Galway Hurling Committee have released a proposal document to their clubs outlining plans for our club championships in 2020:
This is a best-case scenario outlook and we are extremely cognisant of the challenges that clubs, players, officials and volunteers are facing to achieve it. We are mindful that we remain in a health crisis and the current positive outlook may change quickly. Given the unprecedented disruption to the original fixtures plan, we have restructured our competitions at Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Minor level. The U21 championship that commenced in February will continue in its current guise. We acknowledge that the amended formats laid out below are not flawless, but they align with the guidelines we set ourselves while formulating.
Our aims are:
*To provide every adult club hurler in Galway with a minimum of three championship matches in 2020
*To play competitions at Senior, Intermediate, Junior A, B and C, U21 and Minor level
*To maintain the integrity of the competitions so that we do not negatively impact structures for our 2021 championships
*To minimise the impact on dual clubs and dual players
*To allow sufficient time for our intercounty players and management to prepare for championship
Key Points to Note:
*To fit with the guidelines outlined above and to comply with the condensed time frames we have adopted the approach of groups of 4 across all restructured competitions. In certain instances, groups of 3 or 5 will be needed where we have an uneven number of teams
*Promotion and relegation to apply in line with our objective to maintain the integrity of the existing structures
*Our intention is to commence our Senior and Intermediate Championships on the weekend of July 31st. Minor will start on Wednesday August 5th with Junior competitions beginning in the month of August also. U21 will restart as soon as clubs have exited the other competitions
*Senior and Intermediate games will take place at neutral venues with Junior, U21 and Minor group games to be played on a home and
away basis
*All knockout matches up to and including semi-finals will finish on the day. If a draw at the end of normal time, there will be extra time (two periods of 10 minutes). If a game is still level after that a penalty shootout will be held to determine the winner
*Regulations for all competitions will be finalised in the next couple of weeks.
*Final sign off on the dates will be provided after we see the intercounty schedule issued by Croke Park
*Championship draws will be held on the week beginning June 29th
Desired Outcomes:
*100% of club players to play a minimum of 3 games
*66% to play a minimum of 4 games
*40% to play a minimum of 5 games
*Avoid any club playing hurling matches more than three weekends in a row
*Complete all competitions in the calendar year *Seek to provide our senior intercounty players with a minimum of 4 weeks lead in time to their first championship match.
