Hurling championships will begin first in Westmeath

The senior hurling championship is planned to begin first in Westmeath, on the weekend of July 14, it was confirmed at a meeting of Westmeath GAA's county committee last week in the Mullingar Park Hotel. This is to allow county senior footballers an extra week once Westmeath is finished its championships campaign.

County Committee Chairman Frank Mescall acknowledged there are a number of dual players in the county, but the majority are footballers only and they will have an extra week before beginning their club championship campaigns. Last year they had to play a week after they were knocked out of the All-Ireland series, which he said was unfortunate.

A starting date for championships will depend on the progress of the Westmeath senior footballers, but they are gearing for July 14 or July 21.

"The Tailteann Cup is our nightmare scenario. That puts back our championships. If we are not in the in the Tailteann Cup, it depends on when we get knocked out of the All-Ireland proper," he explained.

Meanwhile, Martin Williams, Lough Lene Gaels, felt the U20 hurling should be played the Tuesday after the senior hurling championship, but Keith Quinn, fixtures secretary, explained that would be a football week. He said it's down to clubs to manage their players and urged all clubs to allow 18 and 19-year-old players to play U20. "He has all his life to play adult hurling after that; he has only two years to play U20," he remarked.

Martin Williams also questioned the number of players a senior team has to name (15). He asked if they could name 12 (plus three others) instead as they have five county players, but Keith Quinn said they will still be faced with naming 15.

"We have to name 15 and we are going to lose 20 players (if you take into account our five county players). So we will be unable to enter a second team in the league," he explained.

"It's a matter for the CCC; we can take it back and discuss it, but we have to look at hurling (overall). In division 3, we have some teams not fielding," remarked Mr Quinn.

"If we have 15 that are named and can't play division 3, there's no point entering a division 3 team," explained Mr Williams.

He later raised the matter again when it emerged that an intermediate club has to name 10 players. Frank Mescall explained it's to provide balance with the senior and intermediate clubs, who are of different strengths.

"We're entering a team, whether it's championship or it's league, and we are going to be restricted because we have to name 15 who can play in that (Division 1) and can't play back down (Division 3). But an intermediate team which is entering in division 1 of their championship are actually allowed name less players than us as a division 1 in a senior championship," observed Mr Williams, who felt there are inconsistencies in the regulations. Brendan Shaw, county secretary, said Westmeath can't have a senior club playing their senior players in lower leagues.

"You have to name the players for the league, including the guys who are with the county, which you won't have, which is unfortunate, but that's just the way it is," he added.

A query was raised in relation to just one senior hurling semi-final and Mr Quinn explained that with just six teams involved in the senior A championship, it would make it very meaningless to have four of them qualifying for the semi-finals. Having only three teams advancing adds an extra layer of competition to the leading hurling championship in the county, he felt.