1
Down / Re: Down Club Hurling & Football
« on: May 03, 2022, 11:02:31 PM »
From the posts I have read following Sunday’s match one thing is for certain, no one really knows where to start in terms of improving our fortunes.
In terms of the County Board I actually think they do a decent job in running the club game in the County. Where they could definitely improve is in running the inter county aspect. And that goes from top to bottom.
As a previous poster has said the reality is the clubs and schools are not producing the quality of player we once produced in County Down. That said, there are still some very good players in the County and my gut feeling is we should not be at the low ebb we are currently at. A few points that spring to mind in terms of areas to improve:
1. Player retention. The turnover from year to year (and even within this season alone ) is far too high. Every county needs to get its best players on the pitch and at present we aren’t doing that. How many times have we seen a young player break through and look promising only to disappear without anyone really knowing what happened. The one that springs to mind here is Owen McCabe. I thought he had great potential. Most successful counties have a settled base of players with limited transition from year to year.
2. Coaching. Both in the clubs & County squads. We do not seem to be producing high level coaches. A good few of our division 1 teams are managed by men from outside the county. On the flip side I do not think there are many, if any, coaches from County Down coaching teams outside the county. Conor Laverty seems to be the only coach who is sought after by any team outside of our county. The next senior county manager needs to be carefully picked with a view to persuading players to commit.
3. Administration of county football team. When down were successful they were set apart from other counties by being ahead of the game in terms of administration of the county team. We have all heard the Maurice Hayes stories etc. Down were at one stage innovative and creative in terms of organising their county structures and setting up teams for success. Anyone looking in from outside at present now sees a set up that appears to be fairly amateur at best. Down were clearly no where near as fit as Monaghan on Sunday. Until basic issues like that are overcome the whole set up is going nowhere fast.
4. Interest in the inter county game. There are various counties where players have always had a take it or leave it attitude to the inter county game. Derry is probably a good example. I do not believe this was the case in Down until the last few years. We are now being faced with various inter county standard players deciding the do not want to play inter county. I’m sure there are various reasons for that but surely one of the main reasons is that the whole set up and administration of the inter county teams is nowhere near as professional as it should be. In fact i would be fairly certain that the reason a few Kilcoo men have failed to commit to inter county is because the inter county set up would fall far behind the stand of organisation and coaching they receive within their own club.
There are some bright spots in the gloomy picture. Murdock and Magill both look like solid inter county players. The new training centre (despite the location) will hopefully improve things also.
The Down hurlers have taken up the mantle this year and made great progress. I know little about either inter county set up but from outside it appears the hurlers are showing what progress can be made with a well organised management and a group of players who are willing to buy into the inter county game. It’s simple but it seems to work.
In terms of the County Board I actually think they do a decent job in running the club game in the County. Where they could definitely improve is in running the inter county aspect. And that goes from top to bottom.
As a previous poster has said the reality is the clubs and schools are not producing the quality of player we once produced in County Down. That said, there are still some very good players in the County and my gut feeling is we should not be at the low ebb we are currently at. A few points that spring to mind in terms of areas to improve:
1. Player retention. The turnover from year to year (and even within this season alone ) is far too high. Every county needs to get its best players on the pitch and at present we aren’t doing that. How many times have we seen a young player break through and look promising only to disappear without anyone really knowing what happened. The one that springs to mind here is Owen McCabe. I thought he had great potential. Most successful counties have a settled base of players with limited transition from year to year.
2. Coaching. Both in the clubs & County squads. We do not seem to be producing high level coaches. A good few of our division 1 teams are managed by men from outside the county. On the flip side I do not think there are many, if any, coaches from County Down coaching teams outside the county. Conor Laverty seems to be the only coach who is sought after by any team outside of our county. The next senior county manager needs to be carefully picked with a view to persuading players to commit.
3. Administration of county football team. When down were successful they were set apart from other counties by being ahead of the game in terms of administration of the county team. We have all heard the Maurice Hayes stories etc. Down were at one stage innovative and creative in terms of organising their county structures and setting up teams for success. Anyone looking in from outside at present now sees a set up that appears to be fairly amateur at best. Down were clearly no where near as fit as Monaghan on Sunday. Until basic issues like that are overcome the whole set up is going nowhere fast.
4. Interest in the inter county game. There are various counties where players have always had a take it or leave it attitude to the inter county game. Derry is probably a good example. I do not believe this was the case in Down until the last few years. We are now being faced with various inter county standard players deciding the do not want to play inter county. I’m sure there are various reasons for that but surely one of the main reasons is that the whole set up and administration of the inter county teams is nowhere near as professional as it should be. In fact i would be fairly certain that the reason a few Kilcoo men have failed to commit to inter county is because the inter county set up would fall far behind the stand of organisation and coaching they receive within their own club.
There are some bright spots in the gloomy picture. Murdock and Magill both look like solid inter county players. The new training centre (despite the location) will hopefully improve things also.
The Down hurlers have taken up the mantle this year and made great progress. I know little about either inter county set up but from outside it appears the hurlers are showing what progress can be made with a well organised management and a group of players who are willing to buy into the inter county game. It’s simple but it seems to work.