Alarming drop-off rate in the 21 to 26 years age bracket

WITH THE defeat of our Senior hurlers, the fun recommenced on the local front with immediate effect from last weekend. No rest for the wicked, or in this case no rest for the dedicated men who put their lives on hold to represent their county every year.

Now there will be a plethora of games in both codes as the race begins to finish the local championships.

It’s the price you have to pay for being good at your chosen sport, and the problem is not unique to Wexford as every county is faced with the same dilemma once their Senior teams exit the All-Ireland series.

An immediate problem facing some club teams is the availability of some non-county players.

I’d say the transatlantic phone lines were busy on Saturday week after the loss to Clare tracking down the ones that have gone travelling for the summer, some to play G.A.A. and others for the cultural experience, otherwise known as ‘the craic’.

Young players today, with the exception of county players, no longer hang around during the summer months waiting for the G.A.A. to re-start.

With the way county fixtures dominate the G.A.A. scene and create uncertainty over club fixtures, club players now book their holidays when it suits them.

Years ago that would be unheard of but who could blame them now?

A player could go to America for three months and only miss one championship match, so it is no wonder that priorities have changed.

The G.A.A. may think that it is booming with increased attendances, the new hurling format and the Super 8s, but I think the club scene is suffering big time.

A prime example is the number of walkovers conceded by teams recently.

I recently checked the Wexford G.A.A. results website and there were at least 20 walkovers in the space of five days. These were over all age groups and both codes.

Add to that the number of teams which have withdrawn from the leagues due to lack of numbers or lack of interest, again at adult and under-age level.

If you study the results section, in my opinion an even more serious problem is the imbalance in grading for many under-age teams.

Over the past month I have lost count of the number of teams which have received a hammering from Under-13 upwards.

This is not fair on the young lads or the mentors in charge of the teams who are doing their best to promote the game within their own clubs.

Scores such as 8-16 to 0-2, 9-15 to 0-4 and 7-10 to 0-2 are just some of the results that jumped out at me recently on the results page.

Teenagers are intelligent people and will have no interest in continuing their G.A.A. careers if they are going to get hammered every time they take the field.

Okay, sport is not all about winning, but it is about competing and not being embarrassed as a result of your efforts.

These results need to be scrutinised seriously and not just swept under the carpet.

Recent studies showed that the drop-off rate with G.A.A. players between the ages of 21 and 26 is a staggering 75%.

In simple terms, look at a photograph of your Minor team from four years ago, and in a lot of cases out of a panel of 24 only six are still playing.

They are the national averages from a study conducted by the E.S.R.I., so the figures are real.

If the current trend within the G.A.A. continues, where the emphasis is on improving revenue and fostering elitism, the next study will show the same drop-off rate but at a younger age.