Rathcairn

What do you mean the coaches hands are tied?

AnFearBan1234 (Meath) - Posts: 110 - 20/08/2015 14:52:01    1773277

I know some players involved in a dev squad and they do get a packed lunch sometimes and they do get some gear.

MeathGAAHead (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 20/08/2015 15:00:24    1773290

I see Graham Geraghty, Donal Curtis and Cormac Sullivan are currently taking part in the Award 2 Coaching course. Who are the coaches or managers and any idea what level of qualifications the Development Squad coaches have? Loads of Club coaches have the Award 1 Coaching qualification but if we want our Development squad players to progress should at least the Development Squad Managers not also have this Award 2 course. Another sport but Roy Keane was a great footballer but just because he could play the game doesn't mean you he could coach the game and I remember he talked about going to get his coaching badges when he finished playing. Coaching is key to the future.

AnFearBan1234 (Meath) - Posts: 110 - 21/08/2015 13:47:35    1773821

Picked this off the Guess the Selector thread. Think it applies here

In Kerry all their great footballers managers start at underage level and progress. How many of our county players have done that - very few to none. It appears that everyone likes to get into football management at the top - and that is part of the problem. Some folk post about the format of the senior championship as being a reason for lack of success - what nonsense! In the late 80's early 90's you had the likes of Pat O'Neill /'Paul Kenny and others who provided a conveyor belt of young talent coming through

AnFearBan1234 (Meath) - Posts: 110 - 21/08/2015 14:32:24    1773881

From my small knowledge of the dev team Management at present working with the young players within Meath , I know that a lot of them have at least an award 1 with many more of them having an award 2, and loads of club & County experience behind them .But it matters not as up to this point to gain an award 1 or 2 you had to be actively coaching within your club before you were allowed to do the various awards , that's meant to say you were to be building on your experience from Juvenile up to minor before you could complete these awards . From what I see within the current forums , you only have to be an ex County player now..... and you can do these awards anytime . The idea was to build on Experience . That now seems to be getting a bit diluted just to facilitate the parachuting of ex county players at the TOP ..

Chaisleain_Abu (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 21/08/2015 15:41:05    1773954

Ziggy, you seem to have an insight into the U14s who seem to be playing well and getting good wins..... or maybe thats CB spin?

AnFearBan1234 (Meath) - Posts: 110 - 24/08/2015 12:17:22    1775123

Anfearbeag

I have a cousen playing on it,and my uncle is one of the coaches. But genuinely,they are coached very well,the main coach is very good.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/08/2015 13:50:21    1775264

The U14's won their 4 games against Down on Sunday btw

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/08/2015 13:56:42    1775274

Anybody got any reports on the meeting of the three wise men in pairctailteaan last night?

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1792 - 25/08/2015 09:59:25    1775707

bert09

No,but there will be an announcement in a few weeks..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/08/2015 10:17:24    1775719

You need to start supporting your northern neighbours maybe then you can get your hands on Sam. That's the only way a meath man will

farneyforsam (Monaghan) - Posts: 35 - 25/08/2015 10:48:49    1775754

ah now Ziggy - I know that the Gaelige mightn't be the best, but surely you know the difference between bán and beag!

Good thread, by the way, and good to get some feedback on the development squads from people who have some (second-hand) experience of the set-up. Its very easy to be cynical and negative from a distance, especially when people aren't fully aware of what is being done. It seems like an lot of work is being done at U14-U-16 level, and that progress is being made. My (also second-hand) experience of Meath underage teams is from a long time ago, and it wasn't positive. Lads got 1 trial, which in some cases seemed to be a waste of time anyhow, as panels seemed to have been selected before the trials were held at all. One panel was picked, which typically was made up of the biggest,strongest lads, with a few sons/nephews/neighbours of selectors thrown in. There seemed to be very little focus on the potential for lads to develop later. If you weren't big enough or strong enough then, you were cast aside.
Development panels of 60-70 lads gives far more scope for selectors to see the potential in a player, and keep him in the set-up, even if he may not be quite ready at that particular time. The more players that we give top class coaching to, the better the chance that 1 or 2 of them will develop into top class footballers.

The next challenge, is to make sure that those U-14 and U-16 players are successfully brought through to minor and U-21 teams, and that is one of the most difficult things to achieve.
The first thing that needs to be done, is that players are properly looked after, so that they want to stick at it. If what is posted here about no food or training gear for players is true, then that is not acceptable and needs to be addressed. Players need to know that if they are involved in a county panel at any age group, they are expected to work hard and be 100% committed, but that they will be well looked after for doing so.
Another thing that needs to be done, is that players need to be assessed on their commitment and willingness to work at their game, and the likelihood of sticking at it. We have all seen lads at U-16 level who stood out at that age-group, but who you knew in your heart would not go much further because they just didn't have the desire needed to reach the top. There is no point in wasting time and resources on those lads. By 16/17, you should really be able to tell if someone is committed to reaching the top - they are the ones that need to be focussed on.
As I said in the Selectors thread, we also need a proper co-ordinated coaching set up, so that when they reach minor level, they are not suddenly been taught completely different things to what they were taught at U-14 and U-16. As Anthony Moyles wrote in the Chronicle, we need a blueprint for Meath football that all coaches (and everyone else)adhere to.

If we do things properly, and start at the bottom and work up, in 8-10 years we should be competitive with the top teams. That's the way to do it, and where resources should be directed. The sad reality is that it probably doesn't matter what resources we throw at the senior set-up. We still wont compete with the top 3-4 teams. But spend the money (wisely) on the kids, and eventually we will get there.

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 25/08/2015 11:56:52    1775802

I know some of the coaches involved with U14 and U15 teams as I'm involved with a club and Id have to agree with ziggy32001 that there are some very good coaches involved with these teams and an ex intercounty manager with the U16s. If as Chaisleain_Abu says that many of these coaches already have an award 2 course done, and loads of club & County experience behind them it would maybe suggest that the Steering Committee have grasped the nettle and put the right people in place at last.

The U16s have proved that when we put out a single team that they are as good as the rest, the U15s won something recently and the U14s look like they are doing well. No All-Irelands handed out at these levels so lets hope that these coaches continue to DEVELOP all these players and that nobody gets too worked up if don't win the Gerry Reilly cup but maybe get excited if we get two teams into the Gerry Reilly final. Then we would have 30 or 40 players at U17 and Minor all properly prepared for a real push on an A-I.

Agree with anfearbeag we need to ensure that players are treated well and make GAA their first choice and penny pinching over food or training gear does not send out the right message when we are competing against the supposed glamour of some other sports.

MeathGAAHead (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 25/08/2015 12:54:59    1775861

All-Ireland winners of the '90s, Barry Callaghan, will take charge of the county minor football team next year with Sean Barry continuing as under-21 team boss.

Colm Coyle, who was in charge of the under-16s this year, will move up to the under-17 grade next year and the minors in 2017.

At last continuity up through the age groups. Has anyone been announced for the U14, U15 and U16s next year. U14s and U15 coaches appear to have done a decent job with those players this year according to all reports so I presume they'll move up with them too or is the plan to keep those management teams in place for U14 & U15 again this year and really keep the conveyor belt rolling and appoint a new face at U16 for the minor run in?

MeathGAAHead (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 08/09/2015 15:46:40    1784701

meathgaahead

I think the U14 guys will move up to manage the U15's alright..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 08/09/2015 18:53:00    1784806

Well guys as stated before Ziggy, has an amazing inside track on what goes on at Co Board level . Not to be causing sparks but the minor, and U17 appointments appear quite strange for a number of reasons. I'm sure Ziggy can cast some light on them. Especially seeing as how a dictat from Central council regarding Managers ( Coaching awards) at County level are concerned . Then again its still 3+ months till 2016. Im sure that can be addressed easily by then .

Chaisleain_Abu (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 09/09/2015 09:29:59    1784958

Did I not read here somewhere that at least the Head Coach or Manager for each Meath Development panel has an Award 1 or Award 2 coaching qualification. Is this not a pre-requisite to an appointment?

MeathGAAHead (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 09/09/2015 10:25:34    1784997

Strangely enough the LGFA look for an Award 1 as a minimum for County Managers , But I think your right MeathGAAhead, surely we in Meath would ensure we are compliant in that respect .

Chaisleain_Abu (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 09/09/2015 11:04:22    1785012

Sounds like you know something about the qualifications of the various coaches Caislean and aren't saying all you know.

It's been said before that just because a lad was a good footballer does not mean he'll be a good manager. The same applies to paperwork, just because a lad has an Award 1 or 2 does not guarantee that he'll be a good manager but at least with the paperwork in place there's a chance of best practice being employed! Simple comparison, if your child is sick in need of a doctor you go to a doctor who has qualified and passed the exams! Meath football is obviously not well and needs proper attention.

Do our young players not deseve the best start possible to there inter-county career.

MeathGAAHead (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 09/09/2015 11:45:52    1785047

Now,Now MeathGAAhead , Don't be trying to light a fire here. in truth the only people that know anything about the qualifications of the coaches appointed to the teams are the selection committees and or maybe Meath Coaching and Games , and I can assure you I'm not one of them .

Chaisleain_Abu (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 09/09/2015 11:59:33    1785057