New Senior Setup

There seems to be a bit of a vacuum developing with regard to information from the ladies co board in general. I was at the annual convention and an appeal went out for people to get involved in sub committees. The county board was supposed to send out a communication regarding what the positions were and how many were needed, to date no communication has been received about this or anything else.
One big challenge Joe O'D has is raising the profile of the Kildare ladies team in the county, and his own profile.

Sorry Kelf, didn't see your post. Have heard nothing since Joe took over, have heard nothing good bad or indifferent in the last number of weeks, can only assume things are going well, if they weren't you would here it here,

Yea, too right Ballyboy

Met someone last night. They were back on Wed night ( not sure if before that or not)

Suppose ye have plenty for Minor on Sun & Under 16 next Wed.

Seems all Managers except Under 14 sorted.


See The Stars: That's one thing Joe has never looked for, he's a very low profile person.

The County Board has to meet to decide on Sub Committees. I believe the Executive have met a few times. Hope there are plenty to join the various sub committees. Many hands and all that...............

I hear the team had a good first outing on Wednesday, a big win but were the opposition very weak ??

For anyone following Kildare ladies, Ballykelly GFC is the home venue for all Kildare's home games in the national league. This is the second year Ballykelly have made their facilities available to the girls, well done to all involved in this decision.

It was stated by the Co Board that we are paying in the region of ten grand for the use of the Hawkfield facilities. That being the case why are we playing our home matches in Ballykelly, Are Ballykelly charging for the use of the ground.?
It's big of Ballykelly to "make their facilities available"
Surely if the Co Board want to encourage Ladies Football and they don't want to use Hawkfield, they should play in other pitches besides Ballykelly,
Is this another example of the underhanded stuff referred to in breakingball's post
Doesn't make sense.

gerry123
Not alone did Ballykelly not charge for the use of the pitch, dressings rooms, kitchen and hall but Kildare got to collect the Gate( Ref has to be paid from it and depending on distance travelled that can be over €200).

As far as I know in 2011 when Clubs were asked to host National League games only one club responded. Most are saving their pitch when the first 3/4 National League games are on in Feb & March. Thats why the games were in Ballykelly last year. And they have the only pitch in Kildare that LF have first call on.
So it wasn't underhand in 2011. Very much above board with every club given the opportunity.

Of course I'm shocked that LF had to pay to use Hawkfield. That's not what was understood when that redevelopment started under Syl Merrins.
(Was that 10G all Hawkfield or did it include Pipers Hill)

One thing that i have often wondered about. When Clubs apply for Lotto Funding they include their Ladies (and Camogie) players, teams & games in their submissions. Some even got confirmation letters from LF Co Board.
Now I wonder did KIldare GAA when applying for funding for Hawkfield include LF and/or Camogie in their submission. If they did and got funding on that basis why then charge LF for use ???
Freedom of Information Act might answer that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh give it a rest - the Kildare senior team sound very happy with their arrangement in Monasterevan, so let them at it. Clubs don't care about a senior team who has no connection or interaction with them.

Ur very quick to have a go at Mr Merrins - the same man who's name was used to disguise the appointment of the new senior manager.

Perhaps the money wasted on a school hall in Pierps Hill or the money wasted on a mountain rescue in Wicklow could have been better served in Hawkfield.
Good luck to Ballykelly, they deserve to have their facilities promoted. Its just a shame they aren't used by the senior men...

Again BB u got it aways !!! Syl was and is most helpful to LF. Was he not maaging his clubs Under 14 Ladies team last year !!!!

Was Pipers Hill not only used last year when Hawkfield was not available this time last year and later H was used when available ?????

Breakingball for someone who is very opinionated, you are not very well informed.. Firstly the Kildare senior men's team trained there for the last few years and regularly play there, currently the senior hurlers are training there, its also used by the minor management. and various development squads. On a national basis Cork are regular visitors at all age groups ( That's why the brought up Sam and the National league trophy to our underage training sessions last year ) their 21's were there last weekend,most of the Ulster counties use it for challenge games throughout the year. It is also used for most of the big games in the senior colleges league competition, the semi's and final was played there last year. It is also one of the first venues on the Leinster councils when they are running underage competitions, the Kildare U14 footballers won their title there last year. Hope this enlightens you somewhat and goes some way to maybe broaden you point of view but I doubt it.

Your comment, '' clubs don't care about a senior team who has no connection or interaction with them'' is baffling, could you clarify ??

For those who may be reading this thread, Breakingballs post may be confusing, the ladies have their arrangements in Ballykelly GFC, all their upcoming home league games are in our grounds.I will post the dates here as soon as I get them from our secretary

gerry123 I am quite sure you know first hand there is no '' underhanded stuff '', you just can't help yourself, the minute you see the word Ballykelly your bitterness gets the better of you. You'll have to see someone about that, can't be healthy

Ballykelly is and always will be a club the welcomes footballers regardless of gender, we have a fine facility and are more than happy where possible to accommodate ALL our county teams

PS
All the above is done without impacting on any off the 30 teams we field ourselves

I never metioned Ballykelly. My only question is why we are paying for the use of Hawkfield and having our senior games in Ballykelly. What's going on?
If the policy is to play games in club grounds why stick with Ballykelly, There is plenty of other grounds as good as if not better.
Fair play to Ballykelly, the have a nice set-up,my crib is with the co board and the lack of clarity regarding the home venue for our senior Ladies Football team.
Kelf, in answer to your shock, Hawkfield is paid for by every club whether the use it or not, why should the Ladies be different. Its a differnet thing to paying for it and then not using it

Hawkfield is paid for by the gaa clubs in the county - ladies football and camogie are seperate associations they might be joined up in lots of clubs but they are not currently one association - so as it stands neither ladies football or camogie have a automatic right to use gaa grounds - that said all three groups try to help each other out to promote gaelic games

You'd better got back and read your post, its mentioned more than once.

The reason I'd say Hawkfield is not being used is because the main pitch is closed and has been for the last few months to all teams regardless of gender. There is some minor issues with the surface probably because there was pressure on to open it early, it needed another year to bed in, we made sure our pitches got 2 years before the were played on. If its rested till the summer it should be ok. If the Kildare ladies were playing there they would be on pitch no 3 or 4, then you would have people saying the girls were f--ked on to a back pitch, there is also the issue of these pitches not having railings to keep the crowd back. You say there are grounds as good as Ballykelly and I am sure there are ( Don't agree there is better, but that's my opinion ) but the reality is they were not offered. If you know the ladies scene as well as you maintain you will know the there are plenty of clubs in Kildare you won't let Ladies near there main pitches, and that includes their own teams.

I am sure the County Board know that Ballykelly to the best of my knowledge is the only club that has a designated ladies pitch and dressing rooms, and I am sure they know that because of this they can approach my club and be confident they will be made more than welcome. I have no doubt that in the future more clubs will go down this road but until they do we are in pole position.

Regarding clarity from the county board, this was confirmed with the county Board on Tuesday after a club meeting, and was mentioned at the county development meeting last Thursday night which all clubs were supposed to have a delegate at, if you check with yours he/she can confirm this.

Regarding who is paying for Hawkfield is is mostly coming from Gaa central funds, clubs are subsidising a portion of the cost, they could never afford the total cost, as a matter of fact a lot of them are having difficulty paying their levies at the moment. As for the ladies as pat of the Kildare Gaa family the are expected to pay their share but that does not mean that they like other teams can expect to use Hawkfield as they want it, its a managed facility like ours and if the people who look after it deem it closed then its closed and has been said earlier to all teams. The same rule applies to our grounds if our field committee feel it should be closed then it is closed to all

Gerry133

LF County Board is not a Club and

Dual

I'm well aware Camogie & LF are seperate associations but in nearly every club they are full GAA members thus paying like everyone else for Hawkfield ( Note: Suncroft are the latest to bring Ladies fully on board)

I was just wondering wasthe application for Lotto funding based on just GAA teams or were the others included in the application/allocation.

If they were I feel their County Teams should be treated the same as the Mens teams but if they were not then it would only be fair to charge them !!!!

Just my opinion and as I've no position in LF or GAA my opinion counts for fully nothing !!!!!

Some seriously bitter posters on this. BB and gerry123 if ye are as supportive of ladies as ye say then you purely had the access to the same information as Ballykelly and all other clubs had re where Kildare ladies will play. Both of you certainly couldn't be involved at committee level im your club as you would have known the answers to all the question's you've posted here. And Ballyboy i could be mistaken but i thinkthe kildare minor ladies have trained and played there as well

They did indeed fatherted, and from what I'm told the Kildare senior men's team are playing there on Wednesday night, busy little spot down here.

Kelf glad to hear another club has seen the light, as far as I know Rathangan have also gone down that route. By the way I would value your opinion ahead of quite a few posters on here, you could never be accused of being a hurler on the ditch, you served your time and while I did not always agree with you on some things I am very aware of the work you put in

There are plenty of clubs working in a similar way to those that you mentioned. It's not uncommon for ladies to be given more than their fair share of their clubs facilities, it is 2012 after all!

It was very uncommon until recent years, I could list several examples that I personally witnessed but I will refrain because thankfully you are right, it is 2012 and things have changed in most clubs but not them all. There is still a few lagging behind

il give ya an example the senior championship final between balyna and confey about 2/3 years ago was on moorefields third pitch was scandilous that a main pitch wasn`t made available for a county final

I have to say, in my involvement, I was stunned by the disdain that other clubs treated their ladies teams, constantly consigning them to a back pitch that invariably was in a terrible state. I remember on one occasion using it as a motivational talk to the girls before one such game; reminding them that their own club would never treat them so shoddily. That would have been about four years ago. I'm glad to hear things have improved.

Breakingball wrote:

Theres only 6 clubs at senior level - 1 of those chose not to field a team this year and will no doubt look to play Intermediate next year in an attempt to win more silverware.

Can you stop the bitchiness? It is a fair point that Castlemitchell did not play senior this year, and how could they and they barely able to field a team for division 2 league. if they were relegated, it is not their choice and it certainly is not a ply to win silverware.

As for Monasterevin going well. Gerry123 stop causing trouble and getting the club a bad name with your controversial comments. These are your opinions so stop bringing the club into it. Best of luck to Monasterevin, it's a sign that ladies football is still growning in the county with more clubs coming onboard with ladies football.

Fair play to Ballykelly for being home venue for Kildare LF. Their grounds are fantastic! And it is great to see Kildare ladies football in the south of the county. To bring up an old argument, the north of the county did appear to have a monopoly on Kildare football for a while so maybe this move will help bring a balance.

Now back to the origina topic. New Setup...
I was at the first round of the league on Sunday and saw a few new faces. The game was pretty one sided, how was this taken in the camp? Do you think it was a bit harsh to put the new and younger girls out against such a strong Dublin side?

he has to start somewhere littlesam and he has tried them all in a few friendlies aswell the one thing il say is he really has to sort the goalkeeping position out cant be conceeding 5 goals a game

That goalkeeping problem is a long-standing one. God be with the days of Mags McCormack

Hmmmmmm I think ladies football is just past the point of rescue at county senior level. Certainly for the forseeable future. The attitude I see in some of these young ones just beggars belief. These are girls who have never achieved anything with club or county, yet they strut around the place as if they are all stars. The very very basics of ladies football are glaringly lacking. Tackling, passing, kicking or soloing on either side and scirong are all sadly lacking.

I was lucky enough to be involved with a Kildare panel many many moons ago when ladies football was only being reborn in this county. We were no experts and suffered many a heavy defeat before we managed to get a foothold. BUt the one thing I can say about the girls I played with, almost every one of us was willing and eager to learn. We trained hard and played hard and though we were only togging out in the cheapest of cheap jerseys (sometimes t-shirts), those cheap t-shirts meant the world to us. It was a massive honor to wear those t-shirts.

I wouldnt think its fair to compare players because the times were and are so different. But I couldnt exactly hold Mags up as a shining light for goalkeeprs Oggie. She definitely did have all the key attributes to make her one of the best but sadly she didnt like and often didnt train.
I can remember when Frankie Byrne of Eadestown played for Kildare and she worked as hard if not harder than the rest of us. THe onnly keeper I have seen since that could be considered county standard was Edel O'Brien and she had to be converted fro man out field player.

I hope something can be done about this stinking attitude of young girls coming along the ranks, I certainly wouldnt envy any coach trying to tolerate it. More to the point I wouldnt tolerate it for a split second. And I dont see anything happening at adult level in this county for anytime soon.

Hmmmmm. All I know is Mags wasn't afraid of getting hurt and could dive, save shots and catch a ball over her head. Frankie has been some servant to Kildare and Eadestown for a long time.