Down Club Hurling & Football

[RadioGAAGAA]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

[Nanderson]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

I remember my own club a few years ago looked at odonovan rossa in derrys coaching strategy as they used to come down to our tournaments and clean up. They wanted to see if they could copy it and implement it here but just because something works for one club doesn't mean that it will work for all clubs

[Truth hurts]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Bar a freak year or two the all-county minor league seems to be dominated by Carryduff, Bredagh, Byransford, Kilcoo and the SD big clubs Hilltown, Burren, Mayobridge, and more recently Ballyholland. They more likely have bigger numbers and more manpower to coach properly.


Who was in the bust-up? That's not good to hear.

Eoin Donnelly will be a massive help to Carryduff but it might upset the apple cart as they have plenty of players. It is not to far from Carryduff to Loughinisland who love a bit of transfer dealing LOL

[Smurfy123]

The powerhouses in South Down including CPN are doing Trojan work at underage level
We are as strong at underage as any county in ulster club wise

Burren Mayobridge CPN Kilcoo Belfast clubs are putting in work that should be at the forefront of our county teams

We just are not seeing it transferred to a county minor level

The under 20s had a great run last year and we need to build on that

[thewobbler]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Moving the u13 grade to go games on a smaller field is, I believe a remarkably bad decision. It might help a few weaker players maintain interest and progress to their maximum ability. But at same time it's tying a chain around the development of stronger players.

[Truth hurts]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Moving the u13 grade to go games on a smaller field is, I believe a remarkably bad decision. It might help a few weaker players maintain interest and progress to their maximum ability. But at same time it's tying a chain around the development of stronger players.

I have to disagree on that as the best players will get to play u15 for their clubs. Lobbing 10 plus goals into a massive net with a wee 3 ft keeper standing there serves no one any good. u13 football last year was really poor to watch as the best players totally dominated. Getting the ball and running 70 meteres to score and crap like that. u13 this year should be better.

[Truth hurts]

The powerhouses in South Down including CPN are doing Trojan work at underage level
We are as strong at underage as any county in ulster club wise

Burren Mayobridge CPN Kilcoo Belfast clubs are putting in work that should be at the forefront of our county teams

We just are not seeing it transferred to a county minor level

The under 20s had a great run last year and we need to build on that

I would safely say Burren has more more underage titles in 2021 than CPN has won in the previous 21 years . LMFAO you are some craic.

[thewobbler]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Moving the u13 grade to go games on a smaller field is, I believe a remarkably bad decision. It might help a few weaker players maintain interest and progress to their maximum ability. But at same time it's tying a chain around the development of stronger players.

I have to disagree on that as the best players will get to play u15 for their clubs. Lobbing 10 plus goals into a massive net with a wee 3 ft keeper standing there serves no one any good. u13 football last year was really poor to watch as the best players totally dominated. Getting the ball and running 70 meteres to score and crap like that. u13 this year should be better.

That depends on your club.

We had 2 x u13 sides last year and only one player (who is exceptional) played u15 grade.

If that was this year, we'd have almost 40 boys playing two-touch football. And the better ones, learning sweet FA from it.

[Truth hurts]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Moving the u13 grade to go games on a smaller field is, I believe a remarkably bad decision. It might help a few weaker players maintain interest and progress to their maximum ability. But at same time it's tying a chain around the development of stronger players.

I have to disagree on that as the best players will get to play u15 for their clubs. Lobbing 10 plus goals into a massive net with a wee 3 ft keeper standing there serves no one any good. u13 football last year was really poor to watch as the best players totally dominated. Getting the ball and running 70 meteres to score and crap like that. u13 this year should be better.

That depends on your club.

We had 2 x u13 sides last year and only one player (who is exceptional) played u15 grade.

If that was this year, we'd have almost 40 boys playing two-touch football. And the better ones, learning sweet FA from it.

How many times in a senior game would you see a player take more than 2 touches. move the ball quickly. Do you think young McGovern learned much by scoring 10 goals a game versus players who are no where as good as him both technicaly and physically.

[thewobbler]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Moving the u13 grade to go games on a smaller field is, I believe a remarkably bad decision. It might help a few weaker players maintain interest and progress to their maximum ability. But at same time it's tying a chain around the development of stronger players.

I have to disagree on that as the best players will get to play u15 for their clubs. Lobbing 10 plus goals into a massive net with a wee 3 ft keeper standing there serves no one any good. u13 football last year was really poor to watch as the best players totally dominated. Getting the ball and running 70 meteres to score and crap like that. u13 this year should be better.

That depends on your club.

We had 2 x u13 sides last year and only one player (who is exceptional) played u15 grade.

If that was this year, we'd have almost 40 boys playing two-touch football. And the better ones, learning sweet FA from it.

How many times in a senior game would you see a player take more than 2 touches. move the ball quickly. Do you think young McGovern learned much by scoring 10 goals a game versus players who are no where as good as him both technicaly and physically.

How many players do you think strive at senior football without the ability to open the legs, or walk out of a tackle, or work their way out of a tackle?

How many defenders do you think strive at senior football when they opt to back off a ball carrier after they've had two solos?

There's two sides to this coin.

Tyrone have players coming of 5-6 macrory cup schools at present. They're playing grade A, full sized football at school from 11 years old. That's where I'll look for my evidence for which side to choose.

[Johnnysboys]

Being a good schools player doesn't automatically mean you will be a good adult player

Development sqauds are ok from under 16 up but it has to be run right which is not happening in Down that's why we have so many drop out

My nephew was on one and he got word on a Thursday night that he was training on Saturday and it could have been anywhere. Now that's ok only his parents worked so it was a scramble to get him sorted with a lift and eventually he just stopped going as he was already training with his club 3 nights and maybe 2 schools session

Whether we like it or not it's just not fancy to play for Down anymore

Look at the buzz around Armagh at the minute and the big crowds they are getting compared to us

Questions need to be asked from the top down

How are they not being run right??? How do we make it that it is run right???

[Wolfetones]

Questions need to be asked from the top down

Questions need to be asked from the bottom up.

We are never going to win Sam with the current generation*, but we might win an All-Ireland with the 8-10 year olds in the county if they were prepared right.

Its already been talked about in here already to a degree. But we need to examine every step from when a kid first kicks a football right up to the senior county squad and ask
- is this step fit for purpose?
- could we do it better?
- should we be doing it at all, or something else entirely?
- what are everyone else doing?


*barring a fluke of monumental proportions - to which I'd be absolutely fuking delighted!

Moving the u13 grade to go games on a smaller field is, I believe a remarkably bad decision. It might help a few weaker players maintain interest and progress to their maximum ability. But at same time it's tying a chain around the development of stronger players.

I have to disagree on that as the best players will get to play u15 for their clubs. Lobbing 10 plus goals into a massive net with a wee 3 ft keeper standing there serves no one any good. u13 football last year was really poor to watch as the best players totally dominated. Getting the ball and running 70 meteres to score and crap like that. u13 this year should be better.

That depends on your club.

We had 2 x u13 sides last year and only one player (who is exceptional) played u15 grade.

If that was this year, we'd have almost 40 boys playing two-touch football. And the better ones, learning sweet FA from it.

How many times in a senior game would you see a player take more than 2 touches. move the ball quickly. Do you think young McGovern learned much by scoring 10 goals a game versus players who are no where as good as him both technicaly and physically.

How many players do you think strive at senior football without the ability to open the legs, or walk out of a tackle, or work their way out of a tackle?

How many defenders do you think strive at senior football when they opt to back off a ball carrier after they've had two solos?

There's two sides to this coin.

Tyrone have players coming of 5-6 macrory cup schools at present. They're playing grade A, full sized football at school from 11 years old. That's where I'll look for my evidence for which side to choose.

U13 football in Tyrone is two touch, as U14 was before that. Your point in general is correct though.

[Truth hurts]

The amalgamation of Ulster colleges and Vocational schools is a big no no for the smaller schools. The Down vocational school final was a great day in the school's diary and it gave a huge profile to the likes of st Columbans and st Malachy etc

[befair]

Should our priority be (1) a successful county team, or (2) keeping as many young people, of all abilities, playing football for a long as possible? Pehaps the two ae mutually exclusive.
Every club should have a 3rds team, for the lads who just want to play a game every week without having to live like Spartans; but instead all the focus is on the 'elite' footballers (for whom it will never be a career or a living, only a hobby).

[thewobbler]

Befair, i would argue day and night that the two biggest drivers of GAA interest - at all ages, among all abilities - is success for your club/parish, immediately followed by success for your county.