Bord Chontae Loch Garman
Meeting 21/02/2017, Riverside Hotel
Information Bulletin
Correspondence
Clubs were urged to submit names of their Health and Wellbeing officers as soon as possible. It was noted that the Wexford District annual awards night will take place on 4 March and that Kilmore GAA Club will host an intercounty hurling challenge match on Sunday 26 February between Wexford and Waterford to mark the opening of their new facility. Clubs were asked to take note of the following dates of future County Board meetings:
- 21 March
- 25 April
- 30 May
- 20 June
- 26 Sept
- 24 Oct
It was noted that Dermot Earley, CEO of the Gaelic Players’ Association, will attend the County Board meeting of 25 April to outline the work and aims of the GPA.
The issue of urban transfers has been raised by some clubs with Coiste Bainistí recently and it was explained that the motion passed at County Convention in December 2016 is in effect and is clear. What it means effectively is that a player who has not played in a code in the year 2016 is eligible for urban transfer in 2017.
Infrastructure update
Phase 2 work on the Ferns Centre of Excellence is continuing and two storage containers have been installed recently. The County Safety Committee has recently met to plan for anticipated larger crowds in Wexford Park and to update its safety documents. The committee is seeking the names of 3-4 volunteer stewards from all clubs to assist on match days and a short training course will be arranged for new volunteers. It is expected that a good number of clubs will apply for Sports Capital grants and it is hoped that they will fare well in this process and add to the infrastructure stock in the county. A number of clubs are interested in developing 3 and 5-year plans and planning sessions will be organised for such clubs to assist in this process.
Model County draw update
As a follow-up to the discussion at the January County Board meeting, the cost of advertising the Model County Draw on South East Radio has been investigated and an overall package costing €4000 in total was outlined to the meeting. It was noted that this equates to each Club paying €80, the equivalent of selling an additional 2 tickets, and the proposal was approved.
Coaching update
It was announced that, following discussions with Coiste Bainistí, Anthony Neville Homes will sponsor our underage Development Squads over a 3-year period. This will go some way to meeting the running costs of the squads and is an important investment in the future.
Various options to increase the coaching staff complement without incurring extra costs for the County have been explored and there have been some positive developments. Starting on 8 March and funded by Leinster Council, Aoife Murphy will start work with the coaching team with a focus on urban areas, focusing initially on Enniscorthy and New Ross. Additionally, private funding has been secured (with assistance also from Leinster Council) to fund a hurling coach to drive the implementation of the Hurling 365 primary schools initiative from September 2017. Willie Cleary will take up this post then and he will also provide support to post-primary schools and to the combined colleges. Also, the supporters’ club in Dublin has provided some funding to pilot the rollout of a Football 365 in five primary schools initiative.
Motions from Congress
The more than 50 motions for discussion at Congress were discussed and among the key issues on which there was discussion and decisions were the following:
- Proposal to move the All Ireland Finals to August – defeated
- Proposal to have mandatory extra time in the event of draws in all matches except for provincial finals, All Ireland semi-finals and finals – approved.
- Proposal to move the U21 hurling grade to an U20 grade, in line with football – approved
- Proposal to change the intermediate intercounty grade to an U25 development grade – defeated
- Proposal to move away from Go Games after U11 instead of the current U12 – defeated
Other business
The recent fine intercounty victories were acknowledged. There was a brief discussion about the distinction between county season tickets and Club Wexford tickets. It was explained that the Chairman has met with Club Wexford and it is the Coiste Bainistí’s clear aim to arrive at a system where a single barcoded ticket model is used consistently and that there be equal treatment for all ticketholders. Clubs were asked to encourage participation in the Scór Sinsear county finals on 3 March in Oulart (music / dance / singing / recitation) and on 9 March in St. Martin’s (table quiz).