*Clare U20 hurling manager, Terence Fahy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.ย
A FRESH strategic review for Clare GAA has been sought while the county U20 hurling manager has said refereeing at the grade is becoming โincreasingly problematicโ.
At the September meeting of Clare GAA, the first of the end of the season reports from county managers were aired for club delegates.
In his end-of-season report, Clare U20 hurling manager Terence Fahy who during his time in the role has been very slow to criticise referees took exception to the performance of match official Ciaran OโRegan in their 3-19 1-20 Munster final loss to Tipperary.
Fahy stated, โRefereeing at under 20 level is becoming increasingly problematic for us I donโt have the answers but I do know that if you keep taking stuff you will keep getting itโ.
Managerโs reports:
End of season reports from the county minor football and under 20 hurling managers were read to the September County board meeting.
In his report minor football boss Joe Hayes said โminor football and hurling are about developing as many players as possible with the goal of sending these players forward and give them an opportunity to play, firstly under 20 and then senior with their respective county. Winning silverware is great for confidence and rewarding for players of course but you canโt always win but you can always developโ.
Reflecting on his first year as minor manager, the Lissycasey native said, โ2025 was a very enjoyable year with the Clare minor footballers. I feel they were exposed to a real good standard of an inter-county lifestyle in terms of what is going to be required by them going forward if they want to make the step up to under 20 and county senior football. These young lads and their parents gave a fierce commitment. We met four times a week from January on. They were an exemplary behaved group. We had 35 players on the panel on day one and Iโm delighted to say we had 35 players on the panel on the day our year endedโ.
He went on to give details of the games played saying they โexperienced highs and lows during our championship campaignโ.
Concluding, Hayes said โOur goal going forward will remain the same, to make the Clare minor footballers as competitive as is physically possible and to prepare every young lad we have on the panel as best we possibly can in order to give them the best chance of stepping up and representing Clare at under 20 and senior levelโ.
Under 20 hurling manager Terence Fahy also had a detailed report read to the meeting. At the outset he explained that they had lost Aidan Harte from their 2024 backroom team but they were delighted to secure the services of Conor Ryan. He said โinjuries were an issue this season and some fine players never got a runโ
Trials were held before Christmas and a total of 87 players were trialled. He went on to give details of the games played in their first game against Cork he said they โwere lucky to get away with a draw having been very wasteful on the evening. The sending off of Fred Hegarty had a big bearing on the gameโ and he went on to note that the decision had been overturned on appeal.
Clareโs loss to Tipperary in Sixmilebridge โwas very disappointing. As a management we took responsibility for the preparation which wasnโt right. The playerโs response was super and the relished the return of intensity to trainingโ.
Fahy noted that they lost three players to injury, Ronan Keane, Jack Mescall and Liam Crotty.
He described their victory over Cork in the semi-final in Cork as โa big victory as we hadnโt beaten Cork in the grade in eleven yearsโ.
Looking back on their Munster final with Tipperary, he stated, โIn the final our players went hard from the start in what was our third knock out game in fourteen days. The referee took centre stage in the middle of the second half with some dubious decisions starting with the awarding of a penalty. The issuing of a black card to Jamie Moylan changed the gameโ.
Fahy continued, โbetween club and county this is my fifteenth managerโs report and I have never mentioned referees. As a manager I am not looking at making excuses on playing blame games. Refereeing at under 20 level is becoming increasingly problematic for us I donโt have the answers but I do know that if you keep taking stuff you will keep getting itโ.
Continuing his report said โfrom a development perspective, there is a lot to examine from this season. Clare and Tipperary each played six championship games, more than all other counties and this is huge for player development Twelve of the players that featured in the Munster minor final in 2022 featured at some stage in this yearโs championshipโ.
His report concluded by thanking all who had helped during the season from his backroom team, the players to board officers and groundsmen.
Time for another strategic review:
The time has come for another strategic review plan covering the next five years to be put in place for Clare GAA.
Thatโs the view of Clare GAAโs planning and training officer Paddy Smyth who presented a report on the progress made on the initial strategic review report which was presented four years ago.
โOn August 23 we met here with some of the nine independent business people who put the original plan in place. I have met people in Croke Park who are amazed that we got nine independent people to devise the plan for us. They gave us an objective assessment of Clare GAA at the time and that resulted in 240 action points. There were four areas of strategic focus, governance, clubs, our games and our commercial growthโ.
Smyth commented, โgovernance was very topical at the time, a lot of question marks back then. We are 85% compete now. We have a new audit and risk committee, a new planning and training committee, active voluntary sub committees, voluntary county board officers with defined roles, full time head of operations, office administrator appointed, part time fixtures secretary in placeโ.
77 percent of the targets for clubs have been achieved, the former รire รg secretary said. โClub compass is a self assessment tool devised by Croke Park and its hugely important for clubs to do it before you ever go near a development planโ.
Saying that there are 34 actions still in progress he went on to say โitโs time now to start planning the next strategic plan. If we sit down and wait for the 100%, we will be behind the curve. Improvement is continuous. We have made progress but we canโt stop, we have to keep goingโ.
Concluding he asked โwho is going to put the next plan together. We are hoping to get some of the original committee on board. Its hugely important to have the business people continue to work with usโ.
A copy of Smythโs report is to be forwarded to all clubs.
Management teams:
Details on the final make-up of the senior football and hurling managements teams are expected to be confirmed at the October meeting of Clare GAA. That meeting will take place on Tuesday October 14th.
Speaking at the September meeting, chairman Kieran Keating said โPaul (Madden, senior football manager) is nearly there and Brian (Lohan, senior hurling manager) is fairly close to finalising as well. Pau; has been in regular contact with Deirdre (Murphy) and myself with regard to who he is trying to get on board while Brian is further down the road with most of his committee in placeโ.
Under 21 draws:
The draws for this seasonโs under 21 hurling and football draws will be made on Tuesday night.
A request from Clooney/Quin delegate John Skehan that they be allowed compete in the U21C football championship was rejected, board chairman Kieran Keating explaining that they had a far bigger panel available that the other clubs in the grade.
Skehan argued that playing in the C competition would make it easier for them to field a team as itโs a 13 a side competition. He pointed out that they are still involved in senior, junior A, junior C hurling championships and junior football.
Meanwhile underage football committee chairman Joe Considine expressed concern that the first rounds of the U21 competition are scheduled for the same weekend as the semi-finals of the minor championship.
Chairman Kieran Keating pointed out that โthe dates arenโt thereโ because of clashes with colleges fixtures. The minor is for under 17 players and clubs should concentrate using players from 17 to 21 for the under 21 competition, he said.
Replying that a lot of clubs will need under 17 players for under 21 teams, Considine asked that if both grades are in the same weekend that preference be given to the minor with those fixtures to go first.
Pappy Callaghan Trophy:
The Pappy Callaghan trophy which will be presented to the winners of this seasonโs regular intermediate hurling championship, was presented to board chairman Kieran Keating.
The presentation was made by Pat OโBrien from OโCallaghans Mills and Sean OโHalloran from Bodyke, the clubs that the Clare star had played for.
Addressing the meeting Pat OโBrien thanked the Callaghan family, the Bodyke club and all that had helped bring this about.
Scรณr:
Scรณr na รg will take place at Cois na hAbhna on October 18, Irish officer Joe Garry told the meeting when issuing an appeal to all clubs to take part in the competition.
Two Scรณr signs listing Clareโs All-Ireland winners are to be unveiled in Cusack Park this week.
Twenty five Clare students have made application for Irish college grants and these have been forwarded to the Munster Council for adjudication.
Medical assistance:
Long time Bodyke GAA official Sean OโHalloran paid tribute to those who assisted when a Bodyke player got injured during a recent championship game at Scariff.
He thanked the medical personnel involved. โThey gave great support on the evening and they stayed on the field until the player was airlifted to hospitalโ.
