Antrim Football Thread

[ck]

Agree Marty. You can look at red herrings like schools and academies and blame county boards until you are blue in the face but it's all about what happens in the club. The coaching, the right people, the culture, the standards that are set and stuck to, that's what produces good players. Schools and counties are just the beneficiaries and too much is made of them.

Antrim are where they are because of mediocrity in a lot of clubs. There are 2 or 3 leading the way by getting good people around kids teams, going into primary schools. organising leagues and blitzes, driving standards, engaging parents and being the centre of their communities. Doing the basics really really well by brilliantly committed people.

[ck]

Whilst Antrim senior football is at a low ebb I still maintain that the players are much better than what we are seeing on the pitch. This time last year Antrim was pushing for promotion to Div.2, now sitting in 32nd place. It doesnt add up.

Big questions remain.
1. Why was Doran appointed without a backroom team?
2. Why was he allowed to apply for Clann Eireann job after being appointed to Antrim, in most counties this would be unacceptable and tells me he is only partially committed to Antrim. The performances further back this up.
3. Why have players walked away mid season?

[bannside]

Agree wholeheartedly with Marty and CK - club is where youve got easily the best chance of developing a player for the future. Been saying this for a long time.

Ive seen what a handful of visionary parents did/ are doing here at club level...leaving no stone unturned. I expect there will be plenty of rewarding days in the future, and the knock on effect runs right through the community.

CK, hard to believe we were level with Armagh after 40 minutes football just 8 months ago. The tackling and ball winning that day was immense. Players were playing for pride, right on the edge, until Armaghs undoubted class shone through. MOM was Paddy McBride who was superb.

[bannside]

Marty 45, sorry for bawling you out a few weeks ago. We are definitely in head scratching mode now, thats for sure.

[FermGael]

Trillick is right on the Fermanagh border, and much socialising / shopping happens naturally in Enniskillen. St. Micks is a bit closer, but the switch to my old school Omagh CBS happened because the pupils were following the football. In previous decades, St. Micks (Enniskillen) and Omagh CBS were closely matched in football terms; but Omagh has stolen a march in more recent years.  It's a mix of Trillick youngsters being brought up to want to win all the time, and they now perceive that there's a better chance of doing so at the CBS; that, and the fact that one of the Trillick youth coaches is on the football coaching staff at the CBS.  He's very well respected in the club, so him being a known quantity does no harm.  But it's primarily about winning.  If St. Micks was to start winning titles, the fashion could swing back to St Micks again.  But def no county board involvement, just lads of their own volition wanting to go where they'll get the best chance of winning. 

Nice story.
St Michaels won the Hogan without any Trillick players .
Wasn't that long ago either.
Nothing to do with winning.

[Sportacus]

To be fair the Cathair Bheal Feirste team playing in A Colleges competitions, and holding their own it would seem, is a green shoot.

[Saffsof82]

Trillick is right on the Fermanagh border, and much socialising / shopping happens naturally in Enniskillen. St. Micks is a bit closer, but the switch to my old school Omagh CBS happened because the pupils were following the football. In previous decades, St. Micks (Enniskillen) and Omagh CBS were closely matched in football terms; but Omagh has stolen a march in more recent years.  It's a mix of Trillick youngsters being brought up to want to win all the time, and they now perceive that there's a better chance of doing so at the CBS; that, and the fact that one of the Trillick youth coaches is on the football coaching staff at the CBS.  He's very well respected in the club, so him being a known quantity does no harm.  But it's primarily about winning.  If St. Micks was to start winning titles, the fashion could swing back to St Micks again.  But def no county board involvement, just lads of their own volition wanting to go where they'll get the best chance of winning. 

Nice story.
St Michaels won the Hogan without any Trillick players .
Wasn't that long ago either.
Nothing to do with winning.

that was a good team, 2019 i think, remember see them a few times, Michael Glynn and Josh Largo Ellis the standout players if memory serves me right. FermGael, how many of that team went on to play senior for Fermanagh?

[NatSoSaff]

Agree wholeheartedly with Marty and CK - club is where youve got easily the best chance of developing a player for the future. Been saying this for a long time.

Ive seen what a handful of visionary parents did/ are doing here at club level...leaving no stone unturned. I expect there will be plenty of rewarding days in the future, and the knock on effect runs right through the community.

CK, hard to believe we were level with Armagh after 40 minutes football just 8 months ago. The tackling and ball winning that day was immense. Players were playing for pride, right on the edge, until Armaghs undoubted class shone through. MOM was Paddy McBride who was superb.

Bannside, what type of work and initiatives did these volunteers implement into the club that have made such a big impact? I think clubs should be willing to share ideas and success stories to inspire others around the County. I know PG1 weren't always in such a good place so it should serve as encouragement and inspiration to the rest of us. It would be great to have a development forum where these practices could be shared for the betterment of all in the county. And genuinely, well done to PG1 for the work they're doing.

[NAG1]

Agree wholeheartedly with Marty and CK - club is where youve got easily the best chance of developing a player for the future. Been saying this for a long time.

Ive seen what a handful of visionary parents did/ are doing here at club level...leaving no stone unturned. I expect there will be plenty of rewarding days in the future, and the knock on effect runs right through the community.

CK, hard to believe we were level with Armagh after 40 minutes football just 8 months ago. The tackling and ball winning that day was immense. Players were playing for pride, right on the edge, until Armaghs undoubted class shone through. MOM was Paddy McBride who was superb.

Bannside, what type of work and initiatives did these volunteers implement into the club that have made such a big impact? I think clubs should be willing to share ideas and success stories to inspire others around the County. I know PG1 weren't always in such a good place so it should serve as encouragement and inspiration to the rest of us. It would be great to have a development forum where these practices could be shared for the betterment of all in the county. And genuinely, well done to PG1 for the work they're doing.

I will let you in on a little secret......there is no secret. At club level it is hard work by coaches and volunteers to lift the standards across the board for the club.

[Knock Yer Mucker In]

The secret is realising that the coaching standard/knowledge within the club is poor, and as a result the young child you have standing in front of you is a blank canvas with potential, but the adults in front of the child know literally little about coaching or the game and by the time that child is 16 he is a limited footballer. The saying 'you don't know, what you don't know' shouts out loudly. Having a structured coach the coach model alive and well in your club will go along way to giving that blank canvas a chance to be the best they could have been.
Coach the coach i.e. bringing outside coaches in on a regular basis to do sessions that cover the basic skills, developing team culture, the individual skill of the tackle to team tackling and setting traps, emphasis on two feet to kick or hand to toe, two hands that can fist pass, set up on opposition kickouts, set up on your own kickouts, coaching the keeper. the use of videos to teach your underage players. I seen a coach last summer use his phone to video a 10 year kicking a ball to show where his technique needed to be developed, by then showing the kicking technique of clifford, canavan & mcquigan, all off the phone. Sent it to the parents as well for practise, did this each week until he seen the progess he wanted.

[Milltown Row2]

All well and good but the 'good' coaches turn up after the training has started and just before throw in of the kids game and then hurl 'advice' during and after training/match to whoever will listen to them..

Sound familiar?

There will always be natural talent and taught talent, clubs and counties will always try their best but it takes time and effort, something nowadays in short supply

[marty34]

Marty 45, sorry for bawling you out a few weeks ago. We are definitely in head scratching mode now, thats for sure.

No offence taken BS.

Regarding PG1. A real good template to follow there. Been at a good few mtches there over the past few years. Great planning for future on and off the pitch.

I think coaching is important but 1 thing really annoys me is drills. Theamount of times I be at different matches and there's an underage training going on on the pitch beside the game.

But the amount of straight line drills does my head in. Maybe 10 young lads behind a cone waiting their turn and the 'coach' tells them to focus. If you leave kids 30 secs, they'll start messing about. They're kids.

Just play games is what I say. They're learning skills, playing the game and making decisions etc.

Let the play. F%&k the drills.

[NatSoSaff]

Agree wholeheartedly with Marty and CK - club is where youve got easily the best chance of developing a player for the future. Been saying this for a long time.

Ive seen what a handful of visionary parents did/ are doing here at club level...leaving no stone unturned. I expect there will be plenty of rewarding days in the future, and the knock on effect runs right through the community.

CK, hard to believe we were level with Armagh after 40 minutes football just 8 months ago. The tackling and ball winning that day was immense. Players were playing for pride, right on the edge, until Armaghs undoubted class shone through. MOM was Paddy McBride who was superb.

Bannside, what type of work and initiatives did these volunteers implement into the club that have made such a big impact? I think clubs should be willing to share ideas and success stories to inspire others around the County. I know PG1 weren't always in such a good place so it should serve as encouragement and inspiration to the rest of us. It would be great to have a development forum where these practices could be shared for the betterment of all in the county. And genuinely, well done to PG1 for the work they're doing.

I will let you in on a little secret......there is no secret. At club level it is hard work by coaches and volunteers to lift the standards across the board for the club.

Thanks Nag, I think we're all aware that hard work is a pre-requisite.

I'd be keen to know what specific coaching initiatives/frequency/increased tournaments/events (it if it was the case) made up this step-up in hard work. in terms of development ideas and successes, sharing is caring!

[johnnycool]

Marty 45, sorry for bawling you out a few weeks ago. We are definitely in head scratching mode now, thats for sure.

No offence taken BS.

Regarding PG1. A real good template to follow there. Been at a good few mtches there over the past few years. Great planning for future on and off the pitch.

I think coaching is important but 1 thing really annoys me is drills. Theamount of times I be at different matches and there's an underage training going on on the pitch beside the game.

But the amount of straight line drills does my head in. Maybe 10 young lads behind a cone waiting their turn and the 'coach' tells them to focus. If you leave kids 30 secs, they'll start messing about. They're kids.

Just play games is what I say. They're learning skills, playing the game and making decisions etc.

Let the play. F%&k the drills.

There's a happy medium.

If you play a game a weaker or less confident kid may touch the ball or be involved maybe half a dozen times at best whereas the more developed would be multiples of that and dominate the game which doesn't do them any favours in the longer term either.

Drills with kids are fine, if they're concise, not too complicated and they are involved more often than not.

Standing in a line for anything more than 30 seconds leads to bolloxology from them, so best to always have small groups of 3's and 4's but then you need more coaches to manage that.

[Dreen]

A lot of good points on coaching over the last few days.

Out of interest how many on here are coaching Football in your clubs?