Tyrone Club Football and Hurling

[Wee Roddy]

Awful news for the Aghaloo club and more importantly the lads family. Good love them and help them.
It doesn't seem right talking about football under the circumstances but boy was that game played at a frantic pace last night. It was very refreshing to see two teams going at it 15 against 15 as if their lives depended on it despite the fact that the man in the middle tried to ruin it. Commiserations to Ardboe. With that squad and their good minor teams coming through, they will be a major major force for a good few years yet. Carmen has 6 U21s finished the game so we are not in a bad place either.

[Club Rossa]

No doubt Roddy,both teams well placed to challenge for honours in the next few years.

[GerryFromDerry]

What sort of shape was the Omagh pitch in last night?  Hosting the Ulster Club final on Sunday.

Disappointing for our neighbours Ardboe last night. Thats 2 cruel final defeats in the last few years. However their future looks bright.

[Wee Roddy]

Well I was on the field at the final whistle and it must have been in good enough shape or I would have noticed. I forgot about the Ulster Club final but that does explain why the man on the PA was asking people to leave the field after he presentation.

[Club Rossa]

The Omagh officials wouldn't allow the teams out until 15 mins before throw in Gerry.Pitch isn't too bad ,it's a wee bit cut up around the squares but I've seen it in worse shape.Good luck on Sunday,can't see the Shamrocks losing it now.

[hugh the root]

The Ballinderry lads have it in their DNA not to lose games whilst up the road the Rossas just cant kick home.Its time the minor management got a chance to show what they are made of.No harm to the men along the line last night but an 8 year old at the match asked why Brian McGuigan was taken off.

[Under Lights]

Where is the Fintona V NTS match being played tonight? Three times in a row they will have played each other now. Fancy NTS to win this.

Winners play Clogher in Killyclogher on Sunday. Winners of that play Derrytresk the following Saturday.

Fancy the D3 team due to the fact they have been playing every week and Derrytresk haven't. Be very hard to train to match level I feel. Hard to wack playing every week.

[Norf Tyrone]

Nearly sure tonight's game is in Garvaghey.

I still fancy Newtown to come through the play offs, but I think Clogher have an advantage now, as playing Thurs/ Sun will not be conducive to whoever wins tonight.

In all honesty, the 3 week break could help Derrytresk as it's not that long that they'll go stale, but long enough for aches and strains to recover. In addition they are fighting to survive, and they'll be familiar enough with Div 3 to know that if they go down they might not get back up as handy.

My tip is for Newtown tonight, and Clogher on Sunday. I think Derrytresk will beat Clogher, but wouldn't beat any of the other two sides. Just the way I see it.

[Wee Roddy]

The Ballinderry lads have it in their DNA not to lose games whilst up the road the Rossas just cant kick home.Its time the minor management got a chance to show what they are made of.No harm to the men along the line last night but an 8 year old at the match asked why Brian McGuigan was taken off.

Seriously! McGuigan was anonymous throughput and was turned over twice just before he was taken off. He was spent completely. Ardboe may have been 3 points up but the reality was after the sending off Carmen had about 70% possession. The intensity of the game Carmen played meant they were a bit fitter which is why the Ardboe management brought on Tommy McGuigan, Coney and Nishy O'Neill. From my understanding your subs brought you home against Clonoe did they not

[orangeman]

Hopefully something positive can come out of all of this :


Martin Breheny– 28 November 2013

THE GAA could play a significant role in reducing suicide among young people, while also improving general mental health, according to a leading expert in sports psychology.

Dr Tadhg MacIntyre, lecturer in sport, exercise and performance psychology at University of Limerick, believes that the GAA is uniquely placed to confront an issue which is becoming increasingly problematic in Irish life.

"The GAA, with its huge nationwide community presence, could provide psychological training in resilience, optimism and social support of young players," he said.

"There is no better organisation on the planet than the GAA for reaching into the heart of the community. It has a presence in every village, which is the ideal starting point for this type of initiative."

Much of the interaction would take place online, but workshops would also be held, involving players, coaches, parents and other interested parties.

"This would help change the landscape," he continued. "As the greatest sporting body on this island, the GAA has the capacity to drive this change. It would set the Association apart from other sports for decades.

"Potentially, it could reduce adolescent suicide and enhance the positive mental health of thousands of people."

MacIntyre believes that providing preventative mental health care is crucial at a time when there's evidence that depression and other associated problems are on the increase.

"The capacity is there to use the GAA engine to promote a positive mental health programme," he said.

MacIntyre has been outspoken in the past about the quality of some of the advice being provided for sportspeople, especially in the GAA where the use of psychology and motivation techniques has increased dramatically in recent years.

He expressed concerns that some players could be getting the wrong advice, which carries serious risks.

"Mind coaches, performance architects, motivational coaches -- all these terms reduce the mental side of sport to something that equates with 'mental fitness' and a naive focus on performance enhancement," he said.

"Some of those coaches are former players or coaches with experience and possible insights but not necessarily with expertise. There are risks there."


The big fear is that the relentless drive for success leads to a focus on winning and which doesn't allow for anything else.

CHANGE

"Psychological support in sport has the capacity to change, but that change can be both positive and negative. Without specialist training and without a holistic focus, it can be a train wreck.

"Most of the recent cases of depression highlighted in the media (rugby and GAA) had mental coaches working with the teams. Could they not have recognised the symptoms among the people involved and referred them to appropriate personnel?"

MacIntyre believes that, in some cases, psychology is being used solely as an aid to boost the prospects of winning, which can leave residual damage.

"What we need is a recognition that psychology in sport is not simply about readiness to perform (in effect to win), but about understanding that each person is an individual, not just an athlete," he said.

"Psychological support should be a preventative system that enhances the resilience and coping strategies of the performers and indeed the coaches too."

He has concerns that the labelling of teams and/or individuals can be damaging. Winners are deemed to have got everything right, whereas losers are made to feel as if they are mentally weak, even when that's not the case.

That easy classification can have a negative impact on individuals if their identity is so wrapped up in sporting achievement that they regard themselves as failures when don't reach their goals, even when there are perfectly logical reasons why that happened.

"Are we trying too hard to exploit the mental advantage rather that look after our players?" he asked. "There is a fundamental challenge about labelling people 'winners' and 'losers'. It's never that simple but much modern-day commentary tend to treat it those simple terms."

The use of sports psychology has become a major growth industry in football and hurling over the last decade. And while many of the practitioners are excellent, MacIntyre has in the past expressed fears that it's an area which is open to exploitation.

"There's a real risk if the wrong person is being used. You won't let a physio go near your hamstring unless he or she is properly qualified. It should be the same with psychology. You shouldn't let anyone near your internal world unless you really trust them," he said.

His call on the GAA to use its vast club network to provide psychological training broadens a subject that has had attracted lots of attention in recent times.

"The GAA is the ideal organisation to lead the way on this issue," he said. "It remains one of the great pillars in Irish life, reaching into every town and village in the country. That puts it in a unique position to play a major role in such an important aspect as mental health."

[Norf Tyrone]

Newtown bt Fintona AET.

Advantage Clogher.

[clarshack]

derrytresk would beat clogher but not Newtown.

[Under Lights]

Fair play to the clubs that are still training and playing away for the playoffs. Been a long season and I'm sure most of them were probably out in January training for this.

I think the two games with extra time will go against Newtownstewart this weekend and would fancy the D3 team, who will be in the habit of winning matches, to beat Derrytresk.

[nrico2006]

What happened the fella from Aghaloo?

[Under Lights]

www.teamtalkmag.com seem to be very snobbish when it comes to Division 3 football. Not a mention of the playoff games from last weekend or the replay tonight.

Their All Stars are also on tonight.