All of a sudden the glittering prizes and Inniskeen Grattans have become familiar bedfellows. Youth Officer and football coach Mary Woods is thrilled needless to say.

It's like when you find yourself waiting for ages for a bus to get into the city centre and then three of them arrive all together. So be with matters silver in Inniskeen.
Silverware was conspicuous by its absence last year at underage level in the club and it looked as if some precision surgery would be needed to resusitate fortunes in that area.
However order was restored in '09 as three underage titles were secured with the club's under 13s getting their hands on the Division Three Shield title for starters.
Also making their way to the winners' enclosure were the under fourteens (Division Three Cup) and the under twelves (Division Two Shield).
The cycle of talent that has been intermittently immersing Inniskeen in glittering prizes for the past few years has pleased many at the Grattans' coalface.
While the intermediate club and senior county hurling triumphs of yesteryear reflects well on the current health of the club, the aforementioned underage titles hint at a rosy future.
The tradition of being among the peleton of top juvenile teams in the county is one that Inniskeen is hell bent on maintaining. Their record speaks volumes for their commitment.
Three years ago, for instance, the under twelves made their presence felt in the winner's enclosure; galloping their way to Division Three glory.
In addition, the club's under 12 troupe of 2007 annexed the Shield competition so there's been no little success to celebrate for the Inniskeen juveniles, as Mary Woods explains:
"The bulk of the squad that won the division three league three years ago have passed on to the under 14s and, like the other teams, they did really well this year.
"Every club seems to have limited numbers and we're no different because we're down to using 9-10 year olds to fill out our under 12 panels some years," the club mentor adds.
Like a lot of clubs, the feast-famine see-saw can colour proceedings at Inniskeen in any given period. However Mary accepts that a club must play with whatever hand is dealt it.
"That's life," she says. "You have to get on with it; work harder and make sure you make the very best of the talent that's available in any given year."
Taking the rough with the smooth is child's play for the gaels of Inniskeen. The mantra in their part of Farney country is 'It's not the winning, it's the participating.'
Of course with a healthy 25-strong panel of eight year olds on hand to bolster the Inniskeen underage set-up, there's no cause for any great lament to be fired-up.
Drawing from the parish's Inniskeen National School and Blackstaff National School, Inniskeen's underage brigade is well nourished with material.
Mary is passionate about affording all the club's underage players as much enjoyment from the Gaelic game as possible.
Currently the club's Youth Officer, Mary says the club's underage mentors are fortunate to be engaging with a captivated audience hell bent on fulfilling their innate potential.
"The kids are all very, very keen and interested and willing to learn but it's vital that their parents give them all the encouragement they can.
"Sometimes it can be hard enough to get them (parents) to get involved, for whatever reason, but in the last year they've been great in bringing the kids to matches in their own cars.
"Children just love it when one or both of their parents are along the sideline cheering them on. It gives them a boost and the mentors as well."
Sister-in-law of former Monaghan senior lady footballer Pauline Woods, Mary believes Inniskeen was energised in '09 by the juvenile title haul.
The ongoing development of the club's facilities - including the construction of three pitches - coupled with the sprinkling of underage titles ushered in a feel-good factor locally.
"We can't be complacent though," Mary cautions. "We have to work very hard with all our underage teams and to keep them keen and interested.
"There's simply no substitute for hard work. We are trying as best we can to prepare them for when they're old enough to compete for places on the senior team.
"We're not spoiled for numbers but the present crop of players we have from under 12 to under 14 are probably the best we've had at the club for a very long time.
"But we have to try and get at least from every underage team to come through each year," says Mary, who is also the secretary of the club's juvenile committee.
Harping back to her work-ethic philosophy, Mary is adamant that there is no magic formula available in trying to engineer success at any level.
So its drills, drills and more drills for the juveniles for the forseeable future then?
"It would be different if the youngsters weren't that keen but they love their football even though they didn't enjoy the best of success last year, for instance.
"It's vital that the players aren't made to fret about the results they've had and while it's great what has been achieved this year, the main thing is that the players enjoy their football.
"It doesn't matter how often players might be on the losing side - they've the same right to play the game and be looked after as a team that wins all the time."
Reflecting on the way things panned at underage level this year, Mary reckons the club's under thirteens' triumph was "the toughest of them all."
She recalls the real war of attrition that was their victory over Clones in the semi-final when the Grattans had to "dig really deep to get through it."
"The first time we played Clones, we beat them fairly well but the semi-final was a lot tougher. I wasn't sure for a long time whether our lads would pull through but they did."
Mary concedes that she was pleasantly surprised by how well the club's under twelves fared considering "how late we got them together before the season kicked off."
"The under twelves got it tight in the first few games especially when they came up against some of the big guns but they stuck at it and got their reward in the Shield.
"The under 14s showed their potential in going all the way but I think most of all who know them felt they were probably our best bet this year of getting hold of a cup."
Mary has been involved in the business of recruiting, nurturing and developing underage talent in Inniskeen for almost a dozen years now but she has lost none of her enthusiasm.
She is convinced that a club without good foundations in place at underage level is destined to struggle at adult level, year on year.
"I don't think the juveniles in any club get enough credit or recognition which is a pity. People don't realise just who skilful the players are and the honesty and wholehearted way the play the game.
"I think if more parents understood just how much the youngsters got from the game, they would become more involved in a practical way like coaching."
And what of their offspring? How will they fare in the coming year?
"The importance of winning things can be over-emphasised at times but I think our teams will do well again in 2010.
"The facilities in the club are second to none and we feel that, as coaches, we must be doing something right but we know everyone still has to remain focussed and work hard all the time.
"First of, the hope is that we can keep all the youngsters interested and help them improve and maybe we can do well in the cup competitions.
"From fourteen years upwards, it can be hard to keep the players on board. Some of them slip through the net at fifteen and sixteen so we have to keep our eyes on the ball all the time." Tweet

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