Radical proposal to cull senior clubs

When Clare GAA clubs gather to discuss structures for the 2012 season, they will be asked to accept a system that will see the number of senior hurling clubs in the county drop to 16 in two years’ time.
Cutting the number of senior clubs by four is just one of the proposals that will come from the group, which has held a series of regional meetings with club representatives throughout the county over recent weeks.
When the proposal to set up the committee was put forward by O’Curry’s club chairman Michael Curtin, he strongly suggested  that the number of senior clubs in both hurling and football should be less than at present. 
Support for this view was expressed at some of the ­regional meetings but if it will be accepted by an overall ­majority remains to be seen.
The upcoming meeting will also propose a change in the format for the senior championships.
Instead of the group system, which has been in place for the last decade, it will recommend that the football competition change to a format that will see first-round losers get a second chance at getting back into contention for the title.
As part of this proposal, it will recommend that the senior championship will not commence until the end of July.
This has come about ­following a near unanimous call from clubs to come up with a system that will eliminate the 10-week gap between the first and second rounds, which clubs had to put up with in recent seasons.
Changes to the format of the senior hurling championship will also be proposed, with the competition for the B title expected to run in conjunction with the A race.
Another area of concern highlighted by club representatives relates to the timing of the U-21 Football Championship.
As a result, the committee will recommend the race for this title will not start before September.
In recent years, the ­competition has started in July but because of clashes with county U-21 hurling ­fixtures in particular, clubs getting to the latter stages had to deal with long delays before the competition concluded.
A change in the number of players that clubs will be allowed re-grade will also be ­proposed with a view to getting the ­junior A and B championships underway earlier in the season and before the senior title races commence.
Motions calling for some of these changes were submitted to the recent convention before being deferred to the upcoming structures meeting to be taken in conjunction with the report from the committee, which was appointed to review the competition structures.
It’s expected the report will be finalised this week and then sent to the clubs ahead of the January 21 meeting.