Underage squads 2024

[The infidel in exile]

Thank you Oneshot,, I never knew that they were playing for Mountmellick.

I'm going too make a comment regarding Mountmellick Gaa, They are producing absolutely nothing to Laois Gaa, other than O' Lochlan who went to Roseanallis, who are a magnificent little club in Hurling and Football. Mountmellick is the fifth biggest town in the County with 2.400 people.

I know their are some people in Mountmellick that are great Gaa people,  but regarding their teams, I will leave it to you to explain why Mountmellick are at Junior level

[georgedoylesrightleg]

Portlaoise schools are the antithesis of Haywood, St Fergals, Mountrath and Knockbeg etc. I am convinced that it has had a negative effect on clubs like Clonad, Ballyfin and the Heath, purely because the whole focus falls on the Club to find, nurture, trai

they wont get much hurlin in the haeth eider

mounmellick are permier intermediate, one grade under senior.

an o loughlin was rosenallis first of all n only went home

[The PRO]

I don't remember such a beating at that grade before. Westmeath are decent but still.
Louth seem to be doing something right underage. Into the U20 Leinster final and doing ok at minor too.

Louth were excellent tonight beating Meath in the under 20 final.
But here's the thing. I was in O'Moore Park three years ago and Laois beat Louth well in the corresponding minor or under 17 game.
What the hell has gone wrong in that three years for us?
This isn't a dig at Kieran Kelly either. The issues are much bigger than that.
Our minor and under 20 football teams this year have been very disappointing with the minors maybe putting up a good enough show v Dublin.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

lot can happen n 3 yrs. many louth lads from that nite playin last nite? cosstelo of emo massive loss this year too.

[Hurling123]

The concerning issue is that both Mountmellick and Portarlington clubs(hurling) are no longer fielding teams indepndently to participate in go games, which will impact  engagement and the development of players, and may indicate underlying problems such as lack of resources, leadership challenges, or decliing interest that need to be addressed to sustain these clubs and their activities.

As for our Coe . it is ideally placed beside O Moore pk outside of that  it is really being left behind take a look at the Faithfull fields, Ferns or Dunganny to name a few our teams spend large sections of the year training in Heywood for one simple example

Best of luck to both our hurling teams out in the coming days hopefully the 20s give a good account of themselves. The minors have played this Offaly age group all the way up through the years and have had comfortable victory's so hopefully that continues in the right direction. Large degree of credit for this year's minors has to be given to the group that has trained them for the previous 3 years. Minor teams can't be put together over 3-4 months of training it is really the couple of years before that make the big difference, great to see so many kids of the age starting as opposed to some other teams

[Joeythelips]

County board should have some sort of a review of what went on at u-20 football level. That Westmeath result was eyewatering. I get the squad may not be great and there may have been injuries or whatever but how badly prepared were they to get such and almighty beating? Very concerning, underage is about developing players. Even if you got a side that is not the best you should be able to get one or two players good enough for senior intercounty, a result like that would put them off for life.

[redsetanta]

Would the Laois u20 hurlers have any chance against Wexford?

Bookies not giving them a chance anyhow.

[The PRO]

lot can happen n 3 yrs. many louth lads from that nite playin last nite? cosstelo of emo massive loss this year too.

That's kinda the point. Three years ago we beat them handy. They went and did something about it obviously. I think they only had about 5 of the team from 3 years ago.
We, on the other hand, are going backwards at underage.
Costello is a fine player but he's only one chap!

[The infidel in exile]

Would the Laois u20 hurlers have any chance against Wexford?

Bookies not giving them a chance anyhow.

Not sure brother, we drew with them last year at u20 1.18 apiece. If the Seniors have a week off, and don't play Kerry in O'Moore park until next week I think?. If that is the case, then we could with Tommy's permission, pull 5 or maybe 6 from the senior panel.

I have a friend over here in Nottingham, who like myself always has a grasp of what's going on with Wexford Hurling.

He did tell me that the current Minor team are possibly the poorest that they have produced in years, and I'm not altogether sure, but we could be playing them if we get over the Biffo's, or possibly Dublin.

I think that we have to be conscious of the simple truth, that Offaly beat them badly, and Kilkenny destroyed them.

Yes they beat Kildare, but now matter how much money Kildare are pumping into the small ball, we should be beating them. it depends on the first 15 Brother.

[Laois Rising]

The U20 hurlers seem to have fallen away from being able to compete with the top sides. Remember this is the group of players who at minor level made a Leinster final haven beaten Kilkenny in a semi-final. In the round robin that year were very competitive against a very good Galway and Clare side. This year they look so devoid of speed, first touch and athleticism in their games against Offaly and Galway. It was hard to watch as the gulf was so huge. Hopefully they will have taken confidence from the Kildare game but it will take a huge upturn in fortunes to beat Wexford.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

underage is for producin adult players. thats the long n short o it.

[Laois Rising]

Yes and No. Some of Laois' best GAA days of the last 30 years have centred around following the underage teams. Think of the minor football team from 1995-1998. The three games against Westmeath in 95 brought an excitement to the county not seen since the late 80s and that carried into the next couple of years to follow with the minors winning three Leinster's and two All-Ireland's. The minors All-Ireland success v Dublin in 03 must have had close to 20,000 squashed into Dr. Cullen. The gates had to be opened to get the crowd in for the start of the game. 07 and the U21's All-Ireland loss to Cork where the Laois team played some champagne style football and outplayed Cork only to concede two unfortunate goals had the county captivated again and thinking that we had the resources to challenge at senior level over the next decade. I would never dismiss underage GAA as merely as a production factory. A successful underage team can be the catalyst to capturing the interest and hearts of the county. Look at Offaly hurling-the numbers that followed the minor and U20 teams the last few years and that success has helped instil a confidence and feel-good factor to Offaly hurling again.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

ur not rite dere. we did best off de team that lost an all Ireland. We got got Ross off a fierce bad minor team. Offaly fans haven't started following dat senior team yet. We had grand days on de piss followin them minor teams butt matters f**k all if seniors don't come out of dem. winnings grand but if we get tom Rick Cormac Justin jer Cody James mossy kff dem u20s we'll be doin grand despite the doomsayers

[The infidel in exile]

How could any Laois person, ever forget a young lad, 15 years old, with a brilliant dive, to fist the ball into the net on the canal end in 95.

In Counties, like Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick Clare Galway and Cork, if Underage teams are considered lesser, I have a feeling that you would be told very quickly where to go.

Ulster football teams spend outrageous money in underage development with the number 1 hope of winning a provincial title. And hopefully more.

Of Course the ultimate aim is to find your most promising talent, then nurture them as the become senior County players. Nobody is stating that your wrong George, But what I used to notice in Laois ( 20 years ago) Was the young lads would be defeated by Offaly or Wexford, they left the dressing and on many occasions that was the last time you saw at least 7,:.

[Pugwash]

1) Every club in Laois should have access to a GDO. Even if that meant Killeshin and Graiguecullen for example sharing one GDO, so be it.

2) Attending/Obtaining coaching badges/courses should be mandatory. I.E. if you're Jim Gavin or Joe Bloggs and you're taking over Crettyard's u16s, you must attend courses ran by Laois GAA. Again, this is where a club GDO comes in. They can easily run these courses in house.

3) All underage players within the county should be exposed to S&C from U14s upwards. Laois GAA should have people on the ground implementing best practice for relevant age groups throughout each club.

4) School Links - Are we doing enough to promote GAA in our schools? This shouldn't specifically be left up to our county board either. A lot of this falls at the clubs feet. Why are we ok paying an outsider 20k/30k per year to manage our clubs senior team but wouldn't dare think of giving some college students or local players an option to earn a bit of money to go and give a few hours per week into our local schools?

5) The creation of our own unique Laois GAA DNA - What are the characteristics are we looking for when our team(s) go out onto the pitch to play? Have an identity that players can become familiar with and know before a ball is kicked exactly what it takes to play for our county.

6) Player I.D's - If you're an intercounty manager of any side representing Laois, you should have access to a number of people who are dotted around the county who will name check players that are impressing at school/club level. When a player doesn't make a county set up for whatever reason, they shouldn't be cast to one side. At least give them genuine feedback + a training program that they can do individually and make sure they're being checked up on over the course of the year.

7) Technical Work - It should be engrained into every young player in the county that in order to become a top player, you need to have the basics. We have an obsession with fitness work. Lose a game by 20 points, the excuse is 'a they're not fit' seeing 12,13,14 year old's running laps to beat the band but they can't solo a ball or kick a score from 15 yards out is so disheartening. This boils down to a lack of education especially on the coaches part. Best way to solve it? See points 1 & 2.

The above is something Laois GAA should be allover. If you're serious about solving issues, you need to go to the root of the problem and that's right at the source. Help clubs put the right structures in place at u8s/u10s etc and watch the kids flourish.