Derry GAA. Adult Games - A Time for Change

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1 Derry GAA Adult Games - A Time for Change

2 Adult Games A Time for Change The GAA, at national level, have introduced several changes to the intercounty competitions and schedules within the calendar for the seasons. It is vital that counties adapt their fixture scheduling to ensure that we take account of these changes. In Derry we must be mindful of the wider changes happening and analyse how they are going to impact our club scene. The proposals contained within this report have been put together to try and achieve what is best for club and county players alike. These proposals have also been developed following our experience of running a fixtures program within the county over the last number of years. We have consulted with all clubs and county management and have made changes based on the feedback from these stakeholders. We know that individual clubs and members will look at, and in the first instance judge, the proposals on the likely impact for their club for this season. Having discussed this and considered many options, we believe this to be the best way forward for Derry club and county, footballers and hurlers, and ask you the clubs to embrace the change. As the changes at national level have been brought in on a 3-year trial basis, it is important that we plan, not just for this season, but for the seasons ahead, in order to best utilise the fixtures calendar. The proposals contained are intended to give club players a game every week throughout the season, which is first and foremost the primary objective of any fixture planner. Stephen Barker Cathaoirleach Doire C.C.C. 2

3 Introduction These proposals have been put together with consideration for the following; Club Player To ensure we maintain and/or increase participation levels within our county we must ensure club players are given the opportunity to participate in regular meaningful games. The club player must have a clear games programme at the start of each season that is strictly adhered to. This schedule should include a holiday period and ideally a mixture of games on different days of the week to allow amateur players time to enjoy life outside of the GAA. Intercounty Player The key to fixture scheduling is to ensure that the intercounty player doesn t miss club league and championship games. There should not be a case where a player must choose between club and county. It is also essential that the intercounty player is allowed the opportunity to focus on his county during the build up to games. Under 20 Football championship With the age grade change in Under 21 Football to Under 20, the competition will also be moved within the calendar. This championship will now take place in parallel with the Ulster Senior Football championship, with the Ulster Council currently considering playing these games as a curtain raiser to the Ulster Senior Football games. Under the new regulations players in Senior Championship matchday squads are unavailable to play in the Under 20 competition. Christy Ring Competition In 2018, the Christy Ring Competition will be played from mid-may and during the month of June, a change from previous years when this competition started in April and ran for 6 weeks. Under 21 Hurling Championship In 2018, Derry have entered the All Ireland Under 21 B Championship. This competition will be played during the month of July with the final taking place on the first weekend in August. Intercounty Squads In 2018, during the months of May, June, July and possibly longer, Derry will have a number of intercounty squads Senior Football, Senior Hurling, Under 20 Football and Under 21 Hurling. Due to the timing of these competitions, and regulations, it is highly unlikely that players will cross over between these squads. This means that around 90+ players will be unavailable to clubs possibly for a 6-8 week period (depending on the success of each squad). As individual clubs are likely to lose access to multiple players in both codes for several weeks it would be unacceptable and unfair to schedule league or championship matches during this time. 3

4 Proposals County Players availability to clubs It is important that county players are available to clubs throughout their league campaign. The availability of county players has many benefits for the club game, these include; higher standard of football/hurling, greater interest from a spectator point of view and it is also only right that the clubs who have brought these players through should have them available. Players should not be placed in a position where they must choose between club and county but should be actively encouraged to be available for both and must facilitate this where we can. In 2018, county players will be available for ALL league and championship matches for their clubs This will be achieved by playing league games from April until the middle of May and then playing of the remaining league games from mid-july until the end of August. Football League Cup Competitions From the middle of May until the end of June Cup competitions, on a league basis, will take place for all clubs at both senior and reserve level. These competitions will ensure the club footballer gets regular football during this period. This will lead to an increased number of games played by club players throughout the season. Senior The senior league will be split into two pots with 8 teams in each section. After playing each team once the teams at the top of each section will playoff in a final. The same fixtures will be played by senior reserve teams. Intermediate The intermediate league will be split into two pots with 7 teams in each section. After playing each team once the teams at the top of each section will playoff in a final. The same fixtures will be played by intermediate reserve teams. Junior - The junior teams will play each other once and the team finishing top of the league will win the competition. Recreational GAA In previous seasons teams have entered thirds teams to play in the Junior league and the Intermediate Reserve Championship. The proposal is to introduce two new competitions, one played on a league basis and one a knockout championship format. Depending on number of teams, the league will run from April to July with games played every other Friday\Saturday night and the knock-out competition will be played during the month of August. 4

5 Football League structures 2018 The current football league structures consist of 3 divisions separated into Senior 16 teams, Intermediate 14 teams and Junior 8 teams. These clubs also participate in the championship at each of these grades. It is proposed to change these standings for the 2019 and 2020 seasons by changing the makeup within the three divisions to the following Division Number of teams 1A 12 1B This will be achieved by promoting 8 teams form the Intermediate league to create 1A and 1B and then promoting the cubs from the Junior league into Division 2. It is important to note that the league structures are being changed to even the numbers across each division NOT to reduce the number of league games in the following seasons. Football League Structures 2019 The league structures for 2019 will be determined by the following standings from 2018 Playoff 1 Winner will play in Division 1A and Loser in Division 1B Playoff 2 Winner will play in Division 1B and Loser in Division 2 5

6 Football League Structures 2020 The league structures for 2020 will be as follows with 2 teams up and 2 down across each division Football Championship Structure 2018 The Football Championship structure for 2018, based on 2017 standings, will be as follows; Senior Championship 16 teams straight knock-out Intermediate Championship 14 teams straight knock-out Junior Championship 8 teams back door system 6

7 Football Championship Structure 2019 The Football Championship Structure for 2019, based on 2018 League standings, will be as follows Football Championship Structure 2020 Senior Championship determined by 2019 League standings, All Division 1A clubs and top 3 from 1B plus Intermediate Championship Winners. If Intermediate Championship winners are in the Top 3 then the Top 4 Division 1B teams will play Senior Championship. Intermediate Championship determined by 2019 League standings, the next 11 top placed teams from Division 1B and Division 2 plus Junior Championship Winners Junior Championship Remaining 10 teams Senior Intermediate Junior

8 Hurling League Structures The hurling league will be a single round league with seven Derry teams Ballinascreen, Banagher, Coleraine, Kevin Lynches, Lavey, Slaughtneil and Swatragh. Na Magha are playing league hurling in Antrim. Due to the small number of clubs currently playing hurling in Derry it is difficult to change the league structures from the current format. The introduction in 2017 of linking the league to championship is seen to have a positive impact on the league games that were played last season and for that reason this will be continued for the next three seasons. In 2017 the league was split after one complete round and an additional 3 league matches were played, however clubs did not want this split and additional games to continue into Hurling Championship Structures The Hurling Championship is linked to the league standings and will be decided as follows 8

9 Hurling League Cup Competition In 2017 when we ran the Early Season Hurling League (an alternative competition when county players were on county duty); this competition will be continued in 2018, namely the Hurling League Cup, and will take place during the Christy Ring competition. Each team will play each other once and the team with the most points at the end of the 8 rounds will win the competition. This competition is designed to ensure all hurlers within the county get the opportunity to participate in hurling games throughout the year and especially during the unavailability of county hurlers to their clubs. Clubs from outside the county have expressed an interest in joining this competition. Number of Games In 2018 the following number of games will be played by clubs Code Senior Intermediate Junior Football Hurling Holiday Period The Holiday period for 2018 will be 2 weeks from Saturday 30 th June to Saturday 14 th July. 9

10 Dates for 2018 Football Date Senior Football Interm Football Junior Football Wed 4 th April League Rd 1 League Rd 1 League Rd 1 Sun 8 th April League Rd 2 League Rd 2 League Rd 2 Sun 15 th April League Rd 3 League Rd 3 League Rd 3 Sun 22 nd April League Rd 4 League Rd 4 League Rd 4 Sun 29 th April League Rd 5 League Rd 5 League Rd 5 Wed 2 nd May League Rd 6 League Rd 6 League Rd 6 Sun 6 th May League Rd 7 League Rd 7 League Rd 7 Sun 13 th May League Cup Rd 1 League Cup Rd 1 League Cup Rd 1 Sun 20 th May League Cup Rd 2 League Cup Rd 2 League Cup Rd 2 Sat 26 th May League Cup Rd 3 League Cup Rd 3 League Cup Rd 3 Sun 3 rd June League Cup Rd 4 League Cup Rd 4 League Cup Rd 4 Fri 8 th June League Cup Rd 5 League Cup Rd 5 League Cup Rd 5 Sat 16 th June League Cup Rd 6 League Cup Rd 6 League Cup Rd 6 Fri 22 nd June League Cup Rd 7 League Cup Rd 7 League Cup Rd 7 Fri 29 th June League Cup Final League Cup Final League Rd 8 Sun 15 th July League Rd 8 League Rd 8 League Rd 9 Sun 22 nd July League Rd 9 League Rd 9 League Rd 10 Wed 25 th July League Rd 10 League Rd 10 League Rd 11 Sun 29 th July League Rd 11 League Rd 11 League Rd 12 Sun 5 th August League Rd 12 League Rd 12 League Rd 13 Sun 12 th August League Rd 13 League Rd 13 Championship Rd 1 Sat 18 th August League Rd 14 League Rd 14 League Rd 14 Sun 26 th August League Rd 15 Championship Rd 1 Championship Q1 Sun 9 th Sept Championship Rd 1 Championship QF Championship Q2 Sun 23 rd Sept Championship QF Championship SF Championship SF Sun 7 th Oct Championship SF Championship Final Championship Final Sun 21 st Oct Championship Final *Championship games will be spread across the weekends on the above dates 10

11 Hurling Date Senior Football Thurs 12 th April League Rd 1 Thurs 19 th April League Rd 2 Thurs 26 th April League Rd 3 Wed 9 th May League Cup Rd 1 Wed 16 th May League Cup Rd 2 Wed 23 th May League Cup Rd 3 Wed 30 th May League Cup Rd 4 Wed 6 th June League Cup Rd 5 Wed 13 th June League Cup Rd 6 Wed 20 th June League Cup Rd 7 Wed 27 th June League Cup Rd 8 *Wed 18 th July League Rd 4 Wed 1 st August League Rd 5 Wed 8 th August League Rd 6 Wed 15 th August League Rd 7 Sat 1 st Sept Championship Playoff Sun 16 th Sept Championship Senior/Intermediate/Junior Semi Finals Sun 30 th Sept Championship Senior/Intermediate/Junior Finals *if Derry in All Ireland Under 21 hurling Semi-final League Round 4 will be moved to Wed 22 nd August 11