Antrim Football Thread

[country bumpkin]

It's your county too CB. What would be your own vision for it? And when you have that list complete, just how would you propose to fund it?

We had a vision at Cargin long time back.....and where we led others followed BS......look at our facilites and how we made progress making full use of limited personnel in a small parish that includes two other units.
See ur club is looking to follow example.☺

[Milltown Row2]

It's your county too CB. What would be your own vision for it? And when you have that list complete, just how would you propose to fund it?

We had a vision at Cargin long time back.....and where we led others followed BS......look at our facilites and how we made progress making full use of limited personnel in a small parish that includes two other units.
See ur club is looking to follow example.☺

Club or county you talking about?

[bannside]

The Cargin club model is admirable and yes, did lead the way in the SW, on and off the pitch. Credit that where it's due.

But MR2 is right, the question CB was drafted about your vision for the county! What changes would you make, what initiatives would you oversee if you were  in Collie Donnellys shoes.

[Kickham csc]

The Cargin club model is admirable and yes, did lead the way in the SW, on and off the pitch. Credit that where it's due.

But MR2 is right, the question CB was drafted about your vision for the county! What changes would you make, what initiatives would you oversee if you were  in Collie Donnellys shoes.

I would set-up a number of regional development centers for U7s up, organized to bring 3/4 local clubs together and then run a progressive technical skills development program - objective - lift the base skills quality of all the  clubs in Antrim

I would develop Toome as a SW county location, pull in temp stands (like the US stands e.g. Gaelic Park NY, Boston) - Great access, & parking, would be good atmosphere

Focus on league, work to get Antrim established as a Div 2/3 team instead of Div 3/4, then worry about championship

Work with all schools, try and get Antrim schools competitive at MacRory, McLarnon, and on down

Like Toome, invest in a county venue in Belfast, (short term investment)

Establish a county championship like in Kerry where we amalgamate clubs to play in the county championship. Run it for club players when the county players are non available (4 country teams and 5/6 city???. Create a bit of a buzz

Look at innovative fund raising, for example, businesses sponsor players, money goes to the county but in total players get increased funds

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

I may be a bit biased but if your looking for a model then our own club is one which i honestly believe is one that works. We compete all 3 codes at every single level in the county and with regards to a club model i think we have gotten it nailed on 100% in terms of development both on and off the pitch.

We've a development committed for all 3 codes who meet on a regular basis within the club to look at what going on with regards to the teams and what they are doing, what new opportunities their are for them, how they can be improved, what fund raising they can do to help the individual codes.

Off the field there's another committee that looks after the development of the club as a whole. they are reasonable for looking for grants/funding, how and what type of money raising they can work on to obtain more finances, what way the grounds and facilities can be improved. We have planning permission for an outdoor 3G pitch similar to Creggans which will be put beside the Academy and upgrading the current flood lights so as games/training can be done in the dark.

This is all done by people, like me, who sit on committees and play/coach teams etc. all because we have one common goal - the betterment of our club and our future/current players to be the best in not only Antrim but Ireland.

I sound like im buming ourselves up but i personally believe we have got a good model and system in place in terms of developing all 3 codes in the club to try and make them successful and provide good facilities for the future of our club and county. Its no surprise that we won the minor county double last year as that group of players were one of the first set of kids to get the use of the Academy when it was opened.

[Kickham csc]

I may be a bit biased but if your looking for a model then our own club is one which i honestly believe is one that works. We compete all 3 codes at every single level in the county and with regards to a club model i think we have gotten it nailed on 100% in terms of development both on and off the pitch.

We've a development committed for all 3 codes who meet on a regular basis within the club to look at what going on with regards to the teams and what they are doing, what new opportunities their are for them, how they can be improved, what fund raising they can do to help the individual codes.

Off the field there's another committee that looks after the development of the club as a whole. they are reasonable for looking for grants/funding, how and what type of money raising they can work on to obtain more finances, what way the grounds and facilities can be improved. We have planning permission for an outdoor 3G pitch similar to Creggans which will be put beside the Academy and upgrading the current flood lights so as games/training can be done in the dark.

This is all done by people, like me, who sit on committees and play/coach teams etc. all because we have one common goal - the betterment of our club and our future/current players to be the best in not only Antrim but Ireland.

I sound like im buming ourselves up but i personally believe we have got a good model and system in place in terms of developing all 3 codes in the club to try and make them successful and provide good facilities for the future of our club and county. Its no surprise that we won the minor county double last year as that group of players were one of the first set of kids to get the use of the Academy when it was opened.

Cutting through all the buming , your message sounds like;

Structured integrated development process / model, ( Has this happened at county level, e.g. Does hurling, football and camogie meet to discuss coaching / development / performance. Does the county have we a talent map of kids for each calendar year and keeping an eye on their development. Does the county  keep an eye on schools etc)

Ongoing Facilities plan, what's next after Dunsilly?, short term plan for county grounds, long term plan (is Casement the answer for league games etc)

Fundraising, how can Antrim pull in more investment?

[Milltown Row2]

These models that have been put up so far are club models? Completely different I believe that's needed for a county model... CB is working one out I think

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

they are club models that have all worked and have proven to be more successful than anything our county has put in place. The fact our club sides have better facilities than the county set has shows that they could do well to look at these models and try and use it as a basis in which to enhance the county set up.

[Milltown Row2]

they are club models that have all worked and have proven to be more successful than anything our county has put in place. The fact our club sides have better facilities than the county set has shows that they could do well to look at these models and try and use it as a basis in which to enhance the county set up.

The county have Dunsilly and Woodlands as training pitches.. they have development teams and coaches they have administration... the problem at the minute is getting something that will work for the county to prosper on the field...we are a county that puts club first and county last, we've never really had a united front, maybe 89 was the last time the county team and clubs bought into it... since then it's just been about looking after our own.

Getting the schools (primary level first) sorted is a must, soccer wasn't even played at any school I went to, now it's nearly the number one sport, how did that happen?

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

i agree, the school are a must and we need to be in there promoting the 3 codes. to be fair theres a good approach being taken by a lot of the primary school in organising blitz's for the kids. I know my nephew has plenty in more this year than ever before and its great to see.

When i was a school (many years ago) we never lifted a hurl a primary school once. At secondary school in Ballymena we played hurling and football but it was seen as something that was in the road. We had to beg teachers personally to be allowed out of class to go and play a match and in many instances i was told by the teachers not a chance so missed games constantly.

We had generations of kids who never played at school or were encouraged to do so but its slowly getting much better. It must be improved on and made better to a point where we have schools competing in the macrory cup each season from Antrim

[Kickham csc]

i agree, the school are a must and we need to be in there promoting the 3 codes. to be fair theres a good approach being taken by a lot of the primary school in organising blitz's for the kids. I know my nephew has plenty in more this year than ever before and its great to see.

When i was a school (many years ago) we never lifted a hurl a primary school once. At secondary school in Ballymena we played hurling and football but it was seen as something that was in the road. We had to beg teachers personally to be allowed out of class to go and play a match and in many instances i was told by the teachers not a chance so missed games constantly.

We had generations of kids who never played at school or were encouraged to do so but its slowly getting much better. It must be improved on and made better to a point where we have schools competing in the macrory cup each season from Antrim

My personal experience in school was different. Went to a school in Derry which in hindsight the PE group had a obvious focus on gaelic games. We had 4 hours of PE from 1st to 3rd year. 1st and 2nd years we spend about 80% on gaelic football, with each class consisting of about 1/2 coaching 1/2 games.
10% hurling and the rest on introducing other sports (basketball, athletics, rugby)

From 3rd year onwards it was more like 30% football, 10% hurling and 60% other sports.

6th years, Wednesday afternoons were sports, and the MacRory boys trained for 1.5 hours, (technical and tactics)

Other schools in Derry do the same, and this feed directly into the county

So schools are critical. I also know that Derry Co Board and minor management were in constant contact with the school

[blindside]

Schools are part of it but you have to appreciate the South Derry schools are in a football hotbed. If you go up to North Derry and  the City it is a different story. From my experience it all starts with the clubs. Unfortunately in Antrim we don't have enough clubs  with a quality well structured and disciplined underage setup. We have some who have decent setups, we have some who have the odd decent team here and there and we have some which are very poor. It requires years or hard work and lots of volunteers to buy into it to keep the conveyor belt flowing. The standard between Derry juvenile leagues and Antrim juvenile leagues is pretty wide. The best A teams in Antrim in general wouldn't win a game in the Derry A league (the odd exceptional team might).
This follows through in our performances in the Ulster Minor Championship. We get the odd decent result but we are not close to being competitive on a consistent basis although we have shown some improvement in recent years.
   

[bannside]

For anyone interested. South West Football final day. At newly refurbished O Cahan Park , Portglenone.

5.30pm. Senior reserve final for the Mc Cormick cup.  Roger Casements v All Saints Ballymena.

7.00pm. Senior championship final for the O Cahan Cup. Erins Own Cargin v St Mary's Aghagallon.

[Hectic]

Is that this evening Bannside?

You would think there would be two pretty clear winners there.  Aghagallon, unsurprisingly for me have had a good start in Div 1 but I would expect Cargin to come out on top.  Ballymena on the other hand have been surprisingly poor this season and should not trouble Portglenone.

And talking of the season - All to play for at both top and bottom of Div 1 - hopefully championship has as many competitors though Div 1 never a complete gauge.

Impressive stuff from Glenavy in Div 2 though massive game for them this weekend.  With the leagues splitting all to play for a top of Div 2.  As mentioned real danger Ballymena will not make top half which is a really poor show from a team with county footballers who have just come from Div 1.  Antrim and Ardoyne, everyones favourites to go down still have Davitts in their sights so will be interesting to see the outcome of the games involving these teams post split.

Div 3 done and dusted for Sarsfields but what can you say about Glenravel where the wheels appear to have come off completely and have been as big a disappointment as Ballymena in Div 2.  Not sure if anything else of note in that Div with no relegation.

[bannside]

Those SW finals were yesterday Hectic. Your predictions were spot on.