GAA clubs have placed a greater emphasis on their underage structures in recent years as the need to bring younger players through to adult level was greater than ever.

The Gaeil Colmcille club is no different and certainly they have made a real drive in the last few years that has certainly begun to pay off. In recent years the club had been amalgamated with neighbours Kilmainham and Drumbaragh in order to compete at underage level, but the town team have opted to go it alone for the past couple of years at most grades and from next year on that will cover all levels up to and including minor.
Gaeil Colmcille are fortunate to have many people involved with the club willing to work with the various underage teams and as anyone involved will tell you, it can be an arduous task at the best of times.
Juvenile secretary Paul Norton spoke to the Royal County Yearbook and told us about the work that is currently being done within the club as the north meath side look to the future.
It is an ever evolving time for the Gaeil Colmcille club as they have completed the construction of new pitches at Grangegodden, with the facilities becoming the envy of all who have visited the development.
Every Saturday morning from 10.30am to 12, the pitches are awash with up to 80 kids from the ages of four to seven all being taught the skills of Gaelic football.
"We started the nursery a while back and it has proven to be a huge success. It is taken in a light hearted manner and we ensure that the kids enjoy themselves," said Paul.
"The main aim of it is to get the kids interested in gaelic games. These days, GAA clubs are competing with the likes of soccer and rugby and it is hard to keep lads interested. You will always be competing with other sports, especially in towns and it is up to us to make sure that they like playing football and hurling."
Aside from the 4-7 year olds being looked after, the club also has an under-8 side, which means that they are not missing out at any level in their development.
"The county board organises blitzes from under-8s up and they host them at different clubs throughout the summer. We held one for the under-8s here in August and it was a huge success.
"It is the same for the under-10s, who had a very good year, winning almost all the matches that they played in and we have high hopes for them in the coming years."
This year saw the club's under-12 reserve side, which was managed by Dave Courtney win the league title when they defeated Ratoath in the decider, which was played in Syddan.
"We have the under-12 team and the reserve team. The reserves won the league and this is made up of lads that are under-12 again next year, so we will be hoping that they can do very well next year.
"The under-14s and 16s are looked after by Michael Reilly and Gerard O'Rourke respectively, while the minors were part of Round Towers this year, but they will field on their own from next year onwards."
Paul stressed that although the club had many hard working people to look after the various teams, there is always room for more to come onboard.
"Of course, we would like to see more people get involved and they are always welcome to help out in any way that they can. You can never have enough people helping out that's for sure."
Not only are the kids taught the basic skills of the game, but are also treated to trips to Croke Park like the one that the club organised last year.
"We organised a trip to Croke Park last year and did the tour of the stadium as well as the museum and that is something that we will be looking at doing again in the near future. You would be surprised how grateful the kids are with the smallest of gestures, like getting crisps, bars and a drink after some of the blitzes. It's the small things that make the difference."
The facilities and underage structure are well and truly in place for Gaeil Colmcille, while their hurlers retained their senior status and the minors lifted the 'B' hurling championship title. However, it turned out to be a disappointing year for the club's intermediate footballers, who failed in their attempt to regain their senior status.
The Kells men were drawn in a group that couldn't have been handpicked any better for the neutral as it included many of their neighbours and fierce rivals.
Ballinlough, Cortown, Clann na nGael and Dunderry all made up the group with all sides confident that they could make the knockout stages. Gaeil Colmcille entered their first match against the Athboy/Rathcairn amalgamation as string favourites as they had beaten the same opposition in the group stages the previous year.
The sides couldn't be separated for 55 minutes of the game, but the Kells men pulled away in the dying minutes to win by seven points when a draw looked the most likely outcome.
This was followed by three-point victory over Cortown to make it the perfect start for Gaeil Colmcille and left them well on their way to a place in the quarterfinals.
A win over fierce rivals Ballinlough would guarantee a place in the last eight and that was achieved, despite the Gaeils playing most of the match with 14-men. A one-point win over the Lough saw them through to the last eight.
The last game in the group was against Dunderry with the black and whites needing a win to ensure qualification. They duly did that and inflicted the first defeat of the campaign on Gaeil Colmcille.
And so on to the quarterfinals and a meeting with yet another local rival, Carnaross.
The match was scheduled for August 21st in Pairc Tailteann and Gaeil Colmcille were many people's favourites to progress to the last four of the championship.
However, as they old saying goes, favourites are there to be beaten and that's what exactly happened as Carnaross recorded a two-point win and brought an end to Gaeil Colmcille's year.
It was a disappointing year for the side, but with such a strong underage structure in place, it may not be too long before the men from Kells are dining at the top table of Meath football again. 

Gaeils blowing in the right direction

Focusing on the underage hurling structure within the club has certainly benefited Gaeil Colmcille as they have made huge strides on the field in recent years.

Minor titles have become common place and when a team is beating renowned hurling strongholds such as Kilmessan and Kildalkey, all clubs should sit up and take notice.
Earlier this year, Gaeil Colmcille won their second successive minor hurling championship and although this year they were plying their trade in the 'B' competition, the win was no more insignificant than their success in the premier grade, twelve months earlier.
To win two minor titles in succession is a testament to the hard work that this club has placed on its underage teams and already the north meath town are set for a bright future at adult level.
Since winning the intermediate hurling title in 2008, the Kells men have held their own at senior level, which will stand them in good stead, particularly with some many youngsters in their ranks.
Having reached the final of the minor 'B' championship, Gaeil Colmcille faced Kildalkey. The 'Village' won the senior hurling title last year and with the interest levels around the club reaching fever pitch, it was no great surprise that they were installed as slight favourites to lift the title.
The fact that Kells were missing the majority of the side that had lifted the 'A' title the previous year suggested that they were much weakened this time around.
However, that was certainly not the case as they produced an excellent display to lift the title, but no one could have predicted that outcome following their first half display.
Wind-assisted Kildalkey made a bright start with four pointed frees and two from play earning them a 0-6 to 0-1 first-quarter lead.
Fionn Ferguson got Gaeil Cholmcille on the scoreboard from a free after 12 minutes and he added another one on the stroke of half-time. Seamus Mattimoe managed his side's only score from play in that opening half as they trailed by 0-3 to 1-8 at the interval.
The scoreboard changed dramatically after the resumption and half-time substitute Barry Farrelly made an immediate impact for the Kells boys. He claimed a goal inside 60 seconds and Eimhin Keegan also found the net in the fourth minute which reduced the deficit to two points and put the Kells side into contention, but with plenty of work to do.
Kildalkey maintained their composure and were ahead by 1-11 to 2-5 at the end of the third-quarter, but they were rocked by a two-goal salvo in the 20th minute.
Fionn Ferguson rifled a 20-metre free to the net with the help of a deflection and 30 seconds later another goal meant the William Fay Perpetual Cup, won last year by Trim, was on the way to Kells.
Farrelly staked a claim for the tag of 'super-sub' when he finished to the net for a 4-6 to 1-11 advantage and at that stage there was no real way back for Kildalkey.
Overall this was a fine team display by the winners. Apart from the goalscorers, Conor Murray was very impressive and received most support from Seamus Mattimoe and Ryan Farnham.
This set the club up nicely for the remainder of the year and following a positive senior campaign in 2009, hopes were high that further progress could be made.
The draw for the senior hurling championship saw the Kells men pitted against Kilmessan, Kiltale, Na Fianna, Trim and Rathmolyon, a group that gave the Gaeil Colmcille management team plenty of food for thought.
However, team manager Ian Callaghan and his selectors Stephen Foley and Joe Lee believed that qualifying from the group was not beyond their charges as they set about their second year in the top flight of Meath hurling.
"On paper, it was a very tough draw as you had three teams there that have won the senior championship in the last five years, but we felt that we had the squad to compete with any side on the day," said Ian.
"We believed that if the right effort was put in by the lads that we could reach the knockout stages, which would be the next step for us in fairness."
The club also benefited from the addition of Waterford native Eoin Sullivan, who not only added strength and experience to the half back line, but he also trained the team along with county hurler Mickey Foley, who had the distinction and honour of captaining the Royals' senior hurlers in 2010.
The opening round of the campaign saw the town team take on Kiltale, who in recent years have become one of the favourites to lift the title on an annual basis.
Kiltale ran out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 2-15 to 0-7, but the fact that Gaeil Colmcille were missing a few key players did not help their cause, although it was a trend that would haunt them all year.
"We would have a small enough panel to work with and the fact that there are a few lads away in college means that it is very hard to get them all together for training and games. This isn't an excuse for some of our performances, but it was frustrating all the same," explained Ian.
If the defeat to Kiltale was demoralising, facing Kilmessan in the next round was an even more daunting task and the blue and whites recorded a comprehensive win to leave Gaeil Colmcille without any points from their opening two games.
"Kilmessan got a run on us early on and our lads dropped the heads. I certainly feel that there is not that much of a gap between us and them, but it was just one of those days."
The 2008 intermediate hurling champions needed to bounce back quickly and at the start of the campaign they would have fancied their chances against Na Fianna.
However, the Enfield outfit had started the campaign well with a win over neighbours Rathmolyon amongst their results and they went into this game full of confidence.
Gaeil Colmcille produced a far better performance, but still they were short a number of regulars and once again their efforts fell short as Na Fianna won by 1-14 to 1-10.
With two games remaining, the pressure was beginning to increase on the Kells men as at least two points were badly needed to avoid a relegation scrap.
Trim were the next opponents and this was a game that Ian feels that they should have certainly won as the former county champions held on for a narrow 1-12 to 1-8 win.
"We missed too many chances against Trim and you can't do that at this level. It was certainly a game that we felt we should have won and it really put us under pressure going into the last game."
That game was against a Rathmolyon side that had failed to pick up a single point in the campaign also and the loser of this game would face a relegation play off.
For the first time all year, Gaeil Colmcille managed to field a near full strength side with only defender Keith Reilly missing through injury. The switch of talented youngster Brendan Murray to the edge of the square proved a masterstroke as he tormented the Rathmolyon defence, while at midfield the experienced Tom Shine led by example. This was certainly their best team display of the year as they ran out winners by 4-8 to 2-11.
"It was a huge relief to win that game. It was the strongest side we put out all year and it just shows what may have been the case if we could have fielded that throughout the campaign.
"There is some excellent young players coming through the ranks and I definitely feel that if the right effort could be put in then there is no reason why we can't move on from here.
"I'd like to thank Joe and Stephen for their work, while Eoin and Mickey did a great job of training the lads and I'd also like to thank Gerry Smith for being ever present and helping out as physio."
For the record the Gaeil Colmcille team that lifted the Minor 'B' title was: Liam Ferguson; Alan McGovern, Shane Morgan; Darren King, Conor Murray, Declan Clarke; Fionn Ferguson (1-6 four frees, one '65'), Danny McGovern (0-1); Eimhin Keegan (1-0), Seamus Mattimoe (0-1), Luke Carry; Ryan Farnham, Sean Ryan. Sub - Barry Farrelly (2-0) for Carry half-time. 
 
 
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