This article is from page 60 of the 2011-10-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 60 JPG
IN hurling, as in life, there are no guarantees – that was the resounding message sent ringing out to underage or former underage championship winners within the county by Davy Fitzgerald when speaking to the grassroots of Clare GAA in the West County Hotel last Tuesday night.
Pointing ot the senior experiences and travails endured by both Galway and Limerick after their raft of under age successes in the new millennium, Fitzgerald warned Clare’s rising stars that it doesn’t follow that senior suc- cess is a given after minor and under 21 victories in recent years.
“We are going to have a lot of young players in,” said Fitzgerald, “but it has bothered me over the last two or three years. We have had a lot of (underage) success.
“The thing that’s bothering me is that success leads to success at senior level. I put it to you, did it lead to success for Limerick and Galway for last couple of years?
“We have got to be careful that we don’t put our players up on a pedestal. I believe we have to remain grounded, even after we achieve stuff at minor and under 21. We have to make sure we keep these lads’ feet on the ground and get them working hard for senior.
“That’s what I would encourage,” he added.
“We all know the last few years haven’t been fruitful for Clare. I can’t promise you. I can’t tell you we are going to turn things around and we are going to go back to the glory days, but the one thing I can tell you is that I am going to work as hard as I possibly can and I mean that,” continued Fitzgerald.
“My own personal view is that the rebuilding is still far from finished. I’m going to be straight about it. I think there’s more players that need to be brought in. They are going to get a go.
“The one thing I’m going to encourage ye and the people watching – the way I’ve worked over the last few years is that I have a tendency to play players and give them games. They mightn’t be flying it at the time but it’s important to give them their chance.
“Giving a fella 20 minutes here and a game there doesn’t always work. You need them to get their confi- dence, which is very important. You have to be patient for a small bit, we all want the same thing, but we’ve got to find out what’s what. Character is very important.
“I think Sparrow did a great job in the last two years. It wasn’t an easy job to come into after what had happened.
“He came in, he rejigged it, he started to build. I don’t think our strength and conditioning is good enough, something I’ve done a lot of homework on in the last couple of years. I’m going to work hard on that,” he added.