The Kerry Championship

Started by phpearse, October 11, 2011, 09:01:11 AM

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phpearse

The Kerry Championship really is a strange animal. The semi finalists this year are Dr Crokes, West Kerry, Mid Kerry and East Kerry. Dr Crokes are going to be the Kerry representatives in this year's Munster Club as the rest of the teams are divisional sides. Marc O Shea plays for West Kerry, did he play for an Gealtacht earlier in the championship? You would think that your county championship should just be for club sides.

clarshack

Quote from: phpearse on October 11, 2011, 09:01:11 AM
The Kerry Championship really is a strange animal. The semi finalists this year are Dr Crokes, West Kerry, Mid Kerry and East Kerry. Dr Crokes are going to be the Kerry representatives in this year's Munster Club as the rest of the teams are divisional sides. Marc O Shea plays for West Kerry, did he play for an Gealtacht earlier in the championship? You would think that your county championship should just be for club sides.

he played for An Gaeltacht in the Intermediate Championship.

Canalman

Not so sure about that PHP, almost sure that Kerry run a separate "club championship"
and the winners of that goes into Munster club competition if a divisional team wins the SFC.

Open to correction though!

AZOffaly

Are we really going to go through all this again? :D

County Championship is for Senior Clubs + Divisional Sides made up of non-Senior Clubs.

Club championship is at Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Novice levels, and is open to clubs only, at their respective grades.

Munster Club Championship representatives are the longest lasting Club team in the County Championship.*

I think the Kerry Championship format is one of the main reasons why Kerry consistently produce good teams. Good players on Junior clubs are exposed to better players (with and against) and this prepares them better for Inter County Football. The amount of players on that team that come from Intermediate and Junior Clubs must be huge in relation to the rest of the country.

* It used to be that the winners of the Club Championship represented Kerry in the Munster Club if a Divisional Side won the County. That was changed a few years ago to the current scenario of longest lasting Club Team in the County Championship.


passedit

Quote from: AZOffaly on October 11, 2011, 09:48:00 AM
Are we really going to go through all this again? :D

County Championship is for Senior Clubs + Divisional Sides made up of non-Senior Clubs.

Club championship is at Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Novice levels, and is open to clubs only, at their respective grades.

Munster Club Championship representatives are the longest lasting Club team in the County Championship.*

I think the Kerry Championship format is one of the main reasons why Kerry consistently produce good teams. Good players on Junior clubs are exposed to better players (with and against) and this prepares them better for Inter County Football. The amount of players on that team that come from Intermediate and Junior Clubs must be huge in relation to the rest of the country.

* It used to be that the winners of the Club Championship represented Kerry in the Munster Club if a Divisional Side won the County. That was changed a few years ago to the current scenario of longest lasting Club Team in the County Championship.

Spot on AZ and you can add that the players at the senior clubs are all the better for playing in a competition with ALL the best players in the county. I'm at a loss to understand why more counties don't do this, although the parochialism which reared it's head when this was partially attempted in Down this year would go a long way to explaining it.
Don't Panic

emmetryan

That's cleared a lot up for me AZ, I was always confused by the formats. Cheers.
writer of the Tactics not Passion series at Action81.com

phpearse

Thank AZ well explained. Thing that threw me was Marc O Shea playing for a divisional side. Always expected An Gaeltacht to be a senior side.


AZOffaly

They were until relatively recently. In fact I think they played against West Kerry a couple of time. I remember Diarmuid Murphy was playing for West.

5 Sams

Quote from: phpearse on October 11, 2011, 10:42:14 AM
Thank AZ well explained. Thing that threw me was Marc O Shea playing for a divisional side. Always expected An Gaeltacht to be a senior side.


I think that shows how strong Kerry football is when An Ghaeltacht are intermediate despite the fact they can call on Marc, Tomás, and Darragh as well as the Kerry 2nd choice keeper Tomás Mac antSaoir...never mind Páidí óg and I think Aodhán Mac Gearailt might still be playing!!
60,61,68,91,94
The Aristocrat Years

Christmas Lights

Quote from: AZOffaly on October 11, 2011, 09:48:00 AM
Are we really going to go through all this again? :D

County Championship is for Senior Clubs + Divisional Sides made up of non-Senior Clubs.

Club championship is at Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Novice levels, and is open to clubs only, at their respective grades.

Munster Club Championship representatives are the longest lasting Club team in the County Championship.*

I think the Kerry Championship format is one of the main reasons why Kerry consistently produce good teams. Good players on Junior clubs are exposed to better players (with and against) and this prepares them better for Inter County Football. The amount of players on that team that come from Intermediate and Junior Clubs must be huge in relation to the rest of the country.

* It used to be that the winners of the Club Championship represented Kerry in the Munster Club if a Divisional Side won the County. That was changed a few years ago to the current scenario of longest lasting Club Team in the County Championship.

My head hurts!  Surely the divisonal teams have an unfair advantage over an actual one club team? No?

AZOffaly

Quote from: Christmas Lights on October 11, 2011, 02:16:36 PM
Quote from: AZOffaly on October 11, 2011, 09:48:00 AM
Are we really going to go through all this again? :D

County Championship is for Senior Clubs + Divisional Sides made up of non-Senior Clubs.

Club championship is at Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Novice levels, and is open to clubs only, at their respective grades.

Munster Club Championship representatives are the longest lasting Club team in the County Championship.*

I think the Kerry Championship format is one of the main reasons why Kerry consistently produce good teams. Good players on Junior clubs are exposed to better players (with and against) and this prepares them better for Inter County Football. The amount of players on that team that come from Intermediate and Junior Clubs must be huge in relation to the rest of the country.

* It used to be that the winners of the Club Championship represented Kerry in the Munster Club if a Divisional Side won the County. That was changed a few years ago to the current scenario of longest lasting Club Team in the County Championship.

My head hurts!  Surely the divisonal teams have an unfair advantage over an actual one club team? No?

There are pros and cons. A lot of people feel the divisional sides don't have the same preparation and togetherness as a club, and of course they don't. However, they are probably pulling from a bigger pick in terms of people playing regularly, and teams like South Kerry would have a load of good players from junior clubs.

Ciarrai_thuaidh

Quote from: 5 Sams on October 11, 2011, 11:32:36 AM
Quote from: phpearse on October 11, 2011, 10:42:14 AM
Thank AZ well explained. Thing that threw me was Marc O Shea playing for a divisional side. Always expected An Gaeltacht to be a senior side.


I think that shows how strong Kerry football is when An Ghaeltacht are intermediate despite the fact they can call on Marc, Tomás, and Darragh as well as the Kerry 2nd choice keeper Tomás Mac antSaoir...never mind Páidí óg and I think Aodhán Mac Gearailt might still be playing!!

And they were beaten in the semi final of the Intermediate last week, by Miltown Casltemaine who have no player on the Kerry panel!

Gaeltacht have dipped a bit alright from the glory days of the early 2000's when they really should have won an AI club.

Id agree with AZ that the c/ship structure in Kerry is very beneficial when it comes to testing players readiness to step up to county level. The divisional teams such as South Kerry, Feale Rangers, Mid Kerry etc have been very strong in recent years and really make the c/ship more competitive.

It really is funny seeing people from other counties trying to get their heads around it...not many counties do it I guess. Cork have divisions, but I'm not aware of many other counties that do.

I remember a few years ago trying to explain to someone from Dublin that I had played Senior & Junior c/ship in Kerry aswell as Senior c/ship in another county with my college also..he couldn't get his head around it!
"Better to die on your feet,than live on your knees"...

AZOffaly

I think a few counties have the Divisional Boards. Tipp have North/South/West and Mid for example, but they just run divisional championships, they don't combine for a representative team. I think the Kerry model is brilliant. Would we have seen Declan O'Sullivan, Maurice Fitzgerald, Jack O'Shea, Paul Galvin and many many others if they hadn't been grounded in Divisional Sides. I know Marys have the bones of a big club there, so Maurice Fitz, Jacko and Bryan Sheehan may have had the opportunity anyway, but playing for Dromid, Renard or Finuge wouldn't be a great platform :)

screenexile

As someone said it's the parochial rivalry which would be the difficult part. How are the management and panels of the Divisional sides made up? How/Where do they train? Are they called up from February or are they picked after the Club Championship?

It's a fascinating system and I think it would work well in Derry if there was a North and South team made up of Intermediate and Junior players making the step up to the Senior Championship. It would add an extra edge to the Championship I think!

Farrandeelin

Mayo clubs voted down the  notion of having divisional teams in our championship after West Mayo put up resilience to some clubs last year.
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