Belfast GAA is dying...

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

Ive recently started mentoring at a local west belfast club, u8/u9, done a couple of courses with gaelfast, bought a few books, both sons play for the club.
Every weekend we are struggling for numbers, we have great facilities, number one culprit……. Caravan season!
I dread to see what its going to be like when the schools finish for summer.
On a sidenote, anyone recommend any books dual codes?

Caravans blight of Derry city gaa

[charlieTully]

Think soccer wins that hands down.
So much more options for kids now too- iPads, consoles etc. Easier to sit and play indoors, talk with friends in the comfort of their own home online.
I don’t think a lot of  GAA coaches and clubs  take that into consideration. Certainly not half the people on this board- “here’s a youngster at my session, he should be doing s&c, individual ball work, eating right, and the more I yell at him, the more he’ll respond etc etc.”
It’s not like Loughgeil where the community idolise the senior hurlers/camogs and they strive to be at that level. For every GAA person I know, I probably know 1 other that doesnt play sport now as a young adult, live a relatively healthy lifestyle and enjoy life travelling or nights, out in the pub at the weekend. GAA players don’t get that luxury a lot of the time.
As much as we love and live for the GAA, I feel there’s a lack of understanding as to why young people are involved in it. Majority are in it due to friends and fun, but our coaches and members are interested in the wins- and how the county do- and what we need to do to get there.
Soccer leagues have 7/8 divisions - others have even more! It allows everyone to find their level and enjoy it depending on how they want to prepare for it. I know loads of fellas meet up on a Saturday, play a game of soccer and head for pints after. That’s the height of it… we call that South Antrim and there’s a fair amount of stigma attached to that. I’d love to see clubs take a more business like approach to things where sessions are catered to their audience rather than “here’s what I did when I was senior and got to a final one year,” even though they’ve not even considered one piece of coaching literature, attended a coaching course and the kids are 12! I think we could do with more of a look at some form of recreational play for teenage participation. Half pace hurling is a great example of people who just love it, regardless of performance. 

Sorry for the rant lol, but to answer your question……
More visibility…..  in schools,  and more GAA focused leaders in schools and communities. Likes of Tyrone have club people with an influence on Board of Governors etc who get a bit of a say in the recruitment of teachers.
Unless clubs are in schools then how do we ever become visible to kids? Would love to see Gaelfast become more Dublin-like in the sense that a staff member works specifically for a club and recruits as much as possible. Really should’ve been the model suggested by SV initially anyway but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

More visibility… in general… we have Casement looking a sorry state, get that built on the road and kids can drive by in awe of its presence. In the south they have GAA adverts, billboards etc. I believe it all adds to it. Due to obvious reasons I don’t think our businesses can advertise using GAA players as much!

More visibility= more kids.

So much in this post rings true. Not just a belfast thing but all over. There is always so much discussion around player drop out. A lot of it I think is disillusionment from parents. They pay memberships, buy county draw tickets lotto etc, help out in various aspects around the club but coaches play the strongest team. Lads sit on the bench, maybe get the last 5 mins etc. The idea of development is lost on a lot of coaches. Go games rules completely ignored for the sake of trying for a win. The old school is certainly not the best school. Coaches are short sighted. A generalisation maybe. A lot don't think about the long term benefits to the club. Wee Jimmy might not be able to win you a match at 14 but he could be running a successful business at 34 and invest in a club where he has been made to feel a part of it  not cart aside at a young age. Who remembers winning an under 12 game. Jesus I can barely mind a single one. Our ethos has got lost somewhere.

[barnish oggie]

Ive recently started mentoring at a local west belfast club, u8/u9, done a couple of courses with gaelfast, bought a few books, both sons play for the club.
Every weekend we are struggling for numbers, we have great facilities, number one culprit……. Caravan season!
I dread to see what its going to be like when the schools finish for summer.
On a sidenote, anyone recommend any books dual codes?

You should get in contact with Colm Nally on twitter @colmnally and order a copy of his football book.
"Games-Based Approach to Gaelic Football"

Loads of small sided games to use in training sessions.

Much better than the standing in a line drills that we grew up with.

[bannside]

Or the original coaching bible "Games for better team play" by Philip Kerr, Terence Mc Williams and John Morrison.

[johnnycool]

Davitts have some green shoots appearing, great facilities and with alan rainey doing well with antrim minors it can only benefit the davitts, some great hurlers coming through.

Fierce work being put in by the Davitts, hurling wise Rainey and Michéal has them here, there and everywhere and they're getting their rewards. Fair play to them.

[Walter Cronc]

Understand city has many more challenges but I think the key is the culture of a club. If that's right, when the players come (usually a cyclical thing) then you will have success. Wee Jimmy might not be a deadly footballer or hurler but he might be a great Irish dancer or brilliant at the Scor. Thats equally as important because he might have a brother or sister who is a future star. In summary keeping families involved is a huge thing and something we (Glen) have put a big focus on.

[general_lee]

I know families in Belfast and they’ve more clubs than tiger woods!

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

Davitts have some green shoots appearing, great facilities and with alan rainey doing well with antrim minors it can only benefit the davitts, some great hurlers coming through.

Fierce work being put in by the Davitts, hurling wise Rainey and Michéal has them here, there and everywhere and they're getting their rewards. Fair play to them.

Very hard to sustain . More power to them if they can

[Saffsof82]

Ive recently started mentoring at a local west belfast club, u8/u9, done a couple of courses with gaelfast, bought a few books, both sons play for the club.
Every weekend we are struggling for numbers, we have great facilities, number one culprit……. Caravan season!
I dread to see what its going to be like when the schools finish for summer.
On a sidenote, anyone recommend any books dual codes?

“Give us a game” published by Dublin I think

[Ciall]

Ive recently started mentoring at a local west belfast club, u8/u9, done a couple of courses with gaelfast, bought a few books, both sons play for the club.
Every weekend we are struggling for numbers, we have great facilities, number one culprit……. Caravan season!
I dread to see what its going to be like when the schools finish for summer.
On a sidenote, anyone recommend any books dual codes?

“Give us a game” published by Dublin I think



A few free online resources (especially for u8/9 as you say):

https://antrimgaagamesdevelopment.ie/resources/lets-play-a-game

https://antrimgaagamesdevelopment.ie/resources/the-family-of-games

https://learning.gaa.ie/planner/

[Upandover]

Davitts have some green shoots appearing, great facilities and with alan rainey doing well with antrim minors it can only benefit the davitts, some great hurlers coming through.

Fierce work being put in by the Davitts, hurling wise Rainey and Michéal has them here, there and everywhere and they're getting their rewards. Fair play to them.

Very hard to sustain . More power to them if they can

What makes you say that? Just curious.

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

Davitts have some green shoots appearing, great facilities and with alan rainey doing well with antrim minors it can only benefit the davitts, some great hurlers coming through.

Fierce work being put in by the Davitts, hurling wise Rainey and Michéal has them here, there and everywhere and they're getting their rewards. Fair play to them.

Very hard to sustain . More power to them if they can

What makes you say that? Just curious.

Usually you will find new clubs or rejuvenated clubs with 3-4 men piling everything around 1-2 age groups . I've seen it a lot. When we started in 80s we had very good senior team by 92-95 but nobody could keep it going behind that, far too stretched.
 Dungannon have bucked the trend so hopefully Davitts can too