to do with the Junior Division. Although nothing has been finalized, as of now it appears that Tipperary and Connecticut will be joined in the Junior ranks by a couple of combination teams that would likely operate under provincial banners.
The details will have to be worked out, but, clearly, a shakeup was in order at the Junior grade and it is hoped that in their final form these plans can reinvigorate Senior Hurling in New York.
At the other end of the New York hurling spectrum, the New York County side has endured a slow start to their training, giving rise to speculation that the May 23 date with Down could be in jeopardy. A couple of good training sessions were enough to scotch those fears and now manager Monty Maloney and his management team can turn to the task at hand: Down. The late March snow throws another obstacle in the path of the Gotham squad, already disadvantaged by a severe lack of match practice when contrasted with their opponents.
It is the same problem New York faces every year in both codes. While New York struggles to put together a county team with training sessions at Van Cortlandt Park, their Irish-based opponents have the benefit of a full complement of league matches with which to hone their individual and team skills.
Despite these drawbacks New York has given some credible performances in years past and will be trying once again to make an historic breakthrough. New York tasted success with League victories in the 1950s and ’60s, and one disputed Senior B Hurling title, but success in the GAA’s major competition has been elusive.
Maloney believes it can be done and he feels that the next couple of weeks will be crucial to the home side’s chances. Having been a selector on last year’s footballers, Maloney has been down this road before, so he should be well aware of the potential pitfalls.
One perceived problem, which Maloney dismisses, is a lack of numbers in the hurlers camp. “Twenty-three to 25 players is plenty to have on a panel,” Maloney contends. “We haven’t lost anyone from last year, and we’ve added a few good hurlers.”
More bothersome to Maloney is the poor training facilities available to the players and that old bugaboo, lack of matches. Maloney and his management team, Dessie Costello (Westmeath), Seamus Spain (Offaly), Paddy Kelly (Clare), and Kieran O’Sullivan (Limerick) are trying to schedule as many matches as they can, including a few jousts with old rivals Boston.
Matches are key the manager feels because, he said, “you can’t simulate the skills and the contact of hurling with drills on the training pitch.” That training pitch, Van Cortlandt Park, seems to be getting worse every year, according to Maloney.
As the head of the New York GAA’s effort to establish a new home on Randalls Island, it’s not surprising that Maloney finds the poor conditions a major factor. “We’ve no dressing rooms for the players. We can’t use Gaelic Park very often, so players are getting dressed outdoors. It’s 19th century garbage and it takes away players’ enthusiasm,” he said.
Still, Maloney likes what he has seen in recent training sessions. “I think we’ll have four or five changes from last year, and we might surprise,” he said.

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