LONDON hurling appears to be in disarray from top to bottom following the release of facts and figures on the state of the game in the county at London GAA’s Annual Convention on Sunday.
Whilst youth participation remains a huge concern for the county, London senior hurling manager Fergus McMahon also has problems getting a panel together at the top end of the scale.
A source close to McMahon told The Irish Post that the best hurlers in London are unwilling to put club rivalries to one side in order to play for the county in 2016.
Ideally, McMahon – who is fresh from another Senior Championship win with Robert Emmetts and who was ratified for another year in charge by the County Board earlier this year – would expect around 40 players to show for county training.
“Fergus will be lucky to get 10 players on his roll call because St Gabriel’s and Kilburn players are not happy and that is the problem,” said the source.
"The London hurling team is in a similar situation to the Galway hurling team - 26 players in London came together, and the question was 'did they want Fergus McMahon for 2016?' At least 16 of them said no.
“I was talking hurling with Fergus last week, and he was telling me the problems he has trying to get a panel together, but it’s not really his fault, it’s to do with the club rivalries and the players.
“Fergus thinks the players haven’t taken to him, but it’s not him, he’s doing his best in what is a hard job. For him to get a panel of 40 players is going to be very difficult.
“He was telling me he’s had to change his job from the company he was working at because of the amount of work involved in getting a panel together, making phone calls all day, trying to get their expenses sorted – it’s pretty much a full-time job.”
Meanwhile, at the youth end of the hurling spectrum, with just seven affiliated hurling clubs in London, there were just as many Under 14 football teams in the county at the beginning of 2015, as football continues to leave its Gaelic counterpart behind.
Back row L to R - Tony O'Halloran, Tom Connelly, John Molloy, Declan Flanagan, Mark Gottsche, Tony Griffin. Front row L to R - Seamus Carr, Carmel McArdle, Proinsias Redican, John Lacey, Eddie Naughton, John MaloneLondon Youth Chairman Tony Griffin claimed “hurling needs a major overhaul in London” in his Annual Convention report, which confirmed all planned youth hurling blitzes were cancelled in 2015 “for various reasons”.
He added: “In my three years we are still unable to effectively move hurling in the direction that we want to go,” citing “a lack of skilled and committed coaches” as one of the chief stumbling blocks.
Moreover, clubs are not considered to be doing enough to take advantage of youth development schemes such as the Hurling Super Centre, which attracted an average of 50 unattached children playing the sport per session and peaked at 90 in one day.
The free scheme ran on Saturday afternoons in Greenford throughout September, and although demand to learn and play the game was high, clubs failed to take measures to secure the young Gaels on their books.
However, the resources to nurture young hurlers may not be available, as it appears some ancient London hurling clubs are on their last legs, namely five-time London SHC winners Sean Treacy’s, who recruited just one new player last year.
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