Underage squads 2024

[Smallballbigballs]

Things probably looked better when it was all knock out.

[Laois Rising]

The one that really stands out is minor football. Horrendous record over the last 4 years. 1 win in 12 games in that time. Surely there must be accountability in relation to people/person in charge of the development of GAA football in the county over that time and the years of development leading up to these results. We have seen some positive change in the last year or so but it is going to take a number of years for the fruits of those labours to bear fruit. Sadly, other counties e.g. Louth continue to expand the development of the game at underage in their schools and clubs. We have fallen well behind and it is going to be a difficult game of catch up to some of the other counties within the province.

Longford, Westmeath, Louth and Longford have passed us out at underage level on a consistent performance level. Laois GAA are sadly reaping what they sowed. It's so disappointing for a county that once ranked itself as a competitive force at minor level in Leinster from the great sides of the 1960s right up to the 00s. How can we go from being so competitive for 50 odd years to what we have become in the last decade.   

[Zooming around]

The one that really stands out is minor football. Horrendous record over the last 4 years. 1 win in 12 games in that time. Surely there must be accountability in relation to people/person in charge of the development of GAA football in the county over that time and the years of development leading up to these results. We have seen some positive change in the last year or so but it is going to take a number of years for the fruits of those labours to bear fruit. Sadly, other counties e.g. Louth continue to expand the development of the game at underage in their schools and clubs. We have fallen well behind and it is going to be a difficult game of catch up to some of the other counties within the province.

Longford, Westmeath, Louth and Longford have passed us out at underage level on a consistent performance level. Laois GAA are sadly reaping what they sowed. It's so disappointing for a county that once ranked itself as a competitive force at minor level in Leinster from the great sides of the 1960s right up to the 00s. How can we go from being so competitive for 50 odd years to what we have become in the last decade.   

https://www.enddd.org/end-distracted-driving/distracted-driving-research/drowsy-driving-1-in-25-fall-asleep-at-the-wheel-according-to-cdc-report/

[Sideline12]

Just putting this out there for discussion...

I genuinely believe that across all clubs in Laois, we need to start  identifying tall, fast underage players as early as possible - particularly at under U13 and U15 level - and bringing them into the county development squads.

Obviously skill is crucial, but if we're serious about competing at minor, U20, and ultimately senior levels in the years ahead, we need to be developing physically strong, quick players from a young age. That kind of raw athleticism, when paired with the right coaching and game intelligence, can give Laois football the edge we've been lacking at the highest level.

Every year we see top counties feeling powerful, mobile athletes who also have great football brains. We should be building our future around the same model - players who can cover ground, win primary possession, and transition quickly.

Would be interested to hear what others think. Are we doing enough at developement squad level to build for this kind of future?

Just putting in this post again,
anyone agree ?

[The real town]

That all sounds great.there's always a but. Do we have the coaching staff in the county board that can develop these players. Obvious answer to that based on results no we don't. The last 3 minor jobs have been given to guys who also have sons involved.so you ask yourself the question are they there for improvement of laois or for the photo of their son wearing the laois jersey.
I agree with all of above and you make some good points.but can you trust the C B to do the right thing

[Podge72]

That all sounds great.there's always a but. Do we have the coaching staff in the county board that can develop these players. Obvious answer to that based on results no we don't. The last 3 minor jobs have been given to guys who also have sons involved.so you ask yourself the question are they there for improvement of laois or for the photo of their son wearing the laois jersey.
I agree with all of above and you make some good points.but can you trust the C B to do the right thing

Lads seem to think there is a queue of well qualified people willing to get involved in underage intercounty teams and they are breaking down the doors of the county board offices to step up

There isn't

[Laois Rising]

Past appointments have come back to bite us badly in the last decade. Granted, in a county like Laois, plentiful number of top coaches are not there. However, look at Louth and bringing in Gavin Devlin a number of years back as head of underage football. Kildare appointed Brian Murphy head of football at the end of last year which appears a shrewd appointment and building further upon the good work in that county of the previous 10-15 years. Westmeath have had Darren McGee as lead of their games development over the past number of years. When these counties were getting their houses in order and putting the graft in, we were podding along without any real initiatives or strategic, long term planning. In fact, I firmly believe we went backwards. Where someone with potential took on a role, unfortunately, they moved on again too quickly to make any lasting impact. Thankfully, things have taken a turn in the last year and hopefully things will begin to turn over again over the next few years.     

[Laois Rising]

My previous posts were bore out of the frustration of knowing a result like last night was coming down the tracks. Leinster will need to run a minor B competition for ourselves and Kilkenny at minor level if we cannot evolve what is happening (or not happening) in our clubs, schools and underage squads. Westmeath minors and u20s beating Dublin in this year's championship and two of their schools playing in Leinster schools final, Offaly winning Leinster minor championship last year, Longford the year before that, Louth winning Leinster U20 last year and making Leinster minor final last year as well. Again, topped their group in minor championship and also recorded good wins in u20 this year as well. Those are the counties we would see ourselves on a par with (if not stronger than traditionally). Waterford minor footballers have showed more promise this year than what we have produced in the last 3/4 years.   

[Ogie]

That all sounds great.there's always a but. Do we have the coaching staff in the county board that can develop these players. Obvious answer to that based on results no we don't. The last 3 minor jobs have been given to guys who also have sons involved.so you ask yourself the question are they there for improvement of laois or for the photo of their son wearing the laois jersey.
I agree with all of above and you make some good points.but can you trust the C B to do the right thing

Lads seem to think there is a queue of well qualified people willing to get involved in underage intercounty teams and they are breaking down the doors of the county board offices to step up

There isn't

This is it , there's plenty asked all of your so called ' top coaches' have been asked to help out at u14 level upwards but no one wants to

Standards in schools need to be driven, what reward or incentive is there for a young teacher to give up his evening,
what school principals are on board or willing to try and build the culture

Kilkenny, Kerry, Tipp etc even Offalys recent success was built off of Post Primary Schools,
Limerick had Raising the Treaty, Dublin had similar

Who even here knows what needed to be done?

Who can get around a table, put down a proper plan, and most importantly action it, who's needed for that,
Who's willing to give the energy and time to it,

[Heathen]

Massive overhaul needed with underage squads.I observed under 14 level hurling & football squads this year and also observed it previous years.Huge amount of nepotism exists in Laois Gaa. Kids who played v well in trials not selected over kids who were weaker but have connections i.e dad is a Gaa coach, dad is a juvenile secretary, Laois referees son, well know family names etc etc. everyone on the sidelines during trials can see what is going on. I was in shock at some of the selections, fellas who didn't touch a ball getting through because of who they are, huge favouritism towards Portlaoise Gaa. 40 kids were picked in total, around 20 kids are great footballers, the other 20 are only there because of who they are or because they are Portlaoise Gaa,The good footballers who were dropped say they will never do a trial again because of the favouritism & unfairness and what is the point, so they focus on soccer and basketball!  I actually don't believe academy's are working, leave the kids at their clubs and support the clubs/ coaches. My brother watched a Laois u14 hurling match recently, he couldn't get over the low standard compared to other counties! Some physically tiny players and very poor skill levels, they were clearly not ready for a squad but again they were there as they have the connections. Serious work needs to be done by Keegan and co at underage level.

[Verbal]

Possibly too much expected of people.
Is enough of the organisational & logistics work being done by the full time staff?
Just a question.

[Laois Rising]

Verbal, I think you know the answer to that question. Again, I'm optimistic from listening to the Podcasts that things are turning a corner. However, the benefits of this will take time to filter through. What is being slowly implemented is only now shadowing what other counties have been doing well for the 5-10 years.

The schools is the key to development. The stronger GAA schools around the country are coaching teams 2/3 times a week often times involving former county players and good input/support from county Gaelic development coaches as well. It's in the environment that players will progress most, especially if getting proper coaching from first year right up to sixth year. Can we say that is happening in some of our bigger schools at present.

Knockbeg have definitely developed things there over the last few years and I wouldn't be surprised to see them be there or there abouts to winning a Leinster senior title in the next couple of years. If could turn things around in some other schools, especially CBS Portlaoise it would make a massive difference.   

[Smallballbigballs]

Massive overhaul needed with underage squads.I observed under 14 level hurling & football squads this year and also observed it previous years.Huge amount of nepotism exists in Laois Gaa. Kids who played v well in trials not selected over kids who were weaker but have connections i.e dad is a Gaa coach, dad is a juvenile secretary, Laois referees son, well know family names etc etc. everyone on the sidelines during trials can see what is going on. I was in shock at some of the selections, fellas who didn't touch a ball getting through because of who they are, huge favouritism towards Portlaoise Gaa. 40 kids were picked in total, around 20 kids are great footballers, the other 20 are only there because of who they are or because they are Portlaoise Gaa,The good footballers who were dropped say they will never do a trial again because of the favouritism & unfairness and what is the point, so they focus on soccer and basketball!  I actually don't believe academy's are working, leave the kids at their clubs and support the clubs/ coaches. My brother watched a Laois u14 hurling match recently, he couldn't get over the low standard compared to other counties! Some physically tiny players and very poor skill levels, they were clearly not ready for a squad but again they were there as they have the connections. Serious work needs to be done by Keegan and co at underage level.

Tha axe should be grand and sharp after all that grinding.

[SCFC]

A chink of light maybe?
Was in the COE this morning and our under 16 footballers beat a Galway team comfortably.
I know these games are notoriously unreliable form guides but they looked a well coached team.

[Butch Cassidy]

That's great SCFC. Who's over them?