GAA Coaching

[small white mayoman]

Could I have some views on Go Games u-8 and u-10. In matches we pick a stronger team and a weaker team, as do the opposition.  But it's been divisive with kids and parents catching on that there's a sort of 1st team and some have been annoyed if they aren't on it.  Plus the weaker team is left very weak - they would need a couple of the stronger players to bring the wee ones into it.  Anyone any experience / advice on this?  My feeling is to change it and pick 2 even teams, the kids should all be in it together and it's not supposed to be competitive anyway.

At the moment we play a Strong and Weak team when we play other teams . What we have noticed is the the lads in the "weaker team" have come in in leaps and bounds they have got used to playing with each other and since they started this year the improvement is there to be seen. I don't think the same improvement would have been made if we were to mix the teams at the start of the year  because if we were to the stronger lads in both teams would be on the ball more.

Hence the 'zones'.

The way the teams are set up at u8 with us are  1 Goalie , 3 Backs , and 3 Fowards. The pitch is split in the middle with 2 Zones the players not allowed to pass the 1/2 way line . If you were to have a strong back for e.g along with 2 weaker backs he would get on a lot of ball in comparison to the other 2 backs.

[johnneycool]

Could I have some views on Go Games u-8 and u-10. In matches we pick a stronger team and a weaker team, as do the opposition.  But it's been divisive with kids and parents catching on that there's a sort of 1st team and some have been annoyed if they aren't on it.  Plus the weaker team is left very weak - they would need a couple of the stronger players to bring the wee ones into it.  Anyone any experience / advice on this?  My feeling is to change it and pick 2 even teams, the kids should all be in it together and it's not supposed to be competitive anyway.

At the moment we play a Strong and Weak team when we play other teams . What we have noticed is the the lads in the "weaker team" have come in in leaps and bounds they have got used to playing with each other and since they started this year the improvement is there to be seen. I don't think the same improvement would have been made if we were to mix the teams at the start of the year  because if we were to the stronger lads in both teams would be on the ball more.

I'm not so sure if there's a correct answer here, as I've seen both sides of it. I'd always ask some of the other mentors of teams if they've streamed A and B teams as there may be an A and B section. If they're going to allow A and B teams to play each other I'd be inclined to split the strong players between the two teams so that both are reasonably competitive. Within that however strong players are inclined to dominate proceedings and thats of no benefit to the lesser players who stand back and don't get involved enough.
I have worked a zonal type system where the forwards can't come pass the midfield line and neither can the backs, midfield can work in both, just to get the youngsters to get a feel for positional play rather than following the ball like sheep.
I always encourage the man nearest the ball to play it rather than stand back when a stronger player comes in and on the odd occasion I've put the strong players in the forwards out of the way so that the others would get involved more.

You really have to call it as it happens.

[theticklemister]

I was reading the scores in the Irish Star the other day and came across GO-GAMES scores in Fermanagh, there was some all merciful beatings. The scores in GO GAMES should not be recorded as it is mainly for fun, and it goes against the GO-GAMES ethos.

[Zulu]

I tend to use the zones like Jonnycool does. Rather than having 3 zones I just half the pitch and if it's 10 a side I have a goalie, 3 backs, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards. The midfielders can go where they want but the backs and forwards must stay on their side of the pitch. We play 3 periods so each trio get to play in each role with the goalie changing at the end of each period. Like AZ I try to put players of equal ability against each other and use the one hop, one solo to inhibit the best from dominating.

As has been said I don't think there are too many right or wrong things in coaching underage. You have to adapt to your players and what works and doesn't work. For example, if you have a really dominant player you may need to come up with special 'rules' for them which allow others to shine but don't cripple the stronger player too much.

One thing I find that works well is to give all frees from in front of the goals, you can change the distance, angle or the leg they use and whether they take it from the hands or ground to challenge the taker appropriately. The main thing though is it gives all players the opportunity to shoot at the goals and therefore a chance to take away something positive from your sessions. You can even allocate all frees won to a weaker player for 1 minute and ensure there are at least 2 frees awarded in that time so he gets at least two shots and if made scoreable for him he should be able to go home telling his folks about the goal he scored.

[drici]