NFL Div 2 2020

[SCFC]

The stream was just so brutal I couldn't figure out who was supposed to be picking up Heslin before Piggot. Anyone know? Was it Buggie?

[Keyser Söze]

Is that not HF's point BA? That those 4 counties you mention who operate from similar numbers to us don't try to compete at both codes?
And even then, they aren't exactly shooting the lights out every year at underage.
I'm not advocating for dropping one code over the other, merely pointing out the above.

We do need to harvest more for each code from the "other end" of the county. Whatever chance we currently have of finding underage footballers in the hurling end, we have practically none of when it's reversed.
I'd start by looking at the below

You are ignoring the obvious Hesh.
Young lads are given a programme of games from 8 years of age to 17 of years of age in football from end of the county to the other.
Therefore, young lads who show a proficiency will be spotted and asked to attend football trials, or decide to attend themselves.
This opportunity is not given from 8-17 in hurling.

If a 7 year old in Borris, Ballacolla or Rathdowney wants to try football he wanders down to his local field once a week, or once a fortnight at worst.
If a 7 year old in X, Y or Z wants to try hurling he...........What? Depends on parents to bring him 20 minutes away to play with kids he doesn't know? We all know parents are taxi drivers at this stage, rushing around dropping Kid A here and picking up Kid B there. Their is neither the time nor the will to do this. Particularly as there is no history of hurling in this area, the parents probably never hurled, are they going to go to all of this effort? No.

By not exposing our entire captive audience to the game at 7, 8, 9 & 10 we are already deciding that we don't need/want/have access to 50% of our county. Who is making the choice that these 7, 8, 9 & 10 year olds won't be exposed to it? It's not them!

Take U15 Development Squads.
Football mentors can go and have a look at
Portlaoise
Graiguecullen
Ballyroan
Na Fianna (The Arles'??)
Portarlington
St. Pauls
St Joseph's
Ballylinan
Killeshin
The Heath
Stradbally
Kilcavan The Rock
Mountmellick
Park Ratheniska Spink
Rosenallis
Ballyfin
The Harps
Castletown
Camross
Clough Ballacolla

The Hurling mentors can go and see
Portlaoise
The Harps
Abbeyleix
Camross
Castletown
Rathdowney Errill
Clough Ballacolla
Park Ratheniska Timahoe
Borris Kilcotton
Na Fianna (Ballyfin Mountmellick??)
Ballinakill
Rosenallis
Raheen
Mountrath


Thats 20 teams Vs 14 teams.
Thats 90 extra kids playing U15 football when there is a round of games on.

I've said this before 10-15 year olds will play anything! If you told them there was a competitive game of hide and seek there'd be 20 of them at the pitch waiting.
There is no reason there can't be a development division at 11/13/15/17 for any clubs that don't currently enter competitive teams. Anyone who feels they wish to step up to the next divisions, more than welcome.
If you an U11 football team, there is no reason you can't have an U11 hurling team. Actually, there is no excuse for not having one.

[BallyroanAbu]

Is that not HF's point BA? That those 4 counties you mention who operate from similar numbers to us don't try to compete at both codes?
And even then, they aren't exactly shooting the lights out every year at underage.
I'm not advocating for dropping one code over the other, merely pointing out the above.

We do need to harvest more for each code from the "other end" of the county. Whatever chance we currently have of finding underage footballers in the hurling end, we have practically none of when it's reversed.
I'd start by looking at the below

You are ignoring the obvious Hesh.
Young lads are given a programme of games from 8 years of age to 17 of years of age in football from end of the county to the other.
Therefore, young lads who show a proficiency will be spotted and asked to attend football trials, or decide to attend themselves.
This opportunity is not given from 8-17 in hurling.

If a 7 year old in Borris, Ballacolla or Rathdowney wants to try football he wanders down to his local field once a week, or once a fortnight at worst.
If a 7 year old in X, Y or Z wants to try hurling he...........What? Depends on parents to bring him 20 minutes away to play with kids he doesn't know? We all know parents are taxi drivers at this stage, rushing around dropping Kid A here and picking up Kid B there. Their is neither the time nor the will to do this. Particularly as there is no history of hurling in this area, the parents probably never hurled, are they going to go to all of this effort? No.

By not exposing our entire captive audience to the game at 7, 8, 9 & 10 we are already deciding that we don't need/want/have access to 50% of our county. Who is making the choice that these 7, 8, 9 & 10 year olds won't be exposed to it? It's not them!

Take U15 Development Squads.
Football mentors can go and have a look at
Portlaoise
Graiguecullen
Ballyroan
Na Fianna (The Arles'??)
Portarlington
St. Pauls
St Joseph's
Ballylinan
Killeshin
The Heath
Stradbally
Kilcavan The Rock
Mountmellick
Park Ratheniska Spink
Rosenallis
Ballyfin
The Harps
Castletown
Camross
Clough Ballacolla

The Hurling mentors can go and see
Portlaoise
The Harps
Abbeyleix
Camross
Castletown
Rathdowney Errill
Clough Ballacolla
Park Ratheniska Timahoe
Borris Kilcotton
Na Fianna (Ballyfin Mountmellick??)
Ballinakill
Rosenallis
Raheen
Mountrath


Thats 20 teams Vs 14 teams.
Thats 90 extra kids playing U15 football when there is a round of games on.

I've said this before 10-15 year olds will play anything! If you told them there was a competitive game of hide and seek there'd be 20 of them at the pitch waiting.
There is no reason there can't be a development division at 11/13/15/17 for any clubs that don't currently enter competitive teams. Anyone who feels they wish to step up to the next divisions, more than welcome.
If you an U11 football team, there is no reason you can't have an U11 hurling team. Actually, there is no excuse for not having one.

It is Keyser, I just hate the excuse of numbers.  Numbers is not the problem in Laois (in football) in my opinion. 

[Laoiseabu]

Numbers is part of the issue . Numbers is clearly affecting the likes of Kilcruise , Killeen , crettyard, barrowhouse , annanough , Timahoe etc . Clubs are dying because of a lack of numbers in Laois . There is very little population down in them parts . Numbers is an issue . The "football " side of Laois is no different population wise to the likes of Leitrim , longford etc who are predominately football only counties .Besides portlaoise who are a dual club , it is a very small population pool for football .

[High Fielder]

Spot on Laoiseabu. Of course BA speaks from the comfort of an amalgamated club. It stands to reason that the more players you have, the better chance you have of getting a good team. Otherwise you're relying on that golden crop I spoke about. It is rare and wonderful when smaller counties and clubs punch above their weight.

[Butch Cassidy]

For Laois to be successful they need Portlaoise to be strong but they haven't been doing well at underage for a few years now. Has their move of home grounds affected playing numbers? Hassle for kids to have to get a lift to training/matches.

I watched a good few of the club games and thought the standard wasn't great. Skill levels were poor and the S&C fron teams didnt appear to be at senior level. Do all club teams have an S&C coach? Rarely see players handpassing off both hands and kicking from both feet which should be a given at senior level

[High Fielder]

I agree Butch. Portlaoise needs to be at the centre of any plan. We can't afford that sort of attrition. It amazes me that Portlaoise are not competitive every year at underage level. We're talking about one of the biggest towns in the country with only one GAA club. Yes they are cash poor but they should be rich in resources. If they lack for anything, the CB should step in. They won't, because they don't want Portlaoise to be dominant. Unfortunately, Portlaoise under achieving does not translate to other clubs improving. As far as I can see, Portlaoise just offer an outlet and nothing else. You come and play if you want and you make it or you don't. No pressure either way and Laois suffers ultimately because a third of our population lives in that town.

Lads like BA are happy because BA are winning soft underage titles. The bigger picture tends to be somewhat rose tinted from that point of view. But make no mistake here. What we are doing here is a fast track to oblivion in inter county terms. We're not competitive and are not likely to be any time soon.

[on the hop]

We are in bother now

[High Fielder]

It's of little consequence OTH. Division 2 or 3 seems to make no difference to our development. Some lads are still stuck in the revolving door, not knowing whether they want to play or not. Others, inexplicably, played in Division 4 and 3, and dropped away when we got to Division 2. More than half the counties in Ireland occupy this wasteland. It's like watching another sport watching Mayo and Galway today. The speed, physical development and skills set are simply on another level.

[Laois Rising]

Laois are punching according to their weight. Avoiding relegation from division 2 was a realistic aspiration, especially with four games away from O'Moore park. With a game to go that is the situation we find ourselves in. A win next weekend should see us safe. I would have taken that at start of year.

Unfortunately, Laois does not possess 3 or 4 star/elite footballers that can build team around/drive us forward-that is the difference between us being average to competing at higher level (Timmons injured, Ross nearly 38 and Donie on sabbatical were probably those players). What we have presently is about 40 footballers in the county all at a similar enough standard to one another-we are lacking real star quality at the moment. Westmeath have players like Connellan and Heslin, we unfortunately don't. With players like that in your side, everyone else is made to look better. 

[High Fielder]

Of course it's beneficial to have 3, 4 or more standout players, and you're right, we don't have those at the moment. I also agree that we're probably where we should be, and maybe even a level above. But ask yourself this. Do you see anything happening to change that? From all parties concerned? I don't. Our development doesn't exist

[clonadmad]

We may not have the players in either football or hurling, but it's a great consolation to know that OMP floodlights are only the very best thanks to the foresight of our wonderful county board. They deserve great credit for getting their priorities right.

Why do you think they are being replaced?.

Would you prefer if there wasn't floodlights in place and they played in the dark?

[Laois Rising]

Of course it's beneficial to have 3, 4 or more standout players, and you're right, we don't have those at the moment. I also agree that we're probably where we should be, and maybe even a level above. But ask yourself this. Do you see anything happening to change that? From all parties concerned? I don't. Our development doesn't exist

I 100 percent agree with you. The development officers have such an important role to play in establishing good practice and structures within the county. in this regards we (like a lot of counties) need more of them going into clubs, schools etc. providing coaching, passing on knowledge, programmes and expertise. Unfortunately (without naming names) the county board have recruited poorly or where we have got talented people in, they have moved on too quickly to have a lasting impact.

Ultimately though, the development of players lies within the clubs and having the right people with the drive and determination to push things on within a club- Rosenallis for me is a great example of a club that has invested hugely in their underage structures and it is starting to bear fruit. Both their footballers and hurlers have made serious strides and with younger players coming through over next couple of years you can see them making further strides. I wouldn't be surprised to see more players from this club representing Laois on county panels over the next number of years. I do think some of our bigger 'traditional football clubs' need to look at how they are running things at underage level within the club and ask are they maximising their potential- again this is easier said than done- you need a good number of individuals to dedicate a lot of their free time and energies to commit to doing this.   

[High Fielder]

I hadn't heard the rumours about players being asked to sidestep Laois. I think it's a matter for the individuals themselves, their willingness to commit and how seriously they take inter county football. I've lost count of the amount of players who have dropped away and reappeared, sometimes replacing lads who are also trapped in the revolving door. This is why coaches will keep turning back to Ross and one or two others; they are reliable at the very least. It doesn't say much about a lad if he can't develop in a county panel and can't get by a 37 year old in the pecking order.

And this is another one of our problems. We seem to go looking for the reset button at the end of each season, whether it's been good or bad. If we're not changing the head coach, we're doing a roll call on who fancies it next year. That's an attitude problem, and you won't develop individually or collectively with that sort of approach. There are genuine reasons in some cases of course, but we're some county for turnover. Just one of many issues that we have to address.

[High Fielder]

Sounds like a trip to Fermanagh could well have implications for those travelling. Another inter county team pulled the plug this morning, citing the isolation period that would ensue.