On Tuesday evening, Westmeath minor hurling manager Johnny Greville tweeted claiming that his team had been withdrawn from the All-Ireland B Championship.
According to Greville, the reason given by the county board for the withdrawal was that no jerseys were available for the team.
Westmeath Minor Hurlers Withdrawn from All Ireland Minor B Champ,CB Reason-"We Don't have Any Jerseys to play in" #respectwestmeathhurling
— johnny greville (@GrevilleJohnny) July 21, 2015
In a statement released on Tuesday night, the Westmeath county board refuted these claims. They say that the team could not have been pulled out of the Championships as they were not entered in the first place.
The decision not to enter the team into the B Championship was due to the view that progress could be best made by playing at the highest grade.
Westmeath GAA would like to take this opportunity to clarify matters as the items discussed on Twitter contain inaccuracies which require correction.
Westmeath GAA are very pleased with the progress made by Westmeath Minor Hurlers this year under the stewardship of Johnny Greville who has brought a new dimension of professionalism to the preparation of the team.
All of us were naturally disappointed that our team exited the Leinster Championship at the semi final stage but we do know that the base for progress is through the highest grade of championship proper.
To that extent, Westmeath GAA did not enter a Minor team in this years B Championship and this matter was discussed thoroughly through County Management Committee and the decision communicated accordingly.
Hence the question of us pulling out of a Championship that we did not enter is disingenuous and we are very disappointed with the manner in which this has arisen in the media through twitter today.
We appreciate that people become passionate about matters in which they believe strongly in but we do expect everyone to have their facts correct.
In relation to the matter of jerseys & appropriate gear for the Minor team and for all of our teams in both Hurling and Football, Westmeath GAA do like all our fellow County committees endeavour to fully support all the players who don our County Colours.
Certainly after the Leinster Minor Hurling Semi final, a set of Jerseys went missing which was unacceptable. There has to be pride in wearing one's colours and we expect all players who represent Westmeath to have the pride in them to retain their colours at all times.
Picture credit: Dáire Brennan / SPORTSFILE
