Focus on u-17 and u-18 inter-county GAA changes

There will be special U-17 championships in hurling and football for 2017 it was decided at last Saturday's Central Councill meeting of the GAA.

This is part of the transation for inter-county minor competitions in football and hurling that will be played at u-17 rather than u-18 level from next year.

These competitions will be run in the summer months and played alongside the All-Ireland SFC and SHC.

To accommodate players who are currently playing at u-16 level in 2016 and who would be over-age for the new minor competitions (u-17) in 2018 (and would therefore miss out on the opportunity to play “Minor” for their county), Central Council had previously decided to play U-17 championships in football and hurling in 2017 alongside the inter-county minor championships.

At Saturday’s meeting, it was confirmed that these u-17 championships will be organised on a provincial basis as per the existing minor championships.

The winner in each province will go through to the All-Ireland semi-finals (no quarter-finals).

All games will be played to a finish on the day with extra-time utilised if necessary followed by free-taking to ensure a conclusive result.

The finals in both football and hurling will be played in Croke Park in August in conjunction with major games in the All-Ireland Senior championships.

It has been left to the discretion of each county as to whether players may be selected for both u-17 and u-18