St Brigids GAA versus Castleknock GAA

Fuseman

Hi Folks.

Young lad is coming of age to start at the GAA nursery and I don't know which one people would recommend? Some people may say which ever one is closer but I am based in the middle of both of these. I am looking for good facilities and a club that will nurture kids to love sport.

Thanks

dibs101

Fuseman wrote: »

Hi Folks.

Young lad is coming of age to start at the GAA nursery and I don't know which one people would recommend? Some people may say which ever one is closer but I am based in the middle of both of these. I am looking for good facilities and a club that will nurture kids to love sport.

Thanks

Hi fuseman,

I'm involved with one of the clubs, won't say which. But my recommendation is for your son to go to the club which the majority of his friends, classmates, neighbours are going to. In my experience this results in kids staying longer in the club and needing less persuasion to go to training, matches etc and from a pragmatic perspective makes car pooling for training, matches a lot easier. They are both great clubs, I know great underage people/coaches at both clubs. Feel free to PM if you would like more "impartial" info.

P

AlanG

I had a similar choice to make and went with Castleknock mainly because I wanted to support an up and coming club. Bridgets have far better facilities and are a higher profile club. Both clubs have good coaches, people and pitches. I would agree with the issue of friends - it is easier if they are in a club with friends and neighbors.

Regarding nursery it doesn't matter a lot - Castleknock starts at 10 but doesn't run on rainy days, Bridgets start at 9:30 and have a hall for winter so runs more often. I tried both and found Castleknock better run but both were good. Both clubs are about 200 per year for membership but you dont need full membership for nursery. (castleknock is 50 and i think bridgets is 100 - you don't have to pay straight away)

You could try both for now but when your kid reaches 7 they have to become a full member and at that stage you need to think carefully because GAA clubs make it very difficult for you to change clubs. Clubs around have been known to let young kids drop out of GAA rather than transfer to a neighbouring club where their mates are playing.

choslimi

AlanG wrote: »

You could try both for now but when your kid reaches 7 they have to become a full member and at that stage you need to think carefully because GAA clubs make it very difficult for you to change clubs. Clubs around have been known to let young kids drop out of GAA rather than transfer to a neighbouring club where their mates are playing.

To be fair, it is the GAA and county boards (with a legacy of "parish mentality") that makes it very diffficult to move between clubs within the same county. For juvenile boys in Co Dublin there is a transfer window - the first week of December. Unless the transfer is facilitated then - by the outgoing club - it won't take place. Some clubs, are more cooperative than others in respect of this transfer process and are happy for parents to move their kids to other clubs on the basis that the kids will be playing GAA games "somewhere". However, not all clubs see it that way. See dublingaa dot ie, "juvenile", "other downloads", "inter club transfer form". If you have any concerns about Castleknock or St Brigid's in this respect, pick up the phone to them or send an email. There are enough phone numbers and email addresses listed on both websites and I am sure you will be able to judge whether you get a constructive answer or an evasive one. There'd be no point in speculating here. While I am sure both clubs are looking at this thread with interest, I can't imagine either of them publishing an official response.

Tombo2001

Not involved with either club directly, but I would suggest you will not find a GAA club in the northside of Dublin with poor facilities; based on the away trips I've been doing with kids. They are all well run.

As such, decide as mentioned, on where the pals go.

The skills level of hurling especially are difficult and kids can lose interest. Having pals/ classmates there can help keep them switched on to the idea of going to the club during that early phase when they are learning how to play.

AlanG

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I would suggest you will not find a GAA club in the northside of Dublin with poor facilities; based on the away trips I've been doing with kids. They are all well run.

Newer clubs like Castleknock, Westmonstown and Tyrrelstown don't have clubhouse facilities and use portacabins for changing rooms. Castleknock are further along in getting their clubhouse built but i don't think it will have an indoor training hall like many other clubs have. I am sure there are gym and winter training supports provided for older teams but I am not aware of what these are.

Castleknock is very well run by good people, I have some interaction with westmonstown and they seem very well run. Tyrrelstown I had some involvement with several years ago and it was run by good people at the time but was only starting off.

Godge

Two key issues:


(1) Your child is happy with their friends
(2) There is a good set of mentors who are committed to training.

You can get that in any of the clubs, it depends on which suits you best.

In all of the clubs, there are age-groups with better mentors and training than other age-groups in the club - you can help out yourself if you want. But the most important thing is that your child is happy with friends.