Vocational schools' football may operate under the radar to a degree but in county Cavan at least the sector has seldom been more vibrant.

In rural Ireland, the importance of Vocational schools football is acute. While the colleges' scene invariably bags the major part of the spotlight, the Vocationals tend to be the major supplier in county Cavan, at least, of the county underage football teams.
The Cavan vocational schools football season runs parallel to the school term, September to June, with county finals tapering to a conclusion at the end of November normally.

In season, 2009/10, a flood of energy, a raft of skills and a bevy of commitment coloured affairs at under 14, under 16 and senior Vocational schools competitions.
The past season saw the welcome participation for the first time of a team representing the amalgamation of Belturbet and Bawnboy schools.
"It was a winning debut for them too," Cavan Vocational Schools Football Chairman Fergal Kenny informs us.
"They won the under 14 title by beating Bailieboro in the final and all credit to them. It was great to have both schools on board again; they were very welcome.

"Because the two schools came together, it meant we were able to organise two groups of three teams in each group with Breffni College, Virginia, St. Clare's Ballyjamesduff, Bailieboro, St. Aidan's, Cootehill and the Belturbet/Bawnboy combination."
In years gone by, both Belturbet and Bawnboy participated in a 'B' competition but the hope now is that their coming together will an improvement in the standard of football in both camps.
"Thanks to the good work of the people responsible for the amalgamation, the best of talent at Bawnboy and Belturbet have now the opportunity of playing at a higher standard and of winning more prestigious competitions.
"A lot of credit must go to the teachers at both schools for their work behind the scenes in terms of getting their lads together for training and arranging things on match days and after hitting the jackpot at their first attempt, I'm sure the coaches there will be anxious to build on their success this years.
"I think very often the work of teachers like Aidan Rudden (Bawnboy) and Stephen Smith (Belturbet) goes unnoticed by the wider GAA community.
"I'm not one to go on and on about how much teachers contribute to coaching underage players countrywide but a huge commitment is given by a up to 25 teachers at schools around county Cavan from under 14 up to senior level.
"A lot of them very often give up their lunch time to coach and promote Gaelic football and it's the clubs as well as their own school teams that benefit."
This season the committee, under Fergal's stewardship, has decided to expand the format with each school having five games to play in the season with the two top teams going into the final.
Should more than two teams end up on the same number of points, then the head-to-head results will be taken into account or, alternatively, play-offs may ensue.
Doubtless the same high quality of football that was manifest in the past season will materialise this season. Fergal is certainly optimistic and encouraged by what he has seen so far.
As to which teams might finish on top of the pile in the various age groups, well Fergal doesn't begin to engage in crystal ball gazing. Even Virginia is left out of the loop.
"Virginia won their 10th senior title in season 2009/2010 but there are dead certs in football and who knows how things will pan out this season," the Cuchullains clubman says.
"Virginia were given a good match by Breffni College last season and Cootehill came close to beating them the year before so there's plenty of stern opposition there.
"They (Virginia) do a lot of things well and have some excellent coaches there which is a big help of course. They also have the pick of quite a few clubs and the talent available to any particular school does depend to a large degree on the quality of the coaching afforded to the students by the school's feeder schools.
"For instance, Templeport would have a very good under 14 squad and a lot of their players would have helped form the core of the Belturbet-Bawnboy team.
"Virginia have raised the bar over the past decade and can only beat what's put in front of them. It's up to the other schools to up their effort an try and dethrone them.
"You have to give everyone at Virginia great credit for what they have achieved, especially at Ulster and All-Ireland level in recent years."
The Virginia talent on the sideline fairly complements their charges' abilities for long-time coaches like Niall Lynch, Michael Duffy and Raymond Tynan have recently been joined at the school by senior countymen Dermot Sheridan and Ronan Flanagan.
More recently the coaching talent of such as John Gilsenan and James Sherry at Breffni College has been seriously augmented by the enrollment on the teaching staff of another county ace Sean Johnston.
"The idea is that all the coaching - from the clubs and schools - would help produce a good group of players for the county at minor and under 21 levels and, hopefully, onto senior.
"A lot of the minor team came from the Vocational sector which is a testimony to the quality of the footballers that are coming through.
"Last year the county Vocational schools team beat Down in the Ulster championship but lost out then to Monaghan who went onto compete in the All-Ireland final.
"The year before we also lost to Monaghan and they went onto play in the All-Ireland final so we shouldn't get too down about our record in recent times.
"There's not a whole pile in it between us and the likes of Monaghan; Tyrone would be very strong too but we're doing everything we can to achieve success."
Fergal is fulsome in his praise of the work being done at underage level throughout the county and believes the preponderance of coaching courses laid on has played a significant part in upskilling club mentors at underage level.
As well as being Chairman of the committee overseeing Vocational schools' football, Fergal is also the VEC football sector's representative on the county board.
A native of Birr in county Offaly, Fergal is responsible for briefing the county board about Vocational schools' football in the county and updating them whenever it is appropriate.
Fergal also doubles up as the outgoing treasurer at Cuchullains GFC.
He is satisfied that, like club football in Cavan, everything is being done to uphold and even improve the reputation of Vocational schools football in Cavan.
"Of course you'll have incidents in matches which are unsavoury but the incidents aren't any more common than you'd see in any other sector of the GAA.
"Sometimes things will happen at school matches which reflect what the young fellas are seeing on television ijnvolving senior intercounty players.
"Youngsters are quick to imitate what they see adults doing on the field of play so there's a responsibility on everyone to bring a disciplined approach to the games.
"The unpleasant incidents that may happen at school matches aren't unique to schools football; it would be rare to have serious trouble breaking out.
"Violent behaviour is not something that anyone involved in the educational sector would condone or promote and, overall, there are much more serious issues to be tackled ordinarily in the world of Gaelic football than what transpires at school level." Tweet

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