Floyd backs summer club window

 

By Shane Brophy

 

Tipperary County Board secretary Tim Floyd has given his backing to the introduction of designated club weekends during the summer in an effort to ease the frustration on club players.

The Newport clubman was commenting in his annual report which will be presented to Tipperary GAA Convention in Thurles next Monday night.

In another comprehensive report on the years activities on and off the field, Floyd took stook on the first two years of the round-rogin format in the senior hurling championship and its impact on the inter-county and club game.

“I have no doubt the current format is good for inter-county teams as it provides them with at least four game at provincial level which justifies the time and money put into preparations.”

However, he says the current system is overloading inter-coutny players who between the league in spring, April club month and four championship games in May and June could play fifteen matches in five months with very little scope for rest and recover.

However, the worst impact he said has been on club players and particularly dual counties such as Tipperary where it leads to a serious backlog of fixtures during the closing months.

“We argued at the time that the new system militated against 98% of players who did not play inter-county. In Tipperary we have 4,000 adult players registered of which only 70-80 are on the county senior hurling & football panels.

“The current system has one more year to run in 2020 and I am sure there will be a big rish to extend it further as it has been a major success at inter-county level and for the provincial councils.

“We must find a way to incorporate club only weekends during the summer months as our club players are becoming very frustrated with the long gap between April and July/August. Filling the gap is a serious cause for concern as some clubs stop training and just fulfil league fixtures.”

 

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