Fermanagh hurling needs urgent help and manager Sean Duffy wants the GAA to take action.
The county have one sole club, Lisbellaw, yet still musters enough to be competitive, narrowly missing out on promotion from Division 3B earlier this year and currently top of the table in the Lory Meagher Cup.
Amongst the upper echelon, it's a game of brilliance and beauty. The issue arises beyond that as hurling remains on its knees in much of the country.
In a week with much ado about the impending tiered Gaelic football Championship, Duffy referenced the fact that while the tiers are competitive in their hurling counterpart, there is little demand to grow the game from the association's hierarchy.
The sport's presence in the county is deteriorating.
The Fermanagh team for today’s excellent win over Cavan in the Lory Meagher. Lisbellaw hurlers should have a decent run in the Fermanagh championship .. pic.twitter.com/EbJwsLoXPi
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) May 18, 2019
Speaking to the Balls.ie GAA podcast, the Three Man Weave, the Fermanagh boss urged bosses to focus within.
There is never enough done from Croke Park or higher up to promote it in the weaker counties. I know this argument goes on but they are trying to promote it overseas, which has to be done, promoting it in America and all that with 11-a-side hurling but if you are Fermanagh or Cavan or Leitrim, we'd love to have a full-time coach.
We'd love to see them try to promote it here, I feel it's not happening. We're getting very little help. Even the likes of Dublin, I've nothing against Dublin, a strong big city-county. How many full-time coaches do they have? It doesn't happen north of the border or in the weaker counties.
Duffy outlined precisely what the county needs to not only survive, but one day thrive: "I'd love to see a full-time coach in Fermanagh, a full-time hurling man. In the schools doing purely hurling."
Until that happens, hurling will remain a luxury enjoyed by the few while difficulty is endured by the many.
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