CAN MORE BE DONE TO HELP SECOND TIER COUNTIES JOIN THE ELITE?

I CAN only speak from my own experience in Kerry this season and I have to say that support we got from the county board, and in particular Pat Sullivan, was exceptional. When you are coming from a small base, and picking from a small pool of players, that sort of support is crucial. There needs to be a commitment at county board level to develop the game. There must be the will to improve the game.

Hurling in Kerry has a small heartland, and small number of clubs, but they haven’t used that as an excuse. They want to develop the game down there. That can start at county board level but the work must also be carried out by the clubs.

The hurling counties outside the elite all face the same problems. Small base to select from and a small pool of players. That caused issues for us during the National League.

I think we were the only team in Division 1B who played a game with four 19-year-olds on our team – as we had to do in our final group game against Offaly. When you have a small panel, there is a natural strain on it and that is what we suffered from.

We are only picking from a small pocket of clubs in north Kerry – and it is similar for other teams on this level. When that happens, it’s natural that you pick up injuries.

There is the question of having to peak in March, rather than later in the year, as we had to do this year to ensure we stayed in Division 1B. Yes, we aren’t playing any games now for the rest of the year but the fact of the matter remains that if we had managed to beat Offaly in our last Championship game, we would be hurling for another two months.

But we had to decide what to prioritise. For our team, at this point in our development, it was more important that we remained in 1B. Maybe that is somethung that could be looked at.

Should the organisation, as a whole, be doing more for those teams who are trying to climb the ladder in hurling? Maybe, there should be more done in terms of promotion of hurling, but I can only speak from what I have experienced in Kerry.

And the support we have got down there has been excellent. That is where the development has to be start, before any other issues are tackled.

Counties should help themselves, first and foremost, before seeking help from elsewhere.

Work must be carried out by clubs and the county boards