*Brian Coffey with Clare GAA Chairman Joe Cooney.
Clare minor hurling manager Brian Coffey is stepping down from the role after one year in charge.
The Banner clubman has taken the decision “due to unforseen family commitments which will require a lot of time over the coming months”.
Donal Óg Cusack’s Cork proved too strong for Clare in the Munster MHC quarter-final in October when it finished 1-24 to 2-13 in favour of the Rebels.
Speaking to The Clare Echo this week, Coffey expressed the hope that he “will return to management in the future. The last four years (he has been involved with this year’s minor group over four years) have been a fantastic experience, learning from great coaches and improving my management skills all the time”
According to the Tipperary native, the 2020 season “was a huge challenge from a management perspective and the uncertainty was the biggest challenge. We didn’t know how long the lockdown would take and working on keeping players motivated in that period was something that we weren’t expecting”.
A change to the format of the minor championship was described as disappointing by Brian. “It went from a round robin format to a knock out championship. We were looking forward to having four games which would have been of great benefit to the players and their development. The change was outside our control and, at the end of the day, were were glad to get to play some championship hurling”.
He felt a cohesive approach is needed within Clare GAA. “Everyone needs to work together. There has to be a Clare first mentality. There is a lot of good work being done and we must put aside our differences and work for the betterment of Clare hurling”.
