Establishing a pathway for underage teams has long been a difficult conundrum for the GAA.
Traditionally even-numbered for the main competitions, the Association adopted a new policy in 2020 that saw a shift to odd-numbered grades, essentially making minor an U-17 competition and with decoupling at under-17 too, creating a clean split between underage and adult competition. With no overlap, fixture-making became cleaner and the most talented players had a little bit more protection from overuse at a critical age.