How best to structure U8 hurling academy

[bannergirl]

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering how to other clubs group and structure their 5-8 year olds? At the moment we have two groups of approx. 20 kids each roughly divided into U6 & U8 by age. What I am beginning to realise however is this is not the best way of dividing. We have lots of 6 year olds who have the fundamental movement skills and need to move on to the next level and equally we have some 7 and even 8 year olds who have yet to master these basics and are struggling in the current U8 group. My fear is we will lose these players as they are getting frustrated however it is difficult to bring them back to the first group as they are called the U6 group. Also, we have 6 year olds getting very frustrated at not moving on skills wise.
I am beginning to think we should treat the 5-8 year olds as one group and then sub divide according to ability calling the groups a name that doesn't make anyone feel they are not "good enough". I would love to hear people's thought on this topic and how other clubs structure their academy.

[finbar o tool]

good topic!
we have the same structure as you mentioned, u6s with u6s, u8s with u8s etc, the right way is to divide them in terms of their ability IMO, but it wont be that straight forward. parents will be your biggest problem id imagine. even though you are trying to do the best for each player, some parents wont like it and will think its unfair. thats from my experience working with young kids this age.
any parents with kids hurling at this age can add their opinions?
it is the right idea though as we have lost numerous kids due to not being the same standard as other kids their age and they just get annoyed and give up. and they are way too young to be having those kind of thoughts.

[AZOffaly]

It is a tricky one alright. You have to be careful if you are seperating them that way that the U8 doesn't feel he is in some sort of remedial class with U6s because you lose them just as quickly that way.

We divide them into U5, U6, U7, U8, but within that, we split them into similar level groups, so for example if we are doing a game or a games based exercise with U8s, we can tailor the game/drill or whatever to that group. Simple example is the jab lift. We might have a game for our U8 strong lads that is based on a race to lift balls, while the same game will be done with the weaker U8s without the racing element, maybe a count of how many balls they can lift.

That way if someone is really struggling you can give them a bit of one on one, but they are still with their pals, but operating at a level commensurate with their current standard.

We have a set of skills we ask our coaches to focus on with each age group, and it is intended to be an incremental building block approach, and the coaches then tailor games and drills to work on the skills at various levels within their groups. Hope that makes sense. It is a tricky one though, and I know exactly where you are coming from.

[johnneycool]

It is a tricky one alright. You have to be careful if you are seperating them that way that the U8 doesn't feel he is in some sort of remedial class with U6s because you lose them just as quickly that way.

We divide them into U5, U6, U7, U8, but within that, we split them into similar level groups, so for example if we are doing a game or a games based exercise with U8s, we can tailor the game/drill or whatever to that group. Simple example is the jab lift. We might have a game for our U8 strong lads that is based on a race to lift balls, while the same game will be done with the weaker U8s without the racing element, maybe a count of how many balls they can lift.

That way if someone is really struggling you can give them a bit of one on one, but they are still with their pals, but operating at a level commensurate with their current standard.

We have a set of skills we ask our coaches to focus on with each age group, and it is intended to be an incremental building block approach, and the coaches then tailor games and drills to work on the skills at various levels within their groups. Hope that makes sense. It is a tricky one though, and I know exactly where you are coming from.

We wouldn't have the numbers that some would have, but we work on the school years, P2 (5 and 6 yr olds), P4 (7 and 8 yr olds), P6 (9 and 10 yr olds) and so on, but what we do is all youngsters will train at their core skills at each level and yes some of the better ones do get a bit frustrated at it, but then they'd train the next night with the next age group up.
For instance we've three of four pretty good P4's and they'll train one night with their own age group, ground striking, left and right, catching and so forth, but then they'd be invited to train along with the P6's where they're starting to raise a ball and strike left and right, where they're stretched and so on.
We'd do this right the way up till minor tbh.
The coaches will discuss who goes where on what night depending on each childs capabilities as there's nothing worse as a child struggling and not enjoying the session as well as other children getting frustrated by not being challenged.

At these age groups it becomes very apparent which children have the hurl in their hands at home during the week and those that don't. Try to encourage the children to practice a new skill at home before the next training session and start the session off with that skill, homework of sorts..

[AZOffaly]

It is a tricky one alright. You have to be careful if you are seperating them that way that the U8 doesn't feel he is in some sort of remedial class with U6s because you lose them just as quickly that way.

We divide them into U5, U6, U7, U8, but within that, we split them into similar level groups, so for example if we are doing a game or a games based exercise with U8s, we can tailor the game/drill or whatever to that group. Simple example is the jab lift. We might have a game for our U8 strong lads that is based on a race to lift balls, while the same game will be done with the weaker U8s without the racing element, maybe a count of how many balls they can lift.

That way if someone is really struggling you can give them a bit of one on one, but they are still with their pals, but operating at a level commensurate with their current standard.

We have a set of skills we ask our coaches to focus on with each age group, and it is intended to be an incremental building block approach, and the coaches then tailor games and drills to work on the skills at various levels within their groups. Hope that makes sense. It is a tricky one though, and I know exactly where you are coming from.

We wouldn't have the numbers that some would have, but we work on the school years, P2 (5 and 6 yr olds), P4 (7 and 8 yr olds), P6 (9 and 10 yr olds) and so on, but what we do is all youngsters will train at their core skills at each level and yes some of the better ones do get a bit frustrated at it, but then they'd train the next night with the next age group up.
For instance we've three of four pretty good P4's and they'll train one night with their own age group, ground striking, left and right, catching and so forth, but then they'd be invited to train along with the P6's where they're starting to raise a ball and strike left and right, where they're stretched and so on.
We'd do this right the way up till minor tbh.
The coaches will discuss who goes where on what night depending on each childs capabilities as there's nothing worse as a child struggling and not enjoying the session as well as other children getting frustrated by not being challenged.

At these age groups it becomes very apparent which children have the hurl in their hands at home during the week and those that don't. Try to encourage the children to practice a new skill at home before the next training session and start the session off with that skill, homework of sorts..

Spot on. At the end of the day you have the kids for an hour or so at a time, maybe twice a week. That's not enough practice. That's just enough time to instill a love of the game and a want to try at home. You can still improve if they don't but it expedites it hugely if they are pucking around at home.

[bannergirl]

I've been off line for the past week! Thanks for all the replies,  all valid points and food for thought. AZoffaly,  yours sounds like the ideal scenario,  we just wouldn't have the numbers to make that set up feasible.
I think we will abolish the name U6, all kids will be hurling under 8 and within that then make 3 groups of similar ability,  but like someone else said parents could be an issue there!

[manfromdelmonte]

Huge difference between an 8 year old and a 6 year old.
You can also have a huge difference between two 8 year olds.

I think a player pathway for age groups in the club would help. This would set out the skills each age group should be able to do and how they should be taught.
Some players will be able to move up, others not so much
Carrigaline GAA actually have a good document on that.

[theskull1]

Huge difference between an 8 year old and a 6 year old.
You can also have a huge difference between two 8 year olds.

I think a player pathway for age groups in the club would help. This would set out the skills each age group should be able to do and how they should be taught.
Some players will be able to move up, others not so much
Carrigaline GAA actually have a good document on that.

At this age, personally I wouldn't be up for moving talented toddlers up. Let them train with their mates and help foster a togetherness over the years rather than encouraging the talented ones to think the ones in his age group aren't good enough for him

[bannergirl]

Ahhhh! I think the last two posts have just summed up the conundrum so well. There is a huge difference between some 6 and 8 year olds,  and no I don't want any kid thinking he's "too good"  for anyone else. Plus I'm conscious of the social aspect of it  aswell which is every bit as important, if not more so at this age,  then hurling skills.
Again,  it leaves me with the same issue. Trying to balance the needs of the skill-full and socially able 6.5 year old with the 8 year old who is not so able but is every bit as important to the club and who we want to see returning  every year.
Realistically, the groups would end up naturally dividing along  age lines with the odd few moving up or down according  to their ability. I suppose it's about making it ok for this to happen and for the player who needs to focus on more basic skills for longer to not feel like this is a bad thing and he is being "held back ". Will check out that document,  thanks

[manfromdelmonte]

Yeah. You just need a good variety of activities for each group that covers the skills. Making them game based helps a lot.

You can differentiate activities then by setting different challenges for more able kids, or bringing struggling kids back a stage. Coaches need to be able to spot the child struggling or the bored advanced child, get in and have a quick word to refocus them.
But as you said, kids like to be with their friends. It's amazing how much some children learn from more able children by observing and copying. They want to be as good as their friends. Sometimes the weaker children just have very poor observation skills and cannot mimic the coach or other children (same as in school)