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I might be wrong, but I think that age group got wiped out by Donegal in the minor championship a couple of years ago and we had the same debate

Yes 2021 u17

Donegal 4-22 Antrim 0-8

Going 40 years exactly ITG. Some great memories including 4 in a row minor championship medals. Some people were doing their best to hold back the tide, but in the end the vast majority of our club members wanted to promote one brand only. As one member stated, as juveniles passed through minor but possibly weren't good enough to play senior, they dropped out without ever really having any allegiance to Roger Casements and never ever got the chance to wear their club colours.

Bannside

Surprised at this  I always thought Sean Stinsons really brought Portglenone and Ahoghill forward.

I might be wrong here but were both teams not hanging around the junior championship beforehand.
Now both in Div 1 and playing Senior Championship...

Also think it really improved the SW juvenile leagues. Stinsons raised the standards  others raised the game and have overtaken them

Even more surprising given your comments below from a previous post which I have seen first hand.

U14's this year barely getting a score in the B league


"Regards the amalgamation thing.  It's not a new idea specific to Antrim or Belfast. It's a conversation that is going on all around thd country and will hit hard into rural areas too if if hasn't already.  People having smaller families and many primary school classes getting much smaller on size. Even the reasonably successful Sean Stinsons combo with both parishes involved will see a few years where they will find it hard to get a team gathered up."

Paddy Power have it priced up now

Sarsfields 11/10
Draw 9/1
Carey 4/5

Some difference with Boyles

That's a better price

With the discrepancies in prices you are on a no lose possibility.
Total bet £18, £10 on Sarsfields at 11/10, total returns if a win = £21
                          £8 on Carey at 15/8, total returns if Carey win = £23
Therefore, profit either way. Free money?

What about a draw

They had one particularly strong batch coming through. Have those boys hit minor yet or would they be at U17 now if such a group existed.

That would be their U14 feile team, they are now mostly U17. Next year they would be all Minor. well thats assuming they all are still there and playing.

Thanks DR.  Yeah big challenge keeping boys at it and also big leaps in development from 14 to 18 that could see the dynamic change in terms of challengers.

that was a talented team they had and went on and won the all Ireland feile title. its not easy keeping a team like that together but they seem to have the most of them all playing still.

Yeah though I suppose that level of success helps - should be eyeing a minor title then?

As you say Hectic a lot can change ....didn't win South West U16 last year   Cargin won SW ... St Brigids won All County

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.
   

At 5th year this year they were competitive at A grade, and I think you have to look at it in context that B level football is at its most competitive it's ever been.  When you were a pupil blindside I'm sure you didn't have to contend with Cookstown or ballygawley as they were kicking vocational schools.

Those newry schools are selecting from very strong clubs which imo are ahead of a lot  of ours.

Schools football will always be cyclical in terms of how good a team come through, when saint louis had strong teams say for 2 years then the year after that the level could have dropped massively.

Sorry I may have good the food wrong, they brought the pasta with them

Good man Dreen you may have solved the food for Development Squads issue 

Bring your own Pasta and a flask of Boiling Water 

[every year]

Dreen

don't think the expectation would be that it would become a St Pat's Maghera. The expectation would be that they should be very competitive @ B level every year. In the Newry area they have 3 schools within a handful of miles of each other competing close to the top of A level every year + 2 other schools about 20 minutes away also competing at A level. 

St Louis is not the only school that has pupils who don't play sport or indeed Gaelic Games. I do think they have the numbers ....approximately 150/2 per year ....  even @ conservative 20% gives 15 per year  team covering 2 year groups + cream of year below would give you 35 - 40 ....remember it is B level as well ... some reasonably strong clubs in the area as well so some decent talent 

As an ex pupil I have a fair idea of what is/has been there  ....not close to punching its weight

You better withdraw the comment about them getting fed ....very touchy subject @ the moment

Might have been a little harsh on the "very poor"

Thought they were soundly beaten in the semi though. Score board  (2 goals , 1 very soft) paints a closer picture that it actually was. Don't know the full setup there but Sean Leo should be a positive step.

The general point would be that this is B level competition where with the school size and the talent that the feeder clubs are producing they could be more competitive.

Not knocking the school as it has made great strides in recent years in lots of areas and it takes time to build the foundations.

Just think a strong St Louis coupled with the guys that go to St Mary's, St Pat's and St Ronan's (starting to make progress) would really push things on in the SW area .....rising tide lifts all  etc........   Then get to work in the Belfast Schools,   

Welcome Blindside.

That's a great stat from an Antrim perspective. Our games are  truly alive, stronger than ever in fact, in the South West.

My daughter is Upper Sixth there and heading down to Drogheda in one of the dozens of buses. Says the buzz round the school is unreal.

Agree from what I hear the place is buzzing ...It's a football hotbed living in the shadow of it's neighbour down the road.

It's hard to make the breakthrough against the traditional power houses.

Big ask today though with such a short turn around ...Know the management team were working hard over the weekend doing the analysis and prep   still very hard to bring the guys down to ground again and get in the zone for today's game.

They have been in tight corners and have shown great resilience and character so hopefully they can get over the line later today.

With the breakthrough made the South Derry and Lough Shore combination might kick on and become a regular feature at the business end of the colleges competitions.

From an Antrim perspective there are a few lads at St Pats as well who could be featuring at the business end in the next few years as well.

The big question from a SW side is can St Louis get it together. Don't want to knock them as there has been a lot of good things happening in the school in general but they did look very poor in the Mc Larnon Cup.

Should be doing better with some Dunloy Minors and Ballymena's strong U16 team plus a good smattering of other talented players. Looked very disjointed and poorly coached  ... appreciate it is not the schools primary job but I think they could do better

Perhaps the SW could show some initiative here and provide some coaching assistance/funding .....could be shared in other 2nd level schools   St Pats Ballymena, St Killian's, St Benedict's   ....might even be able to get some funding from Ulster Council ...... could be a call to the current president who I am  sure would be willing to assist if possible
 

Big shout out to the 7 strong Antrim contingent involved in tomorrow's Hogan Cup semi final. Not forgetting a valuable contribution from Antrim coaches RD (plays for Cargin) and Antrim legend Kevin Brady who as far as I know is team manager. Huge achievement getting this far hopefully it dosent end tomorrow.

Bannside think there are 9
6 creggan 3 starters 3 subs
3 moneyglass 2 starters 1 sub
Plus management

Major contribution to a well drilled team .....fully deserving of their success...hopefully more to come