2008 was another nearly year for Killeevan at adult level with the senior team again finishing in top position in the junior football league but ultimately failing to take silverware when they went under to their near neighbours and keenest of rival Aghabog in the Dr. Ward cup semi-final. By John P Graham. If it is always difficult to take being beaten it is made even more so when one considers that this is the fourth year the Killeevan have finished in either first or second place in the junior football league and yet have been unable to close out a title. Last year, 2007, they pushed Eire Og to a replay in the final of the Dr. Ward Cup with that game being played on December 23rd but defeat again their lot. In any analysis Killeevan will have to sit down and consider just what is the root cause of their inability to make that final breakthrough. They have the players and play good enough football to be in the top half of the league and indeed in the top two or three places all season but when push comes to shove there is a vital element missing. The junior championship too proved equally elusive with the team starting off with a resounding victory over Toome back in June but then losing out by the narrowest of margins to the eventual champion Drumhowan in their second match back in August. A local derby against Currin spelt their ultimate demise when on a bad day weather wise and football wise in Clones Killeevan slipped to a four points defeat. It's not all doom and gloom however as activities at underage level promise a bright future and indeed one headline in the local paper back in October spoke of the "sky being the limit" given the numbers that the club have involved from under 8 right up to under 16 and the increasing numbers of people who are taking an interest in developing players for the future. Killeevan's record at underage level over the years was also disappointing but under current chairman Darren Greenan there is a whole new fresh approach that makes the club's underage talent the focus of much of what the club is about. A lot of young players over the years with Killeevan would not have been involved in competition but for amalgamations with local clubs and while that proved beneficial, and hopefully mutually beneficial, the future lies in being self-sufficient in fielding teams from under 10 right through the age groups. That has been made a priority now within the club and there has been a quiet revolution in getting people involved and getting people to under go the various coaching courses that are now necessary, and indeed a pre-requisite under rule, for people involved with children. The club now has six or seven coaches including the current chairman Darren Greenan all beavering away from under 12 downwards while they also have people of the calibre of Damien McPhillips and Youth Officer Patrick McDonnell dealing with squads above that age level. Club chairman Darren Greenan feels that they are very fortunate to have so many people who are prepared to give what time and effort they have in helping out in this way but he pays particular tribute to Youth Officer Patrick McDonnell who has done trojan work not only in helping organise matters at youth level in the club but in encouraging and convincing people to undergo the various coaching courses and the club now has at least six people who have either completed a Foundation Level or Level 1 coaching course. Testament to the work being done is the fact that Killeevan were successful at under 14 level and they came very close to taking another underage title at U12 level as well, being narrowly defeated in that final by Toome. In the final of the U14 league Division 4 Killeevan were comfortable winners over Drumhowan by 3-14 to 0-5 having defeated neighbours Aghabog in the semi-final. The winning team were presented with their medals by county start, Ciaran Hanratty, at a special get together in the Acorn Centre back on Friday November 14th. In congratulating the young players Ciaran paid tribute to the club for hosting the event in their local Community Centre as opposed to a licensed premises and he urged them to continue to work at their game. The following received U14 medals: Mark Quigley, Ciaran Corr, Christopher McGurk, Ian McConnon, Gerard Graham (capt), Rory Moore, Finian Smith, John McGurk, Adrian Reavey, Daniel Reilly and Dion Conlon along with the remainder of the panel; Jonathan Mulligan, Travis McCann, Anthony Kilpatrick, Darren McGuigan, Stefan Maguire, Martin McPhillips, Jamie Reavey, Adam Langan. Ciaran Hanratty also paid tribute to Enda Kilpatrick, Patrick McDonnell and Dominic McPhillips for their work with this squad. Also acknowledged on the night with their runners up medals was the team that was beaten in the U12 league final: Matthew MacUaid, Adam Langan, Martin McPhillips, Mark Quigley, Stephen McKenna, Ryan Tierney, John McGurk, Lorcan Kilpatrick, Lee O'Reilly, Stefan Maguire, Dion Conlon, Michael Smith, Anthony Kilpatrick, Michael Burke, Dylan Quigley, Edward McGinn, Daniel Thompson, Ciaran Deery, Cillian Mooney, Ciaran McDonnell and Jamie Reavey, with Dominic McPhillips, Packie Finn and Francie Freeman praised for their input. With so many players involved it is a testament to the new found direction in the club as Darren Greenan explained. "As opposed to working with a small number of talented individuals Killeevan's approach now is much more expansive with us having a club mission statement of being "very focused on maximising on the number of children that the club can get involved in playing football". To that end winning is not what this whole exercise is about as too often over the years the welfare of all of the players was sacrificed in the interests of trying to win some dubious title. There is a much more intelligent approach now whereby there would be serious concern if players don't get a game at whatever level they are at. One group, the under 16's, suffered in that regard so an extra effort will be made now to ensure that that does not happen again. The club started it's under age program in late February every year and works right through to the Autumn during which time they are schooled in the basic skills of the game and once they have taken that on board other areas of the game can be introduced in competitive situations. "It's important too that players experience that winning feeling because that keeps their interest going but our emphasis is more on making sure that everyone gets playing football. It's important too that the club keeps close contact with the National School and provides them with some basic gear like footballs and maybe training cones or whatever is needed so that during school recreation time the focus will be on the children being involved in gaelic games activities. The club is very aware too that it has to look after these young people because there is huge competition for the hearts and names of the youngsters of the area with three clubs in very close proximity to each other. The Killeevan club doesn't have a huge catchment area so it is essential that contact is made with every young boy and girl in the area and the parish and that they are brought into the circle. The club too can now tap into the fact that there are preschool and after-school facilities up and running and these too can help to generate that feeling of belonging to their own club. "The club is fortunate also that they have the likes of people like Dermot Lynch and Dominic McPhillips who have at times made direct contact with the school and gone in and organised coaching or fun sessions for the children. Dermot Lynch too deserves special mention in that he is Killeevan's representative on the County Referees panel where he does an excellent job and this year took charge of the reserve football league Division II final between Inniskeen and Monaghan Harps. Part of the way forward in dealing with young people is to have a feel-good factor involved in everything and to that end the club is fortunate that they have generous sponsors who make it possible to give playing gear and various things like that to the children. This year thanks to the generous sponsorship of Annie McGinn, Martin's Londis Store and Post Office, Tony Brogan, a Killeevan native now domiciled in Boston and Briain MacUaid, all the youngsters got Polo Shirts during the year and the fact that they literally wore them morning noon and night is testament to how popular this type of thing is. Proof that the work being done at club level can help develop players is seen in the fact that the club has two representatives on the county U14 Development Squad, Rory Moore and Finian Smith while Gerard Graham who captained the under 14 team to victory this year is also representing Largy College in the Vocational Schools competitions. "The club too has taken another initiative to give a playing outlet to their U15 players by organizing an U15 tournament type competition involving neighbouring clubs. This has been a real success and there has been a big uptake but this year there is the added bonus that the club has been presented with a trophy, The Frank Lynch Memorial Cup, that they will use for this competition. The cup is in memory of the late Frank Lynch, father of current players, Casement and Dermot, who passed to his eternal reward a couple of years back and was a great supporter of the club especially the under age teams. Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis" Club chairman Darren Greenan is very aware though that this is only the beginning of what is a lengthy process and one that must be repeated on a year-on-year basis if the club is to make the breakthrough at adult level by bringing through players who have been developed through this underage coaching system. "There are no shortcuts to achieving success, it will only come if the work is put in at ground level." Scor Activity in the club though is not just confined to on field activity as over the past couple of years the club has taken a very active part in the cultural side of the GAA by entering teams in Scor, Scor na nOg and most recently Spraoi Scor and with a degree of success. Prime mover behind this activity is Margaret O'Leary who has done tremendous work in generating so much enthusiasm for this aspect of things. Most recently in Spraoi Scor the Killeevan Novelty Act took the county title down in Ardaghy while their Drama Group were beaten in the Ulster final of the 2008 Scor na nOg. The club has also entered teams in a number of categories in adult Scor thereby giving a social outlet to quite a number of people and also helping to generate a great spirit of camaraderie in the club. Margaret O'Leary got valuable help from Breda McGinn while Noel McCarville did a lot of work in coaching the young drama group on their way to the Ulster final where they lost out narrowly and in somewhat disappointing fashion. Jim Graham too played his part by designing the set for their act. A further fillip for the club was that they hosted one of the county semi finals in Scor na nOg back on Friday November 22nd and were represented in most of the categories. Facilities If Killeevan needed all of this input to develop their under age system and the social and cultural aspects of GAA activity in the club the other crying need the club has is for a second pitch. Various ideas have been mooted but it all comes down to the fact that their most urgent need is a pitch that will double as a training pitch and a juvenile pitch so that the increasing levels of activity in coaching and player development can continue. The present pitch is showing signs of wear and tear and the provision of a second pitch would lessen the use of the main field which would give it time to recover. A number of different ideas and proposals have been put to the committee with Jim Graham giving outline plans of how these various ideas would work out on the ground but is now coming to decision time. The club does have substantial funds at its disposal following the success of their Gala Ball last year and with that money they can certainly get involved very quickly in this much-needed development. A number of ideas to finance the balance of the funds that would be needed for such work have been mooted which means that the goodwill is there on the ground to help the club progress. Some people would ask can the club afford this type of development but the real question that Killeevan Sarsfields must answer is can they afford not to do it. The future can be bright and in years to come the tag of the nearly men can be dropped for good. Tweet

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